$2.2M tentative deal reached to sell Capital Pointe land in downtown Regina

A tentative deal has been inked to sell the land in downtown Regina connected to the ill-fated Capital Pointeproject.

Regina-based Royalty Developments Ltd. put forward anoffer of$2.2 millionin addition to the assumption of certain property taxes, documents from a mortgage trustee say.

The president of Royalty Developments is Anthony Marquart, who is also known as one of the co-owners of the Regina Pats.

Troubled history at site

The land in question is at a key intersection in the downtown the corner of Albert Street and Victoria Avenue.

When developers unveiled the Capital Pointe project earlier in the decade, it was envisioned asa multi-million-dollar,27-storey condo and hotel complex.

However, it never got past the stage of being a hole in the ground. Critics said it was an eyesore.

The city eventually moved to have the hole filled in for safety reasons.

When the land was first posted for sale in April of this year, the asking price for the1971 Albert St.location was $8.5 million.

The price of the property was lowered in Augustbut no offers were received until Nov. 7.

According toFAAN Mortgage Administrators, thecompany acting as a trustee in the case, only two offers were made on the propertyand the ownerchose to accept the offer from Royalty.

Over $2 million in property taxes and other costs areowed to the city by the Capital Pointeowner. That includesthe cost of backfilling the hole.

Deal headed to court

The hearing to approve the sale will be held on Dec. 12 at 10a.m. CST at the Court of Queen's Bench in Regina.

It's not clear yet if the sale will be opposed.

According to a FAAN Mortgage document published on Nov. 22,if the $2.2 million figure is approved, there won't be enough of a profit from the saleto pay back everyone who was an investor in the project.