Regina council votes to sell land below appraised value to confidential buyer

Regina city council has approved the sale of 633.6 acres of land at a discounted price — but the purchaser and the project are remaining confidential at this time.

Council voted Monday in favour of selling the land, located just outside city limits, for $4 million — below the $6.3 million figure at which it was appraised.

While the purchaser and project remain secret to the public, Mayor Sandra Masters said they did present to council in private.

“We were briefed and had hours of discussion about the implications, the details of the deal and economic spinoff,” Masters said.

The project is anticipated to add $500 million to Regina’s Gross Domestic Product and would add hundreds of jobs — possibly more than 1,000 — at the site and spinoff from it.

“We’re looking forward to this in terms of if this goes forward. The timing of it is perfect in terms of a stimulus to the economy perspective and are very much looking forward to more details coming out in the future,” Masters said.

She said keeping everything confidential was an opportunity for the city to negotiate in good faith.

“I reached out to other mayors. Being new at the job, I wanted to reach out to some more experienced mayors to determine how it is a deal of any magnitude comes together and the feedback was it absolutely gets done behind closed doors because you’re protecting that deal to come forward and come together,” Masters said.

“This could have dire results if it was out in the public because any competitor that caught wind of it could potentially insert themselves on a very minor scale which could ruin the compilation of land that’s required for the compilation of land for this to go forward.”

The purchaser will have 12 months to exercise the option to purchase and will then have two years to begin construction. If those terms are not met, the city will be able to buy the land back for the value of the sale.

Masters said council should know in months if the project will work on the land that is being purchased.

But not everyone was in favour of how this deal got done.

Federated Co-operatives Limited voiced opposition to the motion, calling for more transparency in the deal. FCL said it found out about the special council meeting Saturday, just two days before the meeting.

FCL also noted it had interest in putting a renewable diesel facility near the refinery and this deal could jeopardize those plans, forcing FCL to look for land away from the City of Regina.

Murad Al-Katib, CEO of AGT Foods, also had concerns over the process of this deal.

“As a player involved in Regina and the Regina region, we’d like to have the opportunity when these types of lands are going to be available and the city is considering the possibility of allowing these lands to go for development,” he said.

“(As well) we’d like to see open and transparent processes that allow both Regina companies who are looking to expand in the region and also companies looking to relocate to the city to have that opportunity to look at these parcels and to consider the economic impact of having those lands integrated into our plans.”