Sold signs went up last week at the former Government of Canada building, located across from Stantec Executive Place downtown.
The developer, East Lincoln Properties, of Red Deer, is buying the two-storey brick building, at 4909-50th St., that housed Canada Revenue up until 2020.
The landmark building had a $4.5-million price tag when it went up for sale in 2018.
Brett Salomons, of Salomons Commercial real estate, said East Lincoln Properties is looking forward to jumping into the project to find parties to lease spaces and is already in discussions with some that cannot be named.
“There are a lot of different uses that could be integrated into it,” Salomons said.
“It’s on two prominent roadways, being Ross Street and 49th Ave., so you have a lot of traffic running in both directions. Anybody’s who is interested will have that exposure.”
Built in 1951, the building has housed many federal services including the post office, customs office, local RCMP and the National Film Board.
With its “Classical Moderne” exterior, the building received Provincial Historic Resource designation in 2017 from Alberta’s Culture and Tourism department, so its exterior must be left as is.
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Red Deer historian Michael Dawe said years ago he was in the building to give a history talk to Revenue Canada employees, and was in the building several times when it was the old post office.
“It’s a nice old building and it’s in very good shape,” Dawe said.
“They took me downstairs one time and showed me the lower level. There were old police cells down there. When they had more serious crimes in the community they often would hold them in the cells there and take them over to the (old court house).”
He said about 50 new businesses have opened up downtown in the past year, and the sale of the federal building shows there are more who want to invest in the area.
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Salomons said the jail cell was dismantled, but graffiti is still visible on columns and walls written by prisoners. Once during a tour of the building someone suggested that the basement be made into a speakeasy. While that’s not likely given present-day fire code regulations, it shows the creativity the site inspires.
“There’s definitely a lot of interesting ideas that have come up for the property.”
A recent project for East Lincoln Properties was the new four-storey Capstone Centre which is home to MNP accounting.
The closing date for the sale of the Government of Canada building is June 27.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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