This rendering of the new hockey arenas was part of a submission to Prince Albert City Council several months ago. (Submitted Photo/City of Prince Albert)

By Susan McNeil

Development

New hotel gets permit for Yard District

Aug 9, 2022 | 8:00 AM

A new hotel that will be built in ‘The Yard’ district got a development permit from city council yesterday.

Councillor Blake Edwards said the jobs and development are a positive change for the city.

“This is a good thing for our city. I think once the buildings start to be visual and we can see the structures up, boy it’s going to be a great thing for Prince Albert,” said Edwards.

Councillor Dennis Ogrodnick pointed out that the tax base will increase as a result of the new buildings as will the destination marketing levy, which helps pay for many projects.

“That destination marketing levy, as we know, funds all sort of projects, all kinds of projects in the city,” he said.

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When groups have an event that results in people using hotels in the city, some of the money in the levy is granted to the organization.

“The more construction that we have, that’s what will build our destinations marketing fund which will build all our groups in Prince Albert,” he said.

The hotel is the first construction project to be given a permit in The Yard but Signature Developments, which is behind the project, said in early June that the site was about 65 per cent sold out.

Construction has started on the two arenas and aquatics centre, being built as a cornerstone for the area by the city.

The concept of The Yard is as an entertainment district and other discussed projects include strip malls, vehicle dealerships and, according to previous reports, a Holiday Inn Express.

The cost of arenas and pool project came in significantly over budget and ended up with council paying for the increase by taking out a loan.

Staff calculated that the loan payments would be covered by increased tax revenue from nearby development and by using the money accumulated in the City Facilities Reserve. They said taxes would not need to increase to pay for the extra cost.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com