West Saint John Building To Be Demolished

A dilapidated building on Saint John’s lower west side has been approved for demolition by council.

155 Market Place has been on the city’s dangerous and vacant buildings list since 2017.

“The building has been experiencing deterioration from water infiltration for a significant length of time,” staff wrote in a report to council.

A staircase at the right entrance to the building is separating from the wall and has partially collapsed, said the report.

The floor system on the first floor and the building’s roof are also sagging, staff said in their report.

Some councillors raised questions about why staff had done nothing before now, despite the building being on their radar for several years.

“There were obviously plans in place to try and salvage some of this [building],” Coun. Brent Harris said during Monday’s meeting.

“What was missed here, from our perspective at the city, for the team or the group or the individual that did buy it and was trying to work on it?”

Benn Purinton, who oversees the city’s dangerous and vacant buildings program, said the building changed hands four times since it came onto their radar.

Purinton said the province bought it in a tax sale in 2018 and later transferred it to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI).

Three years later, DTI sold the building to a new owner, who had planned to restore it, he said.

“That owner, I don’t think, was fully aware of the state of the building and within a month had transferred it to another owner, which is the owner that we’re dealing with today,” said Purinton.

Purinton said a previous notice to comply was issued in 2021 around the time the province sold it, noting the building was in “poor condition” at the time.

Staff said the estimated cost of the demolition work is $15,000, which will be billed to the current owner. If left unpaid, the bill will be submitted to the province for reimbursement.

Council recently asked the province for legislative changes that would allow for a vacant building tax or permits in an effort to disincentivize vacancies. They also requested the province pursue changes to the tax sale process.