Kamloops looking to private sector for Daily News building

KAMLOOPS – Kamloops is looking for a partner.

A request for information has been released as the city seeks to partner on the future of the Kamloops Daily News building. The request has been posted on BC Bid, the provincial government’s public sector bidding website, and will be sent to media and real estate companies in B.C. and Alberta.

At the Jan. 19 council meeting councillors voted to instruct staff to look for interest in the building in the private sector after the public voted no in a November 2015 referendum to create a $90 million performing arts centre on the site. The request is the next step for the building and site at 393 Seymour St. in the city's downtown.

The request suggests the structure has 30 to 35 years left with regular maintenance, though it cites a 2013 estimate of $2.47 million to bring it up to market ready leasable space. It says new upgrades would be needed in addition to the estimate including a $810,000 heating distribution system and fixing a leaky roof.

The request says demolition and asbestos abatement would cost up to $1.5 million.

The request also includes the history of the structure, which was built as a department store in 1956 for the Hudson Bay Company. The Kamloops Daily News bought the site in 1992 and occupied it until January 2014, when the paper folded.

The City of Kamloops purchased the site in August of 2014 for $4.8 million.

Parking spaces on the site are now run by Impark while the building is vacant.

The city's request splits the land into two parcels, each 30,000 sq. ft. The north parcel is where the vacant two-storey building stands, with a total of over 53,000 sq. ft. inside.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin at bkergin@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.