As reported in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, the developer behind a 10-storey apartment building under construction at a prominent corner in the Broadway business district is seeking a property tax break worth $788,535.

A City of Saskatoon report estimates the developer’s investment in the residential-commercial property, including the land, is $23.5 million.

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The project, located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Main Street, features eight storeys of apartments with 68 units, two storeys of commercial space and two levels of underground parking with 72 spaces. The site was home to the Royal Bank and has been vacant since that building was demolished in 2016.

A company called 880 Broadway Holdings Ltd. is listed in the report as the applicant for a five-year tax abatement, but the project is listed on the website of Saskatoon-based Baydo Development Corporation Ltd.

City administration recommends the tax break be approved under a program intended to encourage development of vacant lots. The application will be considered by city council’s finance committee on Monday.

The provincial government needs to approve the abatement of the education portion of the property tax, which amounts to an estimated $304,335.

The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2021 and any tax abatement would start the following year, the report says.

Keep reading in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix