The City of Castlegar has sold two properties to private-sector interests pending a two-week public notification period.
A five-acre parcel at the south end of the West Kootenay Centre lands adjacent to the West Kootenay Regional Airport has been sold for $1.2 million to a developer who intends to construct commercial services on the site. The area is the section of land that would be across the highway from where the weigh scales are located.
“This is a first sale of what will ultimately be a mixed-use commercial development of the 39-acre site — the last remaining large block commercial lands in the West Kootenays,” said a City of Castlegar press release.
The city is not allowed to release many details at this point as the developers have a period for doing due diligence before final plans are made, but Castlegar CAO Chris Barlow said to expect more announcements in about three months.
Barlow also said city officials had first met this developer at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) Whistler Conference in January 2016.
The delegation representing the city at that conference had come up with a unique way of being noticed — they wore matching orange hats and ties. It appears that the move may have paid off because the developer mentioned remembering Castlegar and the orange outfits.
The second property is the former City Centre Motel site at 1101 – 2nd Street which was sold for $145,000. The developer of that property intends to build multi-family housing on the site, targeted at Selkirk College’s rapidly growing student population.
“These purchases indicate the strength of investment interest in Castlegar,” says Mayor Lawrence Chernoff. “These developments mean jobs and economic growth for our community, and a new housing option that will support the vibrancy of Selkirk College. Together with a number of other initiatives on the go, we are working hard to be a community that residents are proud of, and that is investment and tourism-friendly.”