Canada will sell its former Manhattan residence, which once served as its consulate general in New York.
A 12-room, five-bedroom apartment on Park Avenue went on sale Thursday for more than $13 million, a price that’s expected to surpass the purchase price of a new $9 million Manhattan condo on Billionaire’s Row.
The new apartments are smaller and more suitable, the Canadian Foreign Ministry said. The old property, purchased in 1961 and last renovated in 1982, needed updating of the electrical, heating, ventilation and plumbing, it said.
The spokesperson said in a statement that the facility also did not comply with the Canada Accessible Act of 2021, which requires accessible environments.
The ministry says the new apartments will save Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars, reduce ongoing maintenance costs and property taxes, and provide for future program needs.
But the Opposition Conservatives said only Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and “his spendthrift Liberal government” would think it would be better to quadruple taxpayer dollars to buy new luxury apartments for $9 million instead of fixing things up.
Concerns about the Park Avenue Apartments were first raised in 2014.
Seven years later, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved the renovation at a cost of $1.8 million, but the project has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to recent documents presented to the House of Commons Government Operations and Budget Committee.
Conservative MPs Michael Barrett and Larry Bullock have called on a parliamentary committee to get more information about why the Canadian government bought a $9 million Manhattan mansion, which Liberal MP Ron MacKinnon said was a “liquidable” asset.
In a letter to the committee, Canada’s foreign affairs department said new problems had been identified at the former official residence several months after a new consul general was appointed in New York.
These included access issues, lack of separation between home and work, and event restrictions imposed by the co-op’s board of directors.
The approved renovation project did not address these “fundamental” issues, increasing the cost of the renovations to $2.6 million, the letter said.
“Given the significant renovation costs of upgrading the electrical, heating, ventilation and plumbing, the Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada recommended a relocation to a newer, smaller, more suitable and more economical apartment,” department spokeswoman Brittany Fletcher said Thursday.
Government inspected 21 different homes: documents
The Canadian government also owns a second apartment in Manhattan’s Park Avenue Building, where Canada’s current ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, currently resides.
In searching for a new residence for the consul general in New York, the State Department worked with local real estate agents and inspected 21 different residences ranging in price from $8 million to $21 million, according to the documents.
The government ultimately decided to build new luxury apartments in Steinway Tower, known as the world’s thinnest skyscraper, just steps from Central Park.
The residence will be used for diplomatic activities including entertainment events such as networking receptions, official briefings and consultations with business and political leaders.
The visa is expected to be used by Tom Clark, a former journalist who was appointed Canada’s consul general in New York in February 2023.
The Conservatives denounced the waste of spending millions on new luxury apartments for the prime minister’s “media pals” at a time when Canadians are “struggling to afford basic housing and food.”
“Life has never been better for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his well-connected Liberal Party associates as long as he continues to torture ordinary Canadians with his expensive policies,” said Opposition ethics critic Michael Barrett.
After New York real estate gossip reported that the condo deal was arranged on behalf of King Charles himself, the Canadian Foreign Office was forced to admit its own involvement in the recent purchase.
The deed for the property states it was listed for sale for more than $6.6 million and sold last month to “His Majesty the King of Canada.”
This led local media in New York to report that the purchase had been made by the royal family, and the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently moved to correct the record.
