Trail city council has awarded a $25,000 contract to a consultant who will explore what can be done with a couple of vacant downtown lots.
CitySpaces Consulting Ltd. was one of 11 companies that responded to the city’s request for proposals for a downtown development feasibility study.
They will be tasked with exploring options for 901 Helena Street and 900 Spokane Street, the former sites of the C.S. Williams Clinic and the Trail Mercantile/Eaton’s/Towne Square Mall/Liquidation World respectively. The city demolished both buildings last year.
A committee established to figure out how to revitalize the sites recommended to council that a consultant be hired to do a study. CitySpaces, which is based in Vancouver, came out with top marks based on the city’s criteria. The same company has been involved with local projects including Rossland Yards, Blizzard Mountain Place in Fruitvale, and the Trail Villa redevelopment that is currently underway.
A report to council said CitySpaces’ proposal included assessing the market and identifying ways to get money. The company has experience working with organizations including BC Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the Columbia Basin Trust. The only drawback that city staff identified was that CitySpaces’ community engagement was more limited than what was set out in the request for proposals. However, staff felt this was outweighed by the company’s other strengths.
While the city indicated it had set aside $25,000 for the study, the proposals came back with a wide range of figures attached. CitySpaces committed to doing the work for the city’s budgeted amount plus tax. City staff said they double checked with proponents who were on budget to make sure they undrestood the scope of the work.
City manager Colin McClure commented that the 11 submissions represented “a significant level of interest for a project of this nature in a community of our size.”
“CitySpaces brings experience with a number of similar development projects in the region, providing a good understanding of our local market and development environment,” he added. “This experience will be valuable in developing the feasibility study and identifying future development opportunities and ideas.”
Before council approved the contract, city staff brought the results of the call for proposals to the downtown development committee. Corporate services director David Moorhead said the committee asked about CitySpaces’ experience in finding partners and operators for similar projects.
He said the company has partnered with non-profits in both development and operation of residential projects, including the Lower Columbia Affordable Housing Society and Nelson CARES. And while the company hasn’t been involved in a mixed-use development with commercial spaces in the Kootenays, it has done so in the Lower Mainland.
The study is expected to look at things like potential sizes and leasing rates and determine what the local market would sustain.
“It gives us a roadmap of what can be put there based on costs, based on availability, accessibility, infrastructure, and then what is the right path based on that feasibility,” said councillor Thea Hanson, who sits on the downtown development committee.
She said that based on the outcome of the study, the city may issue another request for proposals from the private sector, seek a public-private partnership, or team up with a non-profit housing society.
Moorhead said the process is slightly behind schedule due to the number of proposals the city had to evaluate, but they expect the completed study should be before council in mid-January.
