Harbourside, Nova Scotia Lands to Operate Port Mersey Commercial Park
INTERNAL SERVICES/ECONOMIC/RURAL DEVELOPMENT/TOURISM--
Harbourside, Nova Scotia Lands to Operate Port Mersey Commercial Park
Harbourside Commercial Park, a provincial Crown corporation, will acquire the land and assets of ReNova, and Nova Scotia Lands will operate the Port Mersey Commercial Park, located on the former Bowater Mill site.
"This is a big step forward in a process that started back in 2012 as part of the response to the closure of the Bowater mill," said ReNova CEO Jeff Larsen. "This transaction moves us closer to being able to wind up operations at ReNova, and we expect that will happen within the next few months."
Located in Brooklyn, Queens Co., the Port Mersey park gives Nova Scotia businesses a place to create and develop new, innovative products from the province's natural resources.
Government is providing Harbourside with $3.8 million to purchase ReNova's assets, and $2 million to Nova Scotia Lands to operate the park.
The Innovacorp Demonstration Centre is also housed in the park. The demonstration centre brings together high-potential, early-stage companies in the bioresources industry, and helps them commercialize their technologies, in particular forestry innovation, for the global marketplace.
Government is providing $624,000 to Innovacorp to operate and recruit businesses to the demonstration centre.
"There's a healthy pipeline of interest in the demonstration centre, and that's exciting for the site and industry," said Innovacorp president and CEO Stephen Duff. "Imagine what we can accomplish by bringing together the brightest minds and creating environments where new businesses can test their products before bringing them to full market scale."
Four companies have leases with the Port Mersey park, and Innovacorp has had expressions of interest from more than a dozen businesses for its demonstration centre.
Port Mersey is the newest commercial park on Nova Scotia's South Shore. It is an 88-acre facility with a 550-foot active wharf, a robust power grid and a large supply of industrial water.
Harbourside Commercial Park manages more than 300 acres of land that used to be the Sydney Steel Plant for commercial, industrial and office uses.