Plans for parking lot at former Capital Pointe site in Regina put on hold

A discussion at Regina city hall Wednesdayraised the possibility of putting a temporary parking lot on the site of the former Capital Pointe project,

But it looks like the notoriousAlbert Street site will remain empty for the time being, after theRegina Planning Commission voted to send the proposal back to city administration.

Eleven years ago,developers promiseda multimillion-dollar, 27-storey condo and hotel complex at1971 Albert St.

But work on the Capital Pointeproject stopped in 2017, leaving only a big hole in the ground, which the city had to backfill itself in 2019 for safety reasons.

The future of the property,located in the heart of the downtown at the corner of Albert Street and Victoria Avenue, wasagain back on the table Wednesday before the city's planning commission.

According to city documents, anunnamed developer referred toas "the prospective purchaser of the subject property pursuant to a court ordered sale" wants to do something with the property, but asked for approval to use it as a parking lot first, for a period of a year.

There were few details about the developer's plans.

"The [parking lot] development is intended as an interim use to facilitate further plans for future development of the site,"the public agenda for the Regina Planning Commission's Wednesday afternoon meetingsaid.

The agenda included a motion that the planning commission vote to recommend a proposed rezoning to allow for the parking lot.

Hadthe commission approved the plan, the rezoning proposal would go tocity council for final approval.

However, that didn't happen.

Instead, the commission voted to send the proposal back to city administration until a new policy on temporary parking lots is released early next year.

Potential future developments on the site

The now-in-limboproposedparking lot would have included 87 parking stalls, in addition to eight stalls for bicycle and motorcycle parking.

The unnamed applicant has indicated they have looked into different development plans during the last 18 months, with a timeline of up to two years "to complete the requisite steps in the predevelopment process and 24-30 months to build on site," the commission's agenda said.

The applicant is quoted in theagenda as stating that the use of the land as a parking lot during the predevelopment phase would ensure the taxes are maintained during that time, "without the need to levy the property with additional debt that could stall or inhibit the building process."

Not everybody in Regina was happy about the possibility the site of the once glamorous project could becomea parking lot.

The Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID)provided only"tentative support" for the use of the space as a temporary parking lot for"no more than one year."

"It is our hope that the applicant will soon be able to develop a project that recognizes and celebrates the gateway into our downtown," the organization said in a letter to the city.

Someresponses the city received, included in thepublic agenda, strike a similar tone.

"We do not need another parking lot, especially on that major corner," one responsesays.