Bloomfield Centre sale still in limbo
Reports of the Bloomfield Centre sale, like Mark Twain’s death, may have been greatly exaggerated. Then again, maybe not. David Fright, who lives across from the 1.2-hectare property in north-end Halifax, said he heard from a municipal real estate official that the former school site had been sold and that no further approval from regional council was necessary.
“If it isn’t going back to council, a $40-million property, council has no final look over, it seems pretty poor,” Fright said.
“It raises concerns.” Lindell Smith, regional councillor for the Halifax Peninsula North district that encompasses the Bloomfield and Agricola streets corner, said concerns are unfounded.
“We as council haven’t accepted an offer yet,” Smith said. “I’m not sure where he is getting that information from.”
Smith said council gives the final nod after staff negotiate terms with the proposed buyer.
“They (staff) present what they feel is necessary and then council says OK, sure, or not,” Smith said.
“It hasn’t come back to council yet. Council won’t be discussing, unless they want to, what terms they want to see but this is who council believes should be the successful candidate.”
Smith said in October amid rumours that the property had sold that municipal staff were working with an undisclosed prospective buyer to determine if the conditions of sale could be met.
Smith had posted those conditions of sale on his Facebook page and pointed out that his motions at regional council ensured the conditions would include: a minimum of 10,000 square feet of commercial space, targeted to the creative industry; a minimum of 20,000 square feet of affordable community and cultural space; a minimum of 20 per cent of the site be reserved for open space, both public and private; that the Fielding building be considered as the site for any cultural hub component; and that 10 per cent of the residential units on the site be allocated to affordable housing.
Smith’s post included a timeline about the centre, beginning In 2002 when the site located in the block bordered by Agricola, Robie and Almon streets and home to three brick buildings, was deemed surplus property, followed by efforts to create a site master plan that was eventually adopted by council in 2009.
The master plan was to transform the Fielding building into a cultural centre to be owned and managed by the city, to have the Commons building managed by non-profit community groups and construction of a new four-storey building to host arts events, two 10-storey apartment buildings and 20 townhouses, with 20 per cent all of the housing to be dedicated as affordable units.
The timeline continued into 2012, when a sale to the Nova Scotia Housing Development Corporation was approved, followed four years later by the termination of that agreement.
Plans for a new junior high on the site or a school run by the provincial Francophone school board were also scuttled.
In 2018, Imagine Bloomfield and Wonder’neath Arts Society submitted a business plan for the site in support of a community and creative hub.
Fright, who lives on Agricola across from the property and had addressed some concerns with the amount of public space proposed, said he was told recently that the property actually sold in September.
“You’d think you’d kinda want to have a final look before your name is put to it,” Fright said of council. “It’s kind of like signing a blank cheque.”
He said if it has been sold, the community is owed information on the identity of the buyer, the density bonuses and affordable housing allocation, the green space and how the entirety of the conditions of sale have been met.
Smith maintains that the sale has to come back to council but suggested he "could be wrong," and that information on how the entire process plays out could best be provided by municipal real estate staff.
Municipal communications staff was unable to provide that information Friday.