Development on 99th Street has been stagnant for years. What happened?
CBC
For the past four years, residents in Strathcona have strolled down 99th Street past a boarded-up vacant lot where a community gathering place once stood.
Sitting across the street from a former dry cleaner and Route 99 Diner on 89th Avenue, the lot is now up for judicial sale. Residents say the area has a gap in amenities since the building disappeared.
"It was like a neighbourhood hub. It had this small grocery store that was great for running and grabbing a few things you needed for dinner," said Gord Lacey, a resident in the area.
The locally owned grocery store had served the community for 85 years. The building also housed a hairdresser, wine bar, restaurant, and Wild Earth Bakery.
All of that was demolished to make way for the 1932 by Bateman project, heralded as Strathcona's first mixed-use luxury condo high-rise. The proposal from Bateman Properties, in partnership with development companies, hoped to build a 31-storey tower initially.
The project was scaled back twice after community pushback and changing market conditions.
Lacey said that the community is disappointed nothing ever materialized.
"It's a bummer … there's a lot of people frustrated that there was [a] promise of a new building going up, there was a promise of a grocery store going back in, and that hasn't come."
"Anything's better than having a pit or boarded-up property," he said. "It's just a small but visible part of the neighbourhood that's stagnant."
Court documents show 1932 by Bateman received a loan in April 2020 for $3.5 million from Canada ICI Capital Corporation.
Over two years later, the lender filed a lawsuit against the group and its affiliates, saying that the mortgage had matured and the defendants had not paid amounts due. In May 2023, they estimated the outstanding amount to be about $3.8 million.
Through a lawyer, CBC requested a comment from 1932 by Bateman, but did not hear back in time for publication. Multiple attempts were made to contact the last development partner, Pangman Developments, but no response was received.
In November 2022, the lender made an application requesting a judicial sale. The land is currently for sale on behalf of the Court of the King's Bench, listed at $4.4 million.
Kirsten Goa has lived in the neighbourhood almost her entire life and had her first job at the former grocery store. She said that since then, a lot has changed.
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