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Posted Apr 29, 2020, 8:42 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,018
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Oh dear... the much-vaunted plans for the Khyber are on the rocks again. Shocking.
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/sa...ilding-443507/
Quote:
Faced with higher-than-expected holding costs, the society working to restore the historic Khyber building in downtown Halifax is modifying its plans and hoping to open part of the space early.
The 1588 Barrington Building Preservation Society bought the building in 2018 from Halifax Regional Municipality for $1, and was given two years to get a feasible plan to renovate the space in front of staff — or else the city can buy it back for the same price, as of Nov. 30.
The sale agreement “obliges the Society to submit progress reports at 6-month intervals,” and one of those reports was tabled at council this week, on April 28, with an information report from city staff, meaning it landed without debate. Coun. Matt Whitman asked to discuss the report at council’s next meeting.
In the report, city grants manager Peta-Jane Temple paints a dire financial picture of the Society.
“Cash on hand is insufficient to address accounts payable of over $32,000,” Temple wrote in the report, dated Jan. 28, 2020.
“This places the Society in a difficult position as it has no working capital to pay bills and operate the facility.”
With costs including property tax, insurance, repairs, maintenance and utilities, the Society is losing money.
“In 2019 the Society incurred $56,000 in operating costs and almost $26,000 in revenues for a net loss of $30,000,” Temple wrote.
Most of that revenue came from the municipality — more than $21,000. The Society also fundraised about $4,000.
To complete the project, the Society needs just over $3.1 million. It’s hoping to get half from the federal government, through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canada Cultural Spaces Fund. It’s looking for an additional $900,000 from the provincial government, and Halifax has committed $225,000 once the Society has a construction state date and itemized costs for the work.
The remaining $440,000 will come from a fundraising campaign.
But the Society didn’t expect to grapple with such high costs just to keep the building while it raised that cash.
“Previously, we were operating under the assumption that we would need to raise the majority of our capital goal before proceeding with any space use of the building,” Society president Emily Davidson wrote in the progress report to city staff, dated Jan. 17, 2020.
“However, carrying costs on the vacant building are high, and this is an unsustainable use of resources.”
The new plan is to fix up just the first floor, including asbestos abatement, and “reopen in a temporary capacity.” The Society secured a $25,000 capital grant early this year to do so.
“Our goal is to open two rooms on the first floor of 1588 Barrington Street in Winter 2020 as community rental spaces,” Davidson wrote. “These temporary rental spaces will be available for short-term rental while we continue our fundraising activities, launch a full capital campaign, and prepare to renovate the site.”
Temple wrote that the Society will incur some operating costs under that plan, but “hourly rental income could generate modest revenue, elevate the building’s profile and encourage donor support, and possibly decrease the high insurance premium which accounts for approximately 35% of current holding costs.”
Although there’s no council action associated with the information report, Temple suggested “it would be prudent to request a revised cost estimate for the remediation work prior to the release of all or some portion of HRM’s capital funding. A revised timeline for completion should also be requested.”
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So 18 months into this boondoggle, they have raised a paltry $4K, or 1% of what they were supposed to, have no money in the bank, are running a substantial operating loss, and clearly have no capacity to do what they proposed to do. They have zero chance of raising $436,000 over the next 6 months given their sorry track record. I seriously doubt that $25K will be adequate for just the asbestos abatement, much less the other work that would be needed to find paying tenants for the first floor. Wisely, the provincial and federal govts have not doled out the millions they claimed to have approved given the sorry state of the entire affair and the lack of capabilities by the society to take on such a substantial project. This is Mason's gift to HRM taxpayers that just keeps on giving.
Time to push the reset button at City Hall I think. HRM will likely be saddled with this albatross once again, and needs to figure out something to do with it other than funding a clubhouse for Mason's old chums. Take it back, sell it to the highest bidder, and move on.
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