What was once known as the Moose Jaw Lions Junior Band Hall is being sold by the city.
On Monday night, Moose Jaw City Council approved the sale of the property at 441 Fairford St. W. to R.L. McLauchlan Holdings Ltd. for a price tag of $241,050. The sale passed city council unanimously.
Director of Community Service Derek Blais explained that the building was put up for sale through a tendering process.
“In September, there was a tender issued with a reseve bid of $230,000 for this property. The reserve bid was based on a recent third-party appraisal of the property,” Blais said.
The city only received one bid with R.L. McLauchlan Holdings paying a deposit of 10 per cent of the purchasing price.
Most recently the property was owned by the City of Moose Jaw and was used as the city’s sports equipment library and storage for the Playground Program and the engineering and facilities departments.
According to city administration, the property was recently appraised by a third-party appraiser that determined the fair market value was the reserve bid of $230,000. Coun. Jamey Logan felt R.L. McLauchlan Holdings’ bid was a fair price.
“I think we are getting fair value for this building. The folks that are purchasing it will be a bang-up job and renovate as needed and its just going to generate additional tax revenue for the city,” Logan said.
Last year, the city got quotes to partially renovate the building by replacing the exterior doors and windows, adding an overhead door, completing washroom renovations, upgrading the furnace and HVAC systems, upgrade lighting and painting the exterior. The estimated cost to fix up the building was $135,000. Blais added that the city hasn’t put any major investments into the building over the past 10 years.
Blais told city council that the sale would bring in additional tax revenue.
“If the sale process as recommended, the city would receive a minimum of just over $4,000 is annual tax revenue. This assessment could increase depending on the type of business that is proposed for the site as different models to assess commercial properties would be used,” he explained.
Mayor Clive Tolley spoke in favour of the sale, saying it was a win-win situation.
“I applaud our city manager and our city staff for taking a property this is being not fully utilized and used and not being in any tax revenue and putting it out there for sale,” Tolley said.
Coun. Crystal Froese was in favour of the sale, but talked a little bit about the building’s history in Moose Jaw.
“It's kind of sad to see the Moose Jaw Lions Band big logo on the front. It is definitely the end of that era. There is a lot of history in our city with the Moose Jaw Lions. It's really great to see us moving forward and really looking forward to seeing what the new owners are going to be doing with their business there,” Froese said.
Coun. Doug Blanc also spoke in favour of the sale, but asked Blais if the company would have to come back to city council with a rezoning application.
Blais said that, yes, depending on what they decide to use the property for, they may had to apply for rezoning or a discretionary use application.