Belleville sells 110 acres of industrial land for new ‘warehouse’ operations

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A Mississauga-based corporation is sinking roots in Belleville after its $4.082 million purchase of 110 acres of city-owned land on College Street East in the city’s Northeast Industrial Park, according to city documents.

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Newly purchased lands on four lots located on Concession 2 are expected to host a light industrial warehouse operation that is planned for the property purchased by “Toro GP Inc. in its capacity as a general partner with Toro Limited Partnership,” reads a bylaw approved by city council Monday.

The warehouse would create an undetermined number of jobs in the city, Mayor Mitch Panciuk said at a meeting of city council which approved the bylaw to authorize and sell the city-owned property to the corporation.

The bylaw confirmed the city sold the property as “the owner of the lands and premises … and it has been determined that the said real property is not required for the purpose of the [city] corporation.”

Decisions regarding personnel and land acquisition or disposal matters involving the city are not required under provincial laws governing municipalities to be deliberated in open session of council and are conducted in camera.

“This deals with a sale by the City of Belleville for a parcel of hundred-plus acres at the end of College Street East,” the mayor told council Monday.

“Toro [G]P intends to develop the lands with a focus on light industrial warehouse and logistic developments. As per the provisions of the purchase-and-sale agreement, permits will be issued and construction will commence in 2022,” Panciuk said. “More information will be released when it’s possible but this is certainly very big news for the City of Belleville and I think our council is very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to deliver this significant investment in our community.”

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“One hundred and ten acres provides a lot of space, unfortunately we’re not able to release more information at this time but it will be coming shortly as soon as it is possible particularly when applications for site plan and building permits are turned in.”

The Intelligencer attempted to reach out to the company Monday but no telephone or email contact details could be found other than the firm’s address at 2680 Skymark Ave., Suite 800 in Mississauga.

Very little about the company could be scraped from the internet regarding the new purchasers but according to canadacompanyregistry.com, a firm named Toro GP Inc. was incorporated May 18 of this year and was in operation for 26 days as of Monday.

The company’s corporate listing shows it has three directors Paolo Broccolini, John Broccolini and Joseph Broccolini, all of whom have Quebec addresses, according to the website.

The Broccolini directors appear on numerous other corporate profiles with locations across Canada.

The latest sale of industrial land by the city is in keeping with major plans announced in June 2021 by the city to double the size and scale of its Northeast Industrial Park by expanding eastward on lands it owns.

The expansion is in the works in concert with confirmation by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in May that the Ministry of Transportation is committed to working with the city to build a new Belleville East Arterial Road (BEAR) interchange on Highway 401 in Belleville that would create a more accessible new entrance for transport trucks to lands planned for expansion in the city’s industrial park.

Belleville city officials, meanwhile, are working to nearly double the existing 1,000-acre Northeast Industrial Park by a further 900 acres.

As part of a three-phased plan to open up new industrial properties on city lands extending eastward to Atkins Road, the city began preparing a new blueprint.

An environmental assessment process was started last year to identify sensitive lands as a first building block in the industrial park expansion.