River Landing: Remai Ventures sells former Royal Canadian Legion property to Lake Placid River Landing Inc.
It appears the former Royal Canadian Legion, Branch #63, property located at 315 19th Street East in downtown Saskatoon has been sold.
According to land records posted on the Information Services Corporation of Saskatchewan (ISC) website, Lake Placid River Landing Inc. now own the two parcels of land that comprise the former Legion site. The value of each parcel is listed at $749,995.00, which means the total for both is $1,499,990.00. It appears the sale occurred on or about February 1, 2008.
The two parcels of land had been purchased by Remai Ventures Inc. in February 2006 for a reported $1-million. ISC records showed the value of each to be $500,000.00.
The two parcels in question and their size are as follows:
#144927333 – 0.21 acres
#136212779 – 0.04 acres
The total area of the two parcels is 0.25 acres, which works out to about 10,890 square feet. It would seem that Lake Placid has paid approximately $137.74 a square foot for the property.
Still in question is the city-owned laneway that is situated behind the former Legion property. According to a Dec. 6, 2006, email from the city assessor the lane is 5,881.38 square feet or 0.135 acres.
"As this is a city owned public lane, we do not place an assessment value on the land. This is the same as all other streets and lanes in the city -- there is no assessment value," the assessor said.
Any sale of land normally goes before City Council for approval in the case of a lane closure which this would be if it were sold.
Is the city contemplating selling the laneway to Lake Placid? If so, for how much?
No official announcement has been made on this or the sale of the former Legion property and there has been no word on whether Lake Placid now intends to rework its River Landing Parcel "Y" proposal to incorporate the additional land. Once again it seems the public is the last to know.
Furthermore, the city has yet to explain why the Lake Placid Investments Inc. proposal does not appear to comply with the Expressions of Interest that was issued in May 2007 or the DCD1 zoning guidelines for the area. To read more on that issue click here.
posted by Joe Kuchta @ 12:55 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
It is also interesting to note that , although the sale of the former Legion property to Lake Placid did not occur until on or about Feb. 1, 2008, a week before the sale I received the following response from the MVA to my concern about the secretive way in which this deal is going through:
"As you may know, Lake Placid purchased the former Legion site and are now working on a new proposal that incorporates that site into their plans for Parcel Y. Meewasin and the City expect to receive this new proposal within a matter of weeks. We will then be in a position to evaluate the proposed development against our respective policies."
Note the use of the past tense verb "purchased" in the above message which I received Jan. 24, 2008. Note also the ambiguous pronoun reference: who are "we"?
It is very clear to me that the City of Saskatoon is being less than honest and is pushing this development through without any concern for the valid issues that have been brought to their attention by Joe Kuchta and others. Don't give up, Joe -- you are doing the right thing!
The "we" in that response would the The City and The MVA. Both bodies have to approve any proposal.
And yes, the City is continuing its habit of not being very forthcoming about information. My feeling is that the Mayor, some Councillors, and some Managers simply do not trust the people of Saskatoon to make "intelligent" decisions.
So very sad.
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