THE Kitselas Development Corporation has surfaced as the latest party to either buy or express an interest in buying land at the City of Terrace-owned Skeena Industrial Park located just south of the Northwest Regional Airport.
It’s poised to buy 165 acres of land at the park in a deal worth $1.647 million, development corporation manager Jim Dopson said last week.
But the deal also hinges on the corporation, which is the Kitselas First Nation’s economic development arm, in turn negotiating leases with two as-of-yet unnamed construction companies looking to set up operations on the acreage because of its central location.
“We’ve been waiting for a few pieces to fall together for the development before we make the purchase,” said Kitselas corporation manager Jim Dopson, adding that he hopes to confirm the purchase by the end of October and that he is confident it will go through.
“We should know by month end. We will have some statements of intent to work with,” said Dopson.
“We were looking at purchasing at it and developing it with partners to take advantage of the pipelines and the different construction projects that are in the area.”
The Kitselas Development Corporation is looking to lease out 60-75 acres immediately with development of that beginning next spring with members of Kitselas First Nation hired on as part of the agreement.
Kitselas Forest Products, also owned by the Kitselas First Nation, would most likely be hired as the prime contractor to prepare the site for use.
The property in question is bordered by another piece of land on which Calgary-based Veresen wants to build a natural gas-fired electrical generation plant.
Veresen, which has a memorandum of understanding with the city to buy the land upon which it would build the plant, is also interested in some of the Kitselas parcel, said Dopson.
Dopson said the Kitselas Development Corporation is interested in the 165 acres because of its proximity to Hwy16 and because it is close to a natural gas line and to electrical power.
“We’ve been working on it for about a year,” Dopson continued.
“The city put out a notice of intent, which is a requirement as part of the process whether it goes ahead or not.”
The land is part of just over 200 acres purchased by the city from the provincial government two years ago, the start of what the city hopes will eventually be an industrial park development taking in just over 2,000 acres in all.