WEYBURN – City council voted in favour of cutting the price of six unsold residential lots in the city’s north end by 50 per cent, after sitting since 2012.
The six lots are on McTaggart Drive, north of Assiniboia Park School. They are fully serviced, including all utilities, and the price includes the city’s cost to develop and service the lots.
The current prices of those lots ranged from $132,000 to $144,000, said development officer Janine Fletcher, who then provided council with the option to reduce the price by 25 per cent, or by 50 per cent.
The lots had been developed as part of Phase 2 of a new residential subdivision that included Veterans Road, Veterans Way, Schlosser Drive and Button Road, along with McTaggart Place, Johnston Drive and McTaggart Drive.
Fletcher noted when staff checked with other similar-sized cities to compare prices, they found Weyburn’s price was at the high end. The average price of land ranged from $8.91 to $18.28 per square foot, and Weyburn’s prices were at $18.28.
“The City of Weyburn’s pricing is not very competitive with other similar size municipalities in the province, so the pricing could be reduced to remain competitive with other municipalities,” said Fletcher in her report to council.
The price that council agreed to, with a 50-per-cent reduction, reduces the cost to $9.14 per square foot. The reduction means the lot prices now range from $66,449 to $71,719, not including GST.
Fletcher noted the city still has another 12 serviced lots on Veterans Road, and a few that are not fully serviced, with another 45 lots that are unserviced.
Asked what the costs were to the city to maintain these lots, Fletcher said the costs ranged from $1,500 to $2,000 a year, mainly for parks workers to keep the grass and weeds controlled.
