Developer says it will build Capital Pointe, city takes further legal action

The developer responsible for the big hole in the heart of downtown Reginais committing to building its Capital Pointe project at the site even as the City of Regina seeks an end to delays by filling the hole.

WestgateProperties has been ordered by an appeals board to finish the project by 2022.

"The option is to proceed to build it and our client has elected to proceed with that, and we'll be taking the next steps to comply with the order," said Neil Abbott, lawyer for Westgate Properties.

The Capital Pointe hotel and condo tower was first announced in 2009but ongoing delays in construction haveleft the site as an excavation pit until now.

In April, the City of Regina sought an order to fill the hole, but the Saskatchewan Building and Accessibility Standards Appeal Board gave the developer a timeline: build the project, fix the hole by turning it into a permanent excavation, or backfill the hole as the city wants.

Abbott said Westgate has met a Sept. 30 deadline from that board to choose an option, and will continue on with its plan to build.

The appeal board's order lays out a number of steps that the developer must take, including completing the building by 2022. Abbott said thetimeline is "prescriptive".

"There's lots of details that have to go into this, etcetera, as you start to build."

The city has challenged the appeal board's decision through the Court of Queen's Bench. A hearing will be held on Oct. 23.

Abbott saidhis client feels that if the city's appeal is successful, it will set the project back to square one again.

"If they set aside the board's order, then all things are back up in the air again," he said.

"But as of now, it remains our client's intention to continue with the project on the site and we'll see what happens in the future."