If you wish to examine what happened in the Revitalization of Downtown Prince George from 2008 to 2012, you have to factor in the Downtown Business Improvement Association, more commonly known as the DBIA. The DBIA was front and centre for a time during those 4 years.

 

Within just a few weeks of the Province’s Speech from the Throne which announced a Wood Innovation would be built in Prince George, a detailed plan emerged  promoting a “New Downtown” which indicated the promised Wood Innovation Centre as well as a UNBC campus would be built on the 400 block of George St.

 

Those plans originated with the Commonwealth Group of Companies . Commonwealth had applied for and received a 1 million dollar interest free loan  under the Western Diversification’s Community Adjustment Fund to renovate the Chances Gaming Centre. Chances was, at the time, the newest building in downtown Prince George, but shortly after opening, the gaming operations were moved to the Treasure Cove Casino at highways 16 and 97. The Chances Gaming Centre qualified for the tax incentives already in place to encourage development in the downtown, incentives which would allow property owners significant savings in their property taxes because of the new development.

 

Commonwealth would qualify for the tax incentives on its renovations of Chances, converting it into what was billed as a Medical Centre.

 

The tax break in 2009 would be $33,384.00,  a break of  just over $35 thousand in 2010 and a further $68 thousand tax break in 2011.

 

As noted in the promotional material being circulated at the time, the “New Downtown Implementation Team” included;  Dan McLaren, President of Commonwealth Health; Heather Oland of L&M Engineering; David McWalter of L&M Engineering and City Councillor  Shari Green. As we were to learn later, Oland, McWalter, McLaren were also to become Directors in a new company Commonwealth Campus which was in the process of buying up much of the 400 block of George St. including the lots where the Prince George Hotel stood at the corner of George and 5^th. That is the corner where the Wood Innovation  Centre was proposed and the site would eventually be the one selected by City Council.

 

Some, if not all, of the members of this group were working hard behind the scenes to try and obtain tax breaks for downtown development of 20, 30 and even 40 years.

 

 In August of 2009, Councillor  Shari Green, along with Dan McLaren and others, met with Minister of Community and Rural Development, Bill Bennett in Victoria. The subject of that meeting was tax breaks for 20, 30 or up to 40 years for downtown development. While Green charged the City of Prince George for her travel from Vancouver to Victoria, she said that she was just there as an observer. In May of 2010 Green would go on to say that the move to have a 20, 30 or 40 year exemption plan may be expensive, the city could not afford not to try to have such a tool as this available.   Councillor Cameron Stolz would stand beside her in that support of the long term tax break plan.

 

By now, in her capacity as a Councillor, would Green not have had information through Council that the entire 400 block of George St was being bought up by Commonwealth Campus? Was she aware of the City’s attempts to purchase the Prince George Hotel? That is a matter that would have been discussed in closed sessions. The City would also soon  ( if not already) be involved in discussions with   the NDI Trust, and Commonwealth  about the purchase of the Prince George Hotel.

 

On March 31^st 2010, The DBIA annual meeting saw a major change in leadership. Amongst those elected to the board of the DBIA were, Don Kehler, Gordon Langer, Dan McLaren, David McWalter and, Heather Oland. Of the 12 members elected to the board, five held directorships in Commonwealth companies. Hugh Nicholson Publisher of the Prince George Citizen was named chairman of the DBIA Board.

 

In an April 9-2010 Discussion paper to the board, the matter of the DBIA buying property in the down town was discussed along with “a new downtown by 2012”, and a 30 year tax abatement.

 

That triggered the resignation of three of the board members, long time downtown merchants, Blair Moffat, Paul Williams and Kirk Gable who said they had a different vision for downtown than what was being put forward.

 

On May 17^th-2010 City Council received the Neilson –Welch report which told council that 20-30 or 40 year tax breaks would not work in the city. They pointed out that they failed in the USA and Prince George would be perceived as being desperate for business if they tried it. The report pointed out that of the $13.5 million dollars in tax exemptions already in place, $10.5 million was going to Chances Gaming Centre, and the balance was made up in renovations. Both Green and Stolz said they were not pleased with the report and would not vote to even accept it.

 

On May 25th-2010 the new DBIA held a private workshop. The meeting room was lined with architectural renderings of campuses, student housing, and other developments.

 

Many of the drawings are surprising similar to those shown in the original Commonwealth pitches.

 

On the same date, the head of Initiatives Prince George , Tim McEwan sent an e-mail to Hugh Nicholson DBIA President saying that IPG would no longer participate in the DBIA Board on an ex-officio basis, nor would it participate in the private meeting of the DBIA. McEwan went on to say that IPG will continue to participate and advance its priorities for downtown renewal through the Downtown Partnership, a  committee  of  stakeholders  which had been established by Mayor Dan Rogers.

 

That move by McEwan would be one of the major reasons that would lead to his departure from IPG.

 

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Next: The new DBIA’s budget raises eyebrows and questions.  Part 5 will be  posted on Wednesday

Editor’s Note: Because of the sensitive nature of this series, there will be no comments allowed.