Current ads
Jobs
Tenders
Notices
General

Click below

City ponders sale of downtown real estate

Business leader urges "community focal point"

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Iqaluit council is considering whether to put the Air Base Garage and another lot up for sale, a decision that would open up downtown land for development for the first time in five years. (PHOTO BY GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS)

---

Iqaluit city councillors should think twice before selling two prime plots of land in the downtown core, warns a prominent businessman.

Iqaluit risks missing the chance to create a "community focal point" like a city park, or a new city hall, if council offers the two select lots to the general public, warns Steve Cook, director of the housing and retail development company, Nunastar Properties Inc.

Faced with a cash-crunch in this year's budget, Iqaluit city councillors are toying with the idea of selling two prime pieces of real estate to pay for projects like trails and walkways, and fixing the sewage treatment plant.

Councillors are reviewing a proposal from Iqaluit's planning department to sell an underused public works garage near the city's administrative heart, as well as a Butler building used as a boarded-up storage bungalow beside the Capital Suites building downtown.

A consultant recently put a combined $540,000 price tag on the two properties.

But Cook, also chair of the Baffin Chamber of Commerce, suggests the lots have a special value, in light of their unique location. The long-time Iqaluit businessman describes the property near the Four Corners at the administrative heart of Iqaluit as a rarity in terms of real estate.

"I was thinking of something like… a focal point for the downtown area, like part of it being used as a park," Cook said of the garage property. "This could be like an 'Iqaluit Square'."

Cook said in light of the location, council should consider all its options, such as holding onto the properties for their own development plans, and finding other assets and land to sell off.

"The City has control over it now," he said. "Once it [the properties] go out to the public, it's gone. Once you've lost it, you won't get it again."

Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik signalled the importance of moving carefully on the potential sale at the last council meeting, Feb. 23, when she bumped the administration's recommendation from the agenda, saying councillors needed time to debate related issues.

However, the administration's proposal currently highlights only the financial advantages to the sale, suggesting the two sites will be up for grabs in the near future.

Kenn Harper, a long-time land developer in Iqaluit, said council will make the "right decision" about how to use the two downtown sites, as long as they follow the city's Capital Plan and Zoning Bylaw.

The bylaw outlines what kind of buildings are allowed in certain areas of Iqaluit. The Butler building beside Capital Suites falls in an area permitting mixed uses, setting the stage for almost any proposal.

The public works garage, called the Air Base Garage, near the Four Corners, falls in the central commercial zone, which comes with a list of potential uses under the bylaw, such as a community centre, a daycare, nursing home, and tourist centre.

Harper said he's confident Iqaluit's budget crunch will push council to open the lots up for development, but he stressed that councillors should not stray from the Capital Plan and Zoning Bylaw.

Developers like Harper grew uneasy under the last city council, which bypassed development guidelines several times and recently rejected a much-needed housing project proposed by a company Harper is associated with. In the past, Harper has accused council of turning him down because he didn't cater to their aesthetic tastes.

"I say follow the bylaw," said Harper, a trustee for Northern Property Real Estate Investment Trust and member of New North Project Limited's board of directors. "There's a list of what a developer can put on those lots. The city should not micro-manage that development any farther than to simply ensure that what goes on the lot is one of those things on that list."

Iqaluit councils have been trying to unload the two properties for years, according to the city's former mayor.

John Matthews, owner of Atiilu Real Estate and Property Management, said the last council under his leadership wanted to sell the lots, but never got around to it.

Now, Matthews encourages the new council to give their stamp of approval to the sale, saying it would be the "sensible" decision.

"That's valuable land that could be developed," Matthews said.

Matthews estimates five years have passed since council has made downtown land available for development.

Councillors will debate opening the property for development at the next planning and engineering committee meeting, April 20.

TOP

Advertising
Specs, rates,
& maps
Multi-paper
buying services
About the market
E-mail ad dept

More Information