Downtown land deal to go under microscope

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says the city needs an investigation into a downtown Calgary development deal.

The city partnered with a private developer to build an affordable housing tower at Louise Station on Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street S.W. near Eau Claire.

But an independent real estate expert has said this week that the city might have lost as much as $10 million on the sale to the LaCaille Group.

Nenshi said he's going to have more eyes go over the deal.

"I'm going to be asking for two external experts one in the area of appraisal and one in the area of construction to help us go through the documents and understand what we're doing and then we'lldetermine the next steps after that," Nenshi said.

The deal also included the sale of a riverside property on First Avenue S.W., which hasn't yet been developed.

Ald. Diane Colley Urquhart said that bringing in an outside consultant to go over the deal isn't enough to get the job done, instead suggesting there be an independent, arms-length investigation into the matter.

"There were a number things that were raised that caused a number of concerns right from the get-go," said Colley-Urquhart. "When council was provided information, what they were told, when they were told it, how it related to the decision they made, whether it was complete information those sort of things."

The two-tower Louise Station project, opened in February, includes 88 affordable housing units, fire and EMS stations and a mix of commercial and office space.

The public-private partnership required funding of $27 million from the city and the province.