Date: Jul. 8th, 2025 - 3:11 PM
Workers were cleaning up in front of 194 Main St. on Wednesday morning. The construction barricades have been removed and work has stopped. (Rick Conrad)
UPDATED Wed., July 9 at 1:55 p.m.
A rundown building in downtown Liverpool will go back on the market after regional council denied a developer’s request to turn it into apartments.
Councillors voted Tuesday not to change the municipal land use bylaw to allow Eric Fry to build up to 16 apartments at 194 Main St., known locally as the old Stedmans building.
Fry, president of SDL Investments Limited, told QCCR in an emailed statement on Wednesday evening that he won’t pursue the project any further.
“Unfortunately, we will be ceasing any further work on this project and putting the building up for sale immediately,” Fry said.
“While I understand that Liverpool does not wish to abandon its commercial presence on Main Street, we firmly believe that this decision is very short-sighted and does absolutely nothing to move the town forward, encourage new residents to move here or assist in revitalizing the downtown.”
He could not be reached for a followup interview about his statement.
The municipal planning strategy allows residential development downtown only in buildings with a primary commercial use. The bylaw requires that residential buildings in the downtown core have at least 50 per cent commercial space on the ground floor.
Fry’s proposal was to transform the whole building into living space.
Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton told QCCR on Tuesday morning after the council meeting that even though councillors voted 5-2 against a bylaw change, she hopes Fry continues with some apartments in the space. She made the comments before Fry’s evening statement.
“I think our community and our council members have made it very clear that they want there to be a downtown core commercial presence. And that is our Main Street,” Charlton said in an interview. She chaired Tuesday’s meeting because Mayor Scott Christian was on vacation.
“And there is allowance now for residential units to go in there to still allow for some housing.
So there is flexibility there. I do certainly hope that the developer will continue with this project in the revised way that it reads in our bylaws now, but certainly if he chooses not to, that’s certainly up to him.”
Fry bought the building in January for $235,000. In February, he applied to the region for a bylaw amendment to allow a residential-only development with indoor parking.
Councillors considered three options: to allow residential development as a main use in downtown, to allow it by development agreement with council’s approval or to keep the bylaw unchanged.
Before Fry acquired the property, it sat vacant for a few years and was heavily damaged by extreme weather. Before that, it housed a dollar store and office space on the ground floor.
Workers have been cleaning up the building’s interior and fixing damage since early spring.
“We are extremely shocked and disappointed in council’s decision this morning to deny our application to amend the Land Use Bylaw and Municipal Planning Strategy language,” Fry said in the statement.
“Having owned properties in Queens for more than 10 years, our understanding was that Liverpool needs more housing. Our initial residential building, The Falls in Milton, has been fully occupied since it opened last fall and there is a list of residents wanting to move in when a unit becomes available. This led us to approach RQM about an additional project that would create 16 additional units in the heart of Liverpool. Not to mention, convert an otherwise dilapidated structure into a signature building to anchor the town’s Main Street.
“Liverpool needs residential housing and not additional commercial space clearly demonstrated by the number of For Rent signs in the downtown core.”
The region hired consultants UPLAND Planning from Halifax to hold two public engagement sessions and an online survey on the potential bylaw change.
Thirty people responded to the survey, and only seven people attended the information sessions at Queens Place Emera Centre.
Eighteen of the 30 survey respondents said they were supportive of removing the commercial requirement from the bylaw.
But local business owners told the consultants they were worried about how it could potentially erode the downtown commercial zone.
The region’s planning advisory committee met on Monday to discuss the consultants’ report.
They recommended sticking with the status quo and keeping the bylaw unchanged.
District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy voted against the motion to maintain the status quo.
He said the building needs a lot of work and he’s worried Fry might sell it.
“So in order to make it so it’s profitable, it has to be a lot of money coming back,” he told his fellow councillors.
“
That’s the whole idea. You don’t put money into something if you’re not going to get your money back out of it.”
Fry also owns The Falls in Milton, a three-storey apartment complex on the Mersey River, geared toward people 55 and over.
His plan for 194 Main St. was to have apartments on two levels, with a parking entrance at the back of the building on Water Street.
“I’m not an expert,” Fry said in his statement to QCCR, “but from my experience, I don’t think this type of thinking is going to move the needle in a town with so much promise and potential.”
Here is what councillors voted on and how they voted:
MOTION: That Council of the Region of Queens Municipality maintain status quo and deny the application to amend the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use Bylaw to allow new multiple unit residential dwellings as a permitted main use in the Downtown Commercial (CD) Zone.
FOR: Maddie Charlton, Courtney Wentzell, Stewart Jenkins, Vicki Amirault, Wanda Carver
AGAINST: Jack Fancy, Roberta Roy
ABSENT: Mayor Scott Christian
Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com
