Government of Sask. settles lawsuit with Brandt, will pay company $11.6M
CBC
The Saskatchewan government has reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the developer of a halted building project in Wascana Park.
The government is paying Brandt Properties $11.62 million to settle a lawsuit launched by the Regina-based company last year.
The settlement brings an end to a nearly nine-year saga of Brandt's controversial building proposal inside Wascana Park.
In 2014, the company launched a plan to construct a four-storey, 77,000-square-foot building that would also be the new home for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).
Over the course of the next five years, the project received criticism from residents opposed to development in the park and how the process was handled.
The previous CNIB building on the site was demolished in 2019, but a new home in the park was never built.
In February 2022, Brandt filed a lawsuit against the provincial government and the Provincial Capital Commission (PCC).
On Wednesday, the province said in a statement to CBC that all issues related to the former CNIB site have been resolved including:
"This agreement allowed the Government to settle the lawsuit and resolve all issues related to the property, including the CNIB lease," SaskBuilds and Procurement said in a statement.
The government's lawyers within the Ministry of Justice handled the legal defence.
In a statement, Brandt told CBC it looks forward to putting the issue behind it.
"Brandt is satisfied that this matter is now resolved and we can refocus our attention on our continuing investments in Regina and Saskatchewan," Brandt said.
On Thursday, Brandt's donated $2 million to the CNIB's Saskatchewan branch. Brandt CEO Shaun Semple and Chairman Gavin Semple presented the cheque during the Saskatchewan Roughriders game at Mosaic Stadium.
The Brandt and CNIB building replacement in the park was met with opposition from residents, protests and criticism of the project's transparency by some city councillors.
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