Ottawa Construction News staff writer
The City of Kingston has ended a plan to acquire two surplus Catholic school properties after proposed arrangements to keep the sites in institutional use failed to meet the conditions of the purchase agreements.
At its Nov. 3 meeting, Kingston City Council directed staff to provide the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board (ALCDSB) with releases for the agreements to purchase St. Peter Catholic School at 48 Seventh Ave. and St. Patrick Catholic School at 158 Patrick St.
The city entered into conditional purchase agreements for both properties in July 2026 after the school board declared the sites surplus. The proposed acquisitions were intended to preserve the properties for institutional and community uses rather than see them redeveloped for other purposes.
The city’s plans for the two properties differed.
For St. Peter Catholic School, the agreement required city staff to complete due diligence and report the findings to council before making a purchase recommendation.
Following the review, council directed staff to release the city from the agreement, ending its interest in acquiring the property. The city also confirmed it will not proceed with an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to find an institutional user interested in leasing the building or entering into a lease-to-own arrangement.
The St. Peter property was valued at about $2 million. Its location beside Ronald Lavallee Memorial Kiwanis Park was also identified as a potential opportunity for future park expansion.
The proposed acquisition of St. Patrick Catholic School was conditional on the city finding an institutional user willing to purchase the property at fair market value and maintain its community use.
The city issued an EOI July 9, which closed Sept. 4. Two submissions were received, but neither met the financial conditions of the purchase agreement. St. Patrick Catholic School was valued at approximately $2.243 million. The city had intended to acquire the property and resell it to a suitable institutional buyer at fair market value.
The decision ends the city’s efforts to acquire the surplus school properties. The mutual releases will formally terminate the purchase agreements with the school board.
