TRENTON, N.S. — TRENTON – Demolition work at the former DSME property in Trenton has now been completed and David MacNeil, director of business parks and land management, believes it will make property at the historic industrial site easier to sell.
“It’s a lot more marketable than it was six months ago,” MacNeil said during an interview with The News on April 30.
Nova Scotia Lands, which acquired the land after the province unsuccessfully tried to find a buyer and after doing an assessment of the buildings, opted to have the C and D shops on site demolished as well as an old administration building. The former Nova Forge building, which had been located on the site, was demolished prior to Nova Scotia Lands taking ownership.
MacNeil said the deteriorating buildings had been a major deterrent in the past to selling the property.
“We couldn’t even get people to step in and look at them,” he said. “They would need virtually everything – roof and wiring. The land those buildings stood on were considered more valuable vacant than with those buildings on them.”
Already, MacNeil said they’ve had some prospective buyers come to check out the site.
“Most of the interest is for a building here or there or for pieces of land,” he said.
No formal offers have been made yet, but MacNeil said they’re open to selling or leasing part or all of the property.
The long A and B shop buildings (9,187 square meter and 10,856 square meters respectively) had been renovated during DSME’s ownership and were the buildings used for the wind turbine tower construction.
“We think A and B shop have some potential. They were in considerably better shape,” MacNeil said.
As far as environmental contamination at the property is concerned, MacNeil said cleanup work was done prior to DSME’s purchase of the property and so now there is no issues with the property.
Because there has been no written offers yet, MacNeil said he couldn’t give an estimate on how soon the site could be used again, but he’s optimistic that it will happen.
“This is a daily file we’re managing. The intention is to bring in companies that will be good long-term business in Pictou County and contribute to the local economic growth.”
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