Not long after the Northern Development Initiatives Trust had approved a loan of up to $8,887,500.00 for the purchase of the properties in the 400 block of George Street, the parcel was offered up to the University of Northern B.C. for $12,000,000.00 dollars.

 

So,  who from NDI Trust made the pitch, and what was their purpose in making the offer?

 

Certainly, when the loan was initially given the green light ( although the exact terms and conditions have not been revealed) there were some questions raised. Had NDI Trust moved into the private lending field? Was that included in its mandate when it was formed?

While we do not know the exact date, in a strange twist, we learned that all of the property that Commonwealth Campuses was assembling in the 400 block of George St was offered to UNBC for 12 million dollars. What is not known is whether the property would be turned over to UNBC on an “as is” basis.   In it’s proposal to the NDI Trust for the loan, Commonwealth  Campuses had suggested that the entire block could be purchased for $5,925,000. With the addition of demolition, environmental clean up, a 25 % contingency fund , Project management costs of $400,000, a contingency of $350,000 , developer fees of $375,000, and taxes, legal’s and closing of $300,000 that figure grew to $12,250,000.

 

Commonwealth Campuses did not have a history of being a land developer. Although directors of the company had experience in neighbourhood planning, real estate, financing and engineering, this newly formed company had not previously developed any property.

When asked who made the pitch to the University, former NDI Trust Chairman, Bruce Sutherland in an interview said he “couldn’t remember any of the events”. Janine North, the Executive Director of the Trust said she, “Did not ever make a suggestion to UNBC to buy the property for that sum of money”.

 

It is known, and is acknowledged by UNBC executives, that the offer was made but the cost was deemed as too expensive.

 

At the time, the newly installed President of UNBC, George Iwama suggested that he would like the university to help in the development of the downtown, but it comes with a price. What would the extra cost be to locate a satellite campus downtown? If for example raw logs will be required, would it not be better served to have the facility located near UNBC’s existing infrastructure where access is much improved over the downtown location?

 

It was clear, the extra cost for a satellite campus in the downtown would fall on the shoulders of the UNBC budget and there would be limited benefits. The University already has one building  and adjacent property in the downtown, but those holdings are not in the immediate area of the   400 block that was being offered. The cost of a new satellite campus downtown would put added pressure on what is already a very tight budget at UNBC.

 

While there has been a great deal of speculation that the   proposed Wood Innovation and Design Centre will be home to some new programs ( possibly engineering?) to date, there has been no commitment from the Provincial government for funding to operate any educational programs  within the Wood Innovation Design Centre. 

 

It is also not known whether the old PG hotel site, which constituted eight of the lots from the block, were part of the parcel being offered to UNBC given that the City had already entered into negotiations with the NDI Trust and Commonwealth to purchase that property.

 

In the loan proposal put forward by Commonwealth Campuses the figure of $2 million is listed as the purchase price of the hotel property and its 4 lots that were used for parking.   No mention is made of the beer and wine license valued by people in the industry to be worth , ( at the time) somewhere between three hundred and five hundred thousand dollars. The Ramada did purchase the Beer and Wine License and it was subsequently re sold to another Prince George company.

 

That raises the question of who came up with the idea that a developer’s fee of $500,000 should be attached to the price if the City wanted to purchase the property? 

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In our next column, big changes in the Downtown Business Improvement Association.

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