Iqaluit requests proposals for land around old RCMP building

The City of Iqaluit has put out a request for proposals seeking a firm willing to lease and develop a parcel of land around the old RCMP building, on the condition that they demolish the old building and respect a caveat that gives Nunastar a right of access to the former CBC building and the nearby Creekside Village rowhouses. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)

The days are numbered for Iqaluit’s old RCMP building next to Iqaluit’s Astro Hill complex, following a call for proposals on the site’s future that also promises a big payday for the city’s coffers.

The city’s planning and development department, which issued the request for proposal Feb. 1, said bids under $840,000 would not be accepted for a parcel of land that includes the old RCMP detachment building on Astro Hill.

The building has stood vacant since 2010, when the RCMP moved into its new headquarters on Federal Rd., but had once been considered by the Uquutaq Society as an alternative location for its men’s shelter.

But environmental assessments from 2009 dashed hopes of carrying out that idea, suggesting that a cleanup of the lot seemed a certainty for any new tenants.

In early 2016, the city picked up the lot in a package of properties relinquished by the federal government.

Now, the city is eager to turn the page on the long-neglected lot, stipulating in its conditions for applicants that demolition of the existing structure “will need to be completed no later than December 31, 2017.”

A point system to grade applicants is weighted in favour of developers with the earliest construction start date, with maximum points for dates on or before Oct. 31, 2018, a procedural form states.

The lot is currently zoned as a central business area, allowing for a variety of uses—such as hotel, workshops, gas station, retail, eating or drinking establishment or offices, to name a few.

A conditional usage also allows for dwelling units in any future building, provided they do not exceed a certain percentage of the site’s total square footage.

Last November, executives from Nunastar Properties Inc. appeared before Iqaluit’s city council requesting a chance to bid on the property.

The lot would add to Nunastar’s already substantial Astro Hill holdings that include the Frobisher Inn, Storehouse Bar and Grill, Astro Theatre and the recently vacated CBC offices.

The RCMP lot is critical to the company’s plans to renovate the CBC building into a two-storey retail and residential building, as well as rebrand the area into an “Astro Hill Centre,” said Nunastar’s chief operating officer, Bruce Alton.

That’s because Nunastar needs service access to the CBC building and nearby Creekside Village through the RCMP lot.

But, regardless of who wins the tender, that access is unlikely to change.

According to conditions laid out by the city, the property is already subject to a “caveat filed by Nunastar Properties Inc. claiming right of access over a portion of the property.”

“The City shall not be obligated to take any steps to remove that caveat.”

All proposals for the site’s development must be submitted before the city’s deadline of Feb. 24.

The city will announce the successful proponent at City Hall March 1 at 10 a.m.