Like many others in Town, I have been following the news around the redevelopment of the Brookside property with some interest. To comment on your December 3rd post regarding the recently announced identity of the purchaser, I am left still asking the question WHO HAS ACTUALLY PURCHASED BROOKSIDE?
Terraco Developments Inc. is apparently based in Concord, but beyond that there seem to be few details available about the company. Their website provides very little in the way of information and no specifics. There is no information on how long the company has been in business or their past record as a developer. There is no personal information on the principals who own the company or on any of their staff - no biographies or pictures of their project managers, engineers, planners or architects. There is no portfolio of past projects that the company has completed. No information on the "exciting and innovative developments" the company claims to have been part of. The images illustrating the site are generic open-sourced files pulled from Shutterstock or other sources, including the websites of other planning and development companies. There does not seem to be a single image of, or information on, an actual project Terraco Developments has been responsible for.
All of this seems highly unusual to me, and leaves me with more questions than answers. I am also surprised that a telephone call to the number listed for the company seems to connect me to a personal cell phone and not to an office. The gentleman answering had lots of questions about who I was and the purpose of my call, but wouldn't answer any questions. He directed me to send an email addressed to "Michael" - no last name given. All very mysterious! Email sent, I await a reply from this secretive company.
The 'false front' design of the company's website and lack of any credible history or information on personnel makes me wonder if Brookside has been sold to a shell company of some kind. It also makes me wonder if Infrastructure Ontario followed proper due diligence in identifying this company as their preferred purchaser, and if the Town of Cobourg properly investigated them during conversations leading up to the Brookside purchase. In the coming months I look forward to learning who has actually purchased the property, what their background as a developer is, and what their plans are for Brookside.
Ken Forsyth
[Editor's note: Link to December 3rd Post]