City looks to sell Cow Bay land to Prince Rupert Port Authority

Tucked away in the back pages of Wednesday's weekly newspaper is a notice from the City of Prince Rupert of its plan to sell two parcels of land in the Cow Bay area to the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

The land to be sold appears to make up the median that leads to the Prince Rupert Cruise Terminal and the Parking Lot across from the Atlin Terminal in Cow Bay, the proposed sale described as fee simple.

The two areas to be sold are noted as Area A and Area B on the map below:

The City of Prince Rupert has declared its notice of intention
to sell two parcels of land in the Cow Bay area to the
Prince Rupert Port Authority

The value of the property is estimated to be $933,223.00 and it's noted in the Public Notice of this week that the property is not available for public acquisition.

To this point there is no notice posted to the City of Prince Rupert website, leaving the Public Notice in the weekly paper as the only advisory on the Intent to Sell.

There has also been no public discussion in Council chambers this year related to the prospect of selling the city owned land.

It's not the first time that the topic of selling the Atlin area parking lot and the median in the area has come up for review.  Back in March of 2006 the City gave consideration to selling the land, with then Mayor Pond stating at the time that the city was hoping to see the property developed by local business owners for use on a year round basis.

Eventually the City would list the properties with Colliers International which described the properties as such:

Property Description (2006):

Colliers International on behalf of the City of Prince Rupert is pleased to present the exclusive sale offering of the Atlin Uplands Waterfront development sites. The Atlin Uplands represents 3 land parcels of prime waterfront development opportunity. 

Located along the harbourfront in the Cow Bay area of Prince Rupert, the lands provide for mixed-use development with spectacular views, easy access, and close proximity to local amenities. The Atlin Uplands are arguably the most strategically located development opportunities in the City. 

The City of Prince Rupert is seeking Proposals for a Purchase and Sale or Lease of the lands in an effort to promote year round activities on the lands. The lands are comprised of three distinct yet connected sites totaling approximately 70,000 sq.ft

As the city still owns the land in question, those efforts of ten years ago didn't provide for the kind of financial reward that the City had clearly been hoping for.

The City would subsequently pave the land over at the time, making use of the property as a seasonal pay parking lot in recent years.

One of two parcels of land (on the right) that the City has provided notice of its intent
to sell to the Prince Rupert Port Authority

Anyone who has any questions concerning the proposed disposition of land, is asked to submit written comments to Rory Mandryk, the City's  Corporate Administrator.

You can submit your comments by email to rory.mandryk@princerupert.ca, by fax at 250-627-0999, or by mailing them, or dropping them off at City Hall, 424 3rd Avenue West V8J 1L7.

The deadline to submit comments related to the proposed sale is 4 PM Friday, April 8th, 2016.

For more items related to developments from the City of Prince Rupert see our Council Discussion page here.