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MCADAM, NB – The mayor of a small New Brunswick village said the community had been inundated with calls and emails after being offered to sell plots at a price below the price from a cup of coffee.
Ken Stannix said McAdam, NB – The population of 1,225 inhabitants – has seen a slight increase in population in recent years, but he hopes the sale of vacant land for one dollar each will further increase the numbers.
The city announced in November that it would propose the agreement on 16 fields. Since then, more than 600 interested buyers have made contact with them from all over the country, and even from distant places like India and Pakistan.
"We did not really plan that," said Stannix. "We thought there would be interest in that and probably, but we were not ready for the 600 or so people who called and sent emails."
McAdam, about an hour's drive southwest of Fredericton, has three main attractions, he said: industry, tourism and retirement. It is home to two manufacturing plants, a historic train station that attracts thousands of visitors each year, a lakeside campground, local businesses and services for the elderly.
The idea of selling the parcels is in preparation for about two years. The city formed a community action group to address the village population, which has been declining for decades after the collapse of their rail industry.
Since then, the village has sold 62 houses, announcing a modest increase in population and increased interest in McAdam.
"Suddenly, people came up to us and said," Is there land available? We would like to build, but we can not find any lot, "said Stannix.
He added that the city had contacted the provincial government and offered to buy the 16 land, ranging in size from 665 to 1,086 square meters.
While each parcel is priced between $ 5,000 and $ 7,500, Stannix said the village was paying "a lot less" for the land, as the province realized it had a plan to increase the population of the community.
He added that the number of candidates had been reduced to 86 people, 11 of whom have already been selected as suitable buyers, composed mainly of young retirees and their families.
Stannix said the tight city is focused on choosing buyers to build homes and spend their life in the village rather than developers looking to build and sell properties.
"We had people who called to say," I want to take the 16 lots and I'm going to build houses on them, "and it really was not what we were looking for," he said.
"What we wanted was for people to take a look at the village: know where they buy the land, where they plan to move, because their success is our success."
Due to the high demand, he said the applications have been closed.
This is not the first time a city has significantly reduced the cost of land to attract new residents. In 2017, the small town of Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario, proposed to reimburse 90% of the land cost if people built within two years, reducing the cost of the land to $ 500 in some cases.
In November, 24 new families had chosen to buy pre-existing homes in the community after taking notice of the offer.
Stannix said the ultimate goal is to increase McAdam's population by at least a thousand people.
"At the height of McAdam, when it was a railway town and a lot of people were working with the railroad here, we probably had a population of about 2,700 to about 3,000 people" , did he declare. "And a lot of people here thought that the goal was to target that size of the population."
He said he asked businesses to move to the community to improve the services offered to their new residents.
Land development is also generating interest in the sale of pre-existing homes, Stannix said. As an example, he evoked a conversation he had with a retired Ontario man, who was initially interested in buying a lot, but instead was considering selling his house a million dollars, to buy a house in the village and to retire. he could sell his house for.
"He said," I think if you do not mind, I'll just buy a house there, "and I said," Oh, my God, I do not mind you buying a House! We're just glad you came, "said Stannix.
"The most important thing is these people come, they have energy and they have ideas. And it helps the community to grow.
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