City set to close another land deal, with plan of disposition of land located adjacent the Civic Centre

The City of Prince Rupert has plans for a
proposed property disposition for a number of
lots at the northern end of the Civic Centre area
at the corner of 9th West and McBride

 

When they're taking some idle time at City Hall between their scheduled Council gatherings, the most popular activity for the city's Council members must be a rousing round of Monopoly. 

Such it seems is their penchant these days for wheeling and dealing in real estate of late, with yet another land deal seemingly percolating this week.

When they're not sub-leasing recently acquired warehouse space, or consolidating lots for future housing development, the City of Prince Rupert is selling off land, though somewhat under the radar and in this instance, as part of an arrangement that it appears is destined for one customer only.

A notice in the back pages of the local newspaper takes us to the scene of what will be the City's next real estate transaction, a plan of disposition of land at the corner of Ninth Avenue West and McBride, for most of us that's the grassy patch of land at the entrance to the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre off of McBride.

And in this case the City of Prince Rupert is apparently on its way to passing by Go and collecting $225,000.

The recipients of the proposed Disposition are named as Trustees of Prince Rupert congregation of Jehovah Witness, who one imagines must have some plans for the land at some point in the future. 

The pending purchase of the land does seem to offer up a few more quesitons to keep an eye out for when it comes to future announcements. 

First and foremost what is the future for the existing Jehovah Witness building on Third Avenue East, the prime real estate is located adjacent to the Prince Rupert Court House and is one of the most recognizable structures at the eastern gateway into the downtown core. 

The Jehovah Witness Hall on Third Ave East

Those following the ever changing nature of the downtown area, will surely be watching to see what comes next for the building and its land and what use it may see into the future, as well as if the city may be in the mix when it comes to re-development of that site if that should be it's fate.

As for the Ninth west sale, despite hosting a council session of only fourteen minutes last week, the City's Council members provided no sense of a preview of the proposed land sale; nor if any other moving parts may be on the way related to the reasoning behind the sale of city land in a prime location.

It calls to mind the rather low key and off the radar approach that Council took to the Canfisco warehouse arrangement with Canadian Fish earlier this year, which was also more or less moved forward through the back page of the weekly newspaper and without much mention in the Council chamber.

Perhaps the October 5th council session might help shed some light for city residents and taxpayers on the land machinations that once again are in play in Prince Rupert.

So far the Notice of proposed property disposition is only to be found in the back pages of the paper, with the City to this point offering no indication of their plans through the city website, or any of their social media options.

For those looking  to view the full copy of the proposed property disposition, or who may want more information related to it, you can contact Ms. Rosamaria Miller, Corporate Administrator for the City of Prince Rupert at 250-627-0934. 

Ms. Miller will be entertaining inquiries related to the topic until 4 PM on October 2nd.

More notes on items of interest from Prince Rupert City Council can be explored through our archive page.