Having repurchased a section of River Street West from a numbered holding company, the City of Moose Jaw now plans to subdivide the road as the final step with the acquisition.
During its March 25 regular meeting, city council voted unanimously to approve city administration’s application to subdivide the west 150 feet of the 0 block of River Street West from holding company 102071770 Saskatchewan Ltd.’s adjacent property.
If city hall receives zero comments about this action during the review process, then the mayor and city clerk will issue a certificate of approval under The Planning and Development Act.
Council approved a motion in December authorizing administration to purchase this strip of road from the holding company for $290,000 and include $10,000 for subdivision costs.
The subdivision will return the street to a right-of-way and create two parcels on the north and south sides of the street, while it will not affect any city services, a council report said. Also, city hall has referred this proposed action to all relevant utility companies for comment and has not received any feedback.
Many people misunderstood what this initiative was about when council first discussed it, so they should realize that this plan returns a portion of River Street West to the city as a right-of-way, said Coun. Heather Eby.
“We’re taking our street back, which we have a commitment to clear snow and street sweeping,” she added. “It’s nothing crazy or weird, but it was confusing to people in the beginning.”
As the Moose Jaw Express previously reported, a group calling itself Little Chicago Development Company (LCDC) purchased three hotels on River Street in 2008 and closed the venues, intending to build a historically themed hotel modelled after the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, with a pedway connecting to the Multiplex.
The two lots where the hotel was planned are 67 and 76 River Street West.
The group also bought the actual street from the City of Moose Jaw for $1, but when construction stalled, an agreement change saw the developer buy the land for full value to avoid the requirement that construction move ahead.
When the initial hotel project was cancelled, city hall allegedly attempted to re-purchase the roadway for the initial purchasing price. However, it declined when the Little Chicago group allegedly wanted a hefty sum.
After 102071770 Saskatchewan Ltd. formed in 2019, it purchased the lot — totalling 0.464 hectares (1.15 acres) — from LCDC for an unknown amount. It then began working on bringing a hotel there and contacted Hilton Hotels and Resorts.
The holding company and city had several conversations in 2024 about the hotel, the project proponent said. The municipality also expressed interest in reacquiring the River Street road, which the group agreed to since it didn’t need it.
The project proponent added that more details about the hotel initiative should come sometime this year.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, April 8.
