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Chateauguay Regional Centre value plummets by $7 M

le lundi 13 janvier 2020
Modifié à 15 h 07 min le 13 janvier 2020
Par Michel Thibault

mthibault@gravitemedia.com

The value of the largest commercial building in Chateauguay shows a dip of $7 million on the new municipal evaluation roll. For the owners of the Chateauguay Regional Centre, that signifies a reduced tax rate of $231,000. Translation Dan Rosenburg From $1 million in 2019, the City tax bill for this building drops to $771,312, a decrease of 23% according to figures on the evaluation roll available on the Chateauguay website. The value that was $42.6 million on the 2016-2019 roll is slipping to $35.53 million on the new roll, a backward slide of 17%. There is question here of market values on July 1, 2014 and 2018 respectively. Commercial values rise The Regional Centre is part of 6,829 City properties whose value has stagnated or decreased between these two dates. Several smaller commercial centres find themselves among 8,580 buildings whose value has increased. the Chateauguay Soleil has learned by checking a few addresses on the roll that are available to the public. That is the case this year where Videotron and others are lodged between 160 and 180 on D’Anjou Blvd. Its value on the roll has progressed by 14%, or from $15.5 million to $17.6 million.  Its tax bills are increasing by 8.7%, to $382,649 this year compared to $351,868 in 2019. The Midway Centre, Maple Centre, Canadian Tire and Walmart also show variable rises on the new evaluation roll in contrast to the previous roll. Considering that on average, the values were increasing, the City is reducing non-residential real-estate income-tax rates applicable to businesses by 4.35%. It is at 2.1512 per $100 evaluation in 2020 compared to 2.2491 for 2021. Decrease explained How does one explain the significant drop in value of the Regional Centre? The rise of on-line business constitutes a factor, according to Jerome Olivier Rancourt, the evaluator attorney at Evimbec, the company which puts together the Chateauguay evaluation roll. The concept also has its importance. ‘’The attraction for some regional commercial centres is shrinking throughout Quebec,’’ says Rancourt. He shades this by specifying that certain types of centres, such as those with restaurants and some entertainment, such as Power Centres, also draw their share. The Chateauguay Regional Centre has no entertainment option. ‘’It sold $31.25 million in 2016. There was no choice to lower it in terms of the market value. We have to take the sale price into consideration,’’ the evaluator noted. Taking sales in consideration Concerning the making of the evaluation roll, Rancourt says that ‘’everything depends on the sales. The value of a building is determined by comparing the sales in the same sector,’’ he explained. The evaluation of the buildings located in the sectors that are ‘’most in demand’’ are thus going to realize greater increases, he says. Deviations Concerning the table published by the City of Chateauguay showing the important deviations in the chapter of variations of values throughout the municipality (from -35 to +72%) Rancourt observes that the greatest deviations represent ‘’exceptions.’’ Across the city, 45 properties are showing a decrease of 20% or less, and 28 show an increase of 60% or more, he said. ‘’The cases of the strongest increases generally affect the smallest parcels of land. ‘’It’s rare to see houses with  big increases,’’ he adds.