Toyota plant coming to Oxford

[Phelpsy]

A Toyota assembly plant is coming to Oxford, Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove confirmed yesterday.
But the owner of the last piece of land being sought to make that happen swore to fight expropriation of his property to the death.
“If you expropriate for a third party, I’ll fight it until I’m six feet under,” an emotional Joe Chetti, who heads mall owner First Summit Shopping Centres in Toronto, said yesterday.
For his part, Oxford Warden Don Woolcott said the mall property is a “valuable piece of land and we will continue to pursue it either through negotiation or expropriation if necessary.”
It is “extremely desirable” that the entire 400 hectares (1,000 acres) in the assembly area northeast of Oxford roads 2 and 4 be secured for a single industrial tenant looking at the property. Woolcott didn’t name the tenant, although he did say “they’re not mall operators” when asked if the mall would be demolished as part of the assembly plan.
However, Hargrove did name Toyota and learned of the deal to bring the plant to Oxford from “people in the industry” close to negotiations. The CAW has been involved in unionization attempts at Toyota’s Cambridge plant.
“This is huge for the industry. It is very important. We have been fighting for investment in this industry and it is very welcome news,” Hargrove said.
A Globe and Mail report yesterday indicated Toyota is set to announce next Thursday that it will build a $600-million plant that could eventually employ 1,500 people.
Previous reports from Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily, the Toronto Star and the Los Angeles Times identified the assembly area site as the future home of Toyota’s second Canadian assembly plant. Those reports suggested the formal announcement on the plant might be made next Thursday.
Several sources have suggested to the Sentinel-Review that
an announcement is expected that day.
And a New York based correspondent for a Japanese newspaper following Oxford’s Toyota saga said officials with the company will announce plans to build the assembly plant during a press conference just outside of the city Thursday. That information came from a Toyota official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The land assembly opening the door for Toyota is one property shy of completion and Woolcott said “we’re going to work toward it,” adding the county doesn’t have a target date for completion. The mall property will provide important access to the rest of the assembly area, Woolcott added.
On that access point, Chetti and Woolcott see eye-to-eye. Beyond that, though, there’s not a lot they seem to agree on.
Chetti, who is seeking $16.5 million for the 36-hectare (90-acre) mall property, said the county has done zero negotiating with him since failed talks with the county’s assembly agent on June 10. The agent stuck to the county’s latest bid of $4.5 million in that meeting.
Chetti suggested his asking price is a bargain, saying the commercial portion of his property is worth $8 million while the mall building itself could fetch a $10 million bounty.
“There’s no way they’ll take the land for the price they’re talking about,” he said. “Their numbers don’t jive. I know I can get a hell of a lot more money for it.”
Another bid for the mall property for $14.7 million from Toronto-based Retrocom Growth Fund Inc. remains on the table, Chetti said. He has said he’s holding off on that offer because he would rather deal with the county and its assembly plan.
However, he said he could sell to Retrocom or fill the mall with retail tenants, ballooning its worth.
The mall’s tenants have taken financial hits from the perception that they’re anti-Toyota, which Chetti said isn’t true.
“We don’t want to stop the progress. We never have, we never will,” Chetti said following the failed meeting.
Yesterday, he raged that “everyone is saying, ‘why don’t you sell?’ Why are they afraid of talking about the truth?”
Part of that truth, in Chetti’s words, is “this talk of expropriation is just a scare tactic.” He said he has a solid case against expropriation because it’s being used not for something like a municipal hall but, rather, for a third party.
And “the resources (to fight expropriation) will never end,” he said, adding he is backed by mortgagees with “unlimited” cash.
“(The county is) going to have to justify why they dragged me down. In court, it doesn’t work that way. At the end of the day ... they will pay for all my expenses. I’ll get my money back,” Chetti said.
An offer Chetti offered the county during the meeting that soured still stands.
Just over half of the mall property is zoned agricultural and the remainder is commercial. Chetti said he offered to give the county the agricultural land for free while allowing any needed access or right-of-way through the mall property to allow for the development of the assembly area.
Chetti said he doesn’t think the county needs all of the mall property to complete the assembly.
“They could build around us and let us stay,” he said.
The Globe story also said the provincial government will kick in $70 million in financial help for the Toyota project, adding to the $55 million in federal funds previously reported.
Jane Almeida, communications assistant with the premier’s office, said she couldn’t confirm the provincial cash.
Greig Mordue, assistant general manager of corporate planning for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada in Cambridge, could not be reached for comment.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Yeah, my cousin has been telling my family about this for months. Good to see all those jobs coming to our area.

[[PX]IronFist]

Hopefully this lan appropriation business won't hold up the construction of the plant.

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Hopefully this lan appropriation business won't hold up the construction of the plant.

Uh, I don't think Tournament Masters has that much swing.

[[PX]Kal Bob]

Hopefully this lan appropriation business won't hold up the construction of the plant.

Uh, I don't think Tournament Masters has that much swing.

Thats right JEW, you just keep thinking that... Muhahahahaha

[Phelpsy]

Hopefully this lan appropriation business won't hold up the construction of the plant.

Uh, I don't think Tournament Masters has that much swing.

Thats right JEW, you just keep thinking that... Muhahahahaha

so the rumours are true...

[Ghost [PX]]

I am so Confused right now...

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Hopefully this lan appropriation business won't hold up the construction of the plant.

Uh, I don't think Tournament Masters has that much swing.

Thats right JEW, you just keep thinking that... Muhahahahaha

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,
Mata ah-oo hima de
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,
Himitsu wo shiri tai














KILROY!!!!

[Ghost [PX]]

And still confused....

[[PX]IronFist]

That's right, you heard it here first.

We've put in a secret shadow (well, slightly less secret and shadowy now) bid on the property with plans to turn it into the worlds largest LAN!

[Dempsey]

Yippee for Toyota. Now us uneducated bums can make some sweet mola

[THE JEW (RaVeN)]

Just talked to project coordinator involved on this project. Ingenium's US division did the planning, but they're not responsible for the mixup. Sections of the plant dropped around 2" due to the general contractor not realizing that they were required to mortar the column connections to the base. This goes against the popular rumor that it was due to bad soil tests not taking moisture into account due to the small drought that year. They were fully aware of the moisture as they had to re-route a creek at the north end.

Anyhoo, the plans called for the general contractor to mortar the plates, they didn't, put all that weight on just 4 bolts, and there's no way they could support it. Boom, it drops.