Merchant Law Group representing second buyer for former Capital Pointe site

A competing offer has emerged from a second buyer interested in the former site of Capital Pointe.

Regina lawyer Tony Merchant represents a group called Smith Street Lands Ltd., which is offering to buy the corner lot at Albert Street and Victoria Avenue for $2.8 million.

“City council members are rightly concerned about recovering the full debt owed to taxpayers over the ten year problem at Capital Pointe. Offering over $500,000 more than Royalty Developments Ltd.’s offer pays out the City in full as well as puts the property into the hands of known Regina project developers,” Merchant said in a statement.

The downtown property was once the site of the Plains Hotel, which stood there until it was demolished in favour of plans to build a hotel and condo project. Those plans were never realized and, for years, a gaping hole was left after excavators dug up the earth for the building’s foundation. That hole was filled only last fall.

In April, the 0.71-acre property was put on sale for $8.5 million. The asking price dropped to $2 million in September.

Smith Street Lands is owned by Bison Properties Ltd., and Victoria Acres Development Corporation.

Royalty Developments’ offer of $2.2 million plus back taxes is part of a tentative sale pending court approval. A Queen’s Bench hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m.

Merchant said both proposals are conditional on the City of Regina allowing surface parking. While his statement does not say what Smith Street Lands’ plans are, it says “our vision is for the development of the site such that all tax payers will be proud of the end result.”

“As well as paying out the City fully, they will use this land to add to Regina’s downtown business growth and we hope this considerably better offer for Capital Pointe will be approved by the Court of Queen’s Bench,” Merchant said.