A recent Sydney real estate transaction can be best be described as a beautiful thing.
Longtime family business Steve Lewis Auto Body has purchased the former Harvey’s Restaurant on Prince Street.
“We’ve been trying to buy it for 25 years,” said owner Steve Lewis.
Lewis said late last year they heard word that the restaurant was closing.
“We made a phone call and it just went from there,” he said. “We were happy about getting it, for sure.”
The Sydney restaurant closed Dec. 15, 2019. The deal to purchase the property was finalized at the end of December.
Steve Lewis Auto Body — a full service collision repair facility — is a 45-year family business that employs 30. It’s been located on Beech Street for the past 34 years. The property is located beside the former Harvey’s Restaurant. Harvey’s is on the corner of Prince Street and Beech Street. Lewis said they are still in the planning stages of exactly how they will utilize the building and property. In years gone by, ideas included an estimating station and offices.
“There’s lots of things we can do with it, we’re just not sure yet.”
The family has expanded their own buildings several times over the years. About 15 years ago, a piece was added and the office area was expanded and about four years ago another building was added to the service area. As far as the newly purchased building goes, there are a number of possibilities the family is looking into.
The Harvey’s building — about 2,500 sq. ft — will be renovated. Lewis said it’s in good shape and they’re happy with it.
“We’re not sure how it’s going to fit yet,” he said. “It will be encompassed somehow. We’re just glad to have it. It’s another step for the business.”
One thing that has changed is that the employees will no longer be able to walk next door for a hamburger or a coffee.
“Some of the guys missed that, for sure,” Lewis said.
Maureen Hart, the communications person for Recipe Unlimited, which owns the Harvey’s brand, said this is a franchise and efforts have been underway for a new location within the Sydney area.
Hart said they would be opening in a new location as soon as possible.
Steve Lewis Auto Body, a 45-year family business in Sydney, has purchased the former Harvey’s Restaurant, property beside their business on Beech Street. Manager Steve Lewis said they’ve been trying to purchase the property for 25 years now and although they’re not sure what they will do with it at this point, they’re excited to have it to allow continued expansion to their business. – Sharon Montgomery-Dupe
When asked by email Thursday about a rumour concerning a possible site, Hart said there are no details that can be shared at this time.
“The team is working on it but cannot get into detail until the plan is firmed up,” she said.
Harvey’s is a fast food restaurant chain that was founded in 1959 and operates in Canada, currently with 250 locations and 7,000 employees. The chain is owned by Recipe Unlimited, previously known as Cara Operation. In January 2018 Cara announced they would be taking over the Keg chain of 106 steakhouses, to add to its 1,259 restaurants across North America that include Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s. In May 2018, CEO Bill Gregson announced that Cara Operations Limited would be changing its name to Recipe Unlimited Corporation.
Recipe Unlimited Corporation has headquarters in Toronto and Vaughan, Ont. The corporation not only operates numerous restaurant chains but also provides major food distribution for correctional facilities, educational facilities and other large operations.
Harvey’s is the second-largest Canadian-established restaurant chain in the country behind Tim Hortons, and the fourth-largest burger chain in Canada.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
