Stouffville sells SoccerCity to local investor for $8.8 million

Recreation programs will run at the facility until the end of April

Yorkegion.com
Dec. 21, 2021
Simon Martin

SoccerCity in Stouffville is soon to be no more.

The Town of Stouffville announced the sale of the facility to a local investor Dec. 17.

According to someone familiar with the sale, the Town sold it for $8.8 million.

As part of the sale conditions, recreation programs will continue to run at the facility until the end of April 2022. This will allow the Stouffville Soccer Club (SSC) to wrap up their indoor season at the place they’ve called home for eight years.

SoccerCity is a town-operated facility but the town leased the facility from Cabrera Ridge Building Corp. As part of the lease agreement, Ward 4 Coun. Rick Upton said the town had the option to buy the facility for $7.7 million.

Upton said as the lease was a bad deal for the town. "We were losing roughly $300,000 to $350,000 a year," he said. "We should have never done it to start with."

That's why when a local investor came forward with interest in buying the facility the town exercised its option to buy the facility for $7.7 million and then sell to a the business owner at a $1.1-million profit. Upton said the town will also save close to $1 million in lease payments.

According to Upton, the new owner is looking at putting a second floor in the building and turning it into offices. He said the town will also benefit from commercial taxes that come from the facility. He said the town is not looking to sell any other facilities.

The decision has forced the Stouffville Soccer Club to scramble future alternatives after this season.

“SoccerCity has served the community and the Stouffville Soccer Club well since 2013, becoming a core and essential resource for the community and our club,” said Acting President of SSC Klaas Westera. “SSC and the Town have agreed to work together in partnership to deliver comparable indoor soccer services to Stouffville as quickly as possible."

The club had worried about the fact that the facility was initially leased by the town for only 10 years. SSC saw that as a potential risk to the community and decided to be proactive and started researching viable replacement options should the need arise in 2017. The resulting 24-page comprehensive report was presented to the Town in 2018.

"Unfortunately, the end of SoccerCity is coming sooner than expected," Westera said. "But the research already done will save us valuable time in realizing a replacement more quickly. As part of our partnering with the Town on this project, we are updating the report to today’s dollars and to our current situation.”

SoccerCity currently houses the Stouffville Soccer Club for all youth and adult soccer, and holds the organization’s offices (and storage) for club business. Moving forward, the Town will be working with the club and community to explore options for a future soccer facility -- possibly another dome -- in town.

The new owners of what is currently SoccerCity hope to attract further business opportunities at the facility, located at 45 Innovator Dr., Stouffville, Ont.

The facility was used for a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine clinic earlier this year that served more than 50,000 individuals.