[trueviking]

government owned property does not have the same rules as privately owned property. The reason a building permit is required for private land owners is to prevent the things you claim will always happen….parking lots, lower tax bills etc…..Being locked into a development agreement with CentreVenture acts the same as a building permit in this case because there is no opportunity to bait and switch to make parking lots or empty sites with lower taxes.

I share your confidence that something will happen there because of this development agreement with CentreVenture....if they are unable to make a project work, the property reverts to public ownership and a new development opportunity will be sought...in fact, another great thing about having CentreVenture involved is that they were able to put the cost of demolition on the developer while maintaining a strict development agreement that says if the project doesn’t materialize, the property returns to public ownership. In this situation the public will have essentially gotten the demolition for free and the site will be even more attractive to the next opportunity….maybe Red River College will buy it.

land is a material cost to development.

also...it wasn't the same cost.....St. Mary's should not be held up as an example of what a slam dunk it is to do downtown development.