The city held a technical briefing and media conference this morning to provide more information on the Regina Revitalization Initiative. Because of a prior commitment I wasn’t able to make it. So I’m just working off the news release here, which contains details on the RRI, plus the funding proposal that has been submitted to the Government of Saskatchewan.
The RRI plan will feature the redevelopment of 17.5 acres of the 33 acre CP Rail yard with commercial, residential and retail opportunities. Assuming the CP land is purchased this spring, environmental remediation and development will begin by 2014 once CP has vacated the site. There’s mention in the news release of a pedestrain walkway crossing the tracks to provide for a link between the downtown and Warehouse District.
The plan also calls for a new open-air city-owned and operated stadium (capacity 33,000) to be built at Evraz Place. Construction on the stadium would start in 2013, with completion in 2016. The current Mosaic Stadium would then be demolished, and redevelopment of that 20 acre site to create a mixed-use neighbourhood would begin, with a ten to 15 year timeline to redevelop both properties.
Now to the money part. The total proposed public investment is $348.3 million. That breaks down to $278.2 million for the stadium, and $45.7 million and $24.4 million to redevelop the CP and old Mosaic lands respectively. This investment, says the city, will leverage an additional $700 million in private money to develop the CP and Mosaic lands.
The city has requested $230 million from the province, with $200 million going to the stadium and $30 million to the CP and Mosaic lands. It’s also requested $30 million from the federal government for redevelopment of the same two properties. Finally, the city will kick in $88.3 million, with that figure including the value of the contributed land.
So there you have it.