City wants more information on former Capital Pointe site, private meeting required

The saga of the former Capital Pointe site will continue, at least for a little longer.

Regina city council decided at Wednesday’s meeting that a private council meeting will be needed to determine whether or not to provide $692,562.60 in tax forgiveness to the possible purchasers of the site.

Smith Street Lands Ltd., the group looking to buy the lot at 1971 Albert St., said the deal hinges on whether or not it gets this request approved, saying the company would have to step aside if the request isn’t given the OK.

The company already has received approval to turn the site into a temporary parking lot for a year.

Robert Goldman with Smith Street Lands Ltd., said the taxes were penalties against the previous developer of the site and the burden shouldn’t fall on his group to pay them.

Goldman said in a non-COVID world, his group’s plans would only take about a year or two to build and the company would work on beginning development right away.

The issue council has had is that Smith Street Lands Ltd., isn’t publicly revealing its plans for the site. Goldman said the group would be willing to share more in a private meeting but lawyer Tony Merchant, who is a part of the group, said it still wouldn’t be able to share everything.

Goldman also noted it’s unclear what the exact value of the land is because COVID-19 wasn’t taken into account when the appraisal took place.

In order to get more information in a private setting, council will meet again on or before next Monday. Goldman said a decision has to be in place by next Tuesday to keep things on schedule for the purchase to take place in January.

REAL granted higher debt ceiling

Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL), the group that operates Evraz Place for the city, will be given more room to take on debt to help with COVID-19.

Council approved increasing REAL’s debt ceiling by $8 million, bringing it to a total of $21 million. That’s to help with the cash flow challenges brought on by COVID-19.

The increase allows REAL to borrow more money from the bank.

The city also approved a $700,000-per-year grant to help REAL cover principal and interest on the loans.

City council also approved the application for a McDonald’s to be built on the Evraz Place grounds and approved a 40-year lease agreement.