Moose Jaw sells Industrial Park land to B.C.-based Carpere

Moose Jaw city council has approved the sale of nearly 780 acres of land in the Moose Jaw Industrial Park to a British Columbia-based developer that will pay the city $7.8 million for the land and then more money in development fees.

Based in Richmond, B.C., Carpare is a private industrial land developer. City council approved the purchase of the land Monday night, priced at $10,000 per acre.

As per the agreement, Carpare has 10 years to pay the $49,600 development rate per acre on the servicing for the land.

“All in told, it will be $59,600 for developable land,” Mayor Fraser Tolmie said.

He said discussions for the purchase began last summer.

“We’ve had some very good conversations, obviously, as a result of where we’re at,” Tolmie said. “They’ve made several trips out to Moose Jaw, and we’ve made a couple of trips to British Columbia where they’re located to get to know them and do our due diligence on making sure we get a good deal for both parties.”

Tolmie said the developer looked at the potential that Moose Jaw has in agriculture-added businesses, and also in getting into the research of different foods and manufacturing.

“And then that just opens up the markets for the city of Moose Jaw, globally,” he said. The vision for the community is to bring jobs, and that will start with construction for the land and continue with a long-term plan for employment opportunities to grow the tax base.

“When you attract business opportunities, you attract people,” Tolmie said. “And you’re expanding your tax base for homeowners as well.”

Tolmie is happy with the deal.

“This is just great news,” he said. “We’ve been working very hard in order to create opportunities for the citizens of Moose Jaw. I’ve said this numerous times, but we are on a global stage, and we have to think beyond our borders, and know that we not only trade outside our city borders, but we trade locally, nationally and internationally.”

If it were all in one hit, it would be $46 million coming to the city.

According to its website, Carpere is a private investment and management company focusing on Canadian agricultural opportunities. It says it wants to “bring food grown by our family of farmers to your family.”

The company has parcelled 20,000 acres of land for providing the U.S. and Asian markets with grain. It has strategic sourcing and farms in Minneapolis, Winnipeg, Tisdale, Nipawin and Vancouver.

Its products include grain, oilseeds, pulses, forage, specialty crops and honey.

The company has also announced a 45-acre industrial park in Tisdale, with a project date of December this year.

During Monday night’s council meeting, council voted 6-1 in favour of the land sale.

— With files from Corey Atkinson, DiscoverMooseJaw.com