St. Albert city council has authorized the sale of two parcels of city-owned land in Campbell Business Park.
During its Jan. 31 meeting, council went in camera to discuss the sale of 65 Carleton Drive and 20 Carleton Drive. After coming out of camera, council voted to authorize the sale of both parcels of land.
The agenda report for the meeting said the conversation had to be in private because council was seeking advice from officials, and information disclosed during the session could result in financial loss, affect the city's competitive position, or interfere with the city’s negotiation process.
According to a listing on Omada commercial real estate’s website, 65 Carleton Drive is a 2.59-acre parcel of land with an asking price of $1.5 million; 20 Carleton Drive, a 0.96-acre parcel of land, has a listed asking price of $600,000.
When asked how much the land is valued at, and who the buyer of the lands will be, city spokesperson Cory Sinclair said the buyer has requested the details of the transaction remain confidential until closing.
In 2009, city council rejected the possibility of selling both 20 Carleton Drive and 40 Chevigny Street, opting instead to save them for possible future use. Later in 2017, both the St. Albert Food Bank and Dynamyx Gymnastics Club approached the city with pitches for 65 Carleton Drive, but the land remained in the city’s hands.
When asked what prompted the sales, Sinclair said the city has received “several inquiries” about the vacant properties.
“When considering 20 and 65 Carleton Drive, the city factored in the fact that the land has sat vacant for several years, that there were no identified current nor near-term needs for these lands for the city’s own purposes, and that St. Albert has a low supply of industrial land in general,” Sinclair said.
Sinclair said St. Albert owns “many parcels across the city,” including but not limited to land designated as municipal reserve, utility and road parcels, and individually titled parcels.
Mayor Cathy Heron said council has always been open to selling the land in Campbell Business Park.
"Maybe there was some reservation to get rid of the land before we knew what our purposes and needs were," Heron said.
She said that as part of Campbell Business Park, the land is best suited for industrial use by private business.
"The timing is right," Heron said.
40 Chevigny Street
City council also voted to authorize the sale of a third Campbell Business Park property — 40 Chevigny Street — during its Dec. 6 meeting late last year. This discussion was also held in camera. Omada lists the 1.42-acre parcel at Chevigny Street at $880,000.
Omada Commercial confirmed Rucon Contracting purchased the parcel to use as an operations facility.
Dan Ruzza, owner of Rucon, did not respond to The Gazette’s interview request by the time of publication on Tuesday.
Proceeds of the sale of city-owned lands go to the city’s land reserve, a fund the city uses to buy other property inside St. Albert.
