The City of Kenora is at stage 5 of an 8 stage expropriation process for the Kenricia Hotel.
A special meeting of city council was held Thursday afternoon to register the expropriation plan.
CAO of the city Stace Gander says in addition to expropriation, they will seek Requests for Proposals to re-develop the heritage building.
“Council will also be directing council administration to begin the RFP process,” Gander explained during the open portion of the special meeting.
“That process cannot start until the expropriation plan is registered with Land Titles. At that point, the city has title of the building and can enter the building and work towards developing the offer of compensation.”
Gander adds they have hired a someone to work on the compensation process.
“Commercial tenants will continue to operate through the RFP process. We are uncertain if a new proponent would want to extend leases to the existing commercial businesses or not. If those tenants are displaced, they are entitled to compensation. We have secured a business valuator to assess that level of compensation.”
He adds that long term stay tenants will be required to leave.
In a news release the city adds, “Being an election year, with new Council coming to term in November, Council may enter into a lame duck period effective August 24, 2026. A lame duck period is the time between an election and the inauguration of newly elected officials, during which outgoing Council remain in office. The Offer of Compensation may fall during the lame duck period, which requires the need for Council delegate authority to the CAO and Deputy COA/City Clerk to finalize the Offer of Compensation.
The expropriation process is expected to be complete by the fall, which means the city can formally take possession of the heritage building
