Five years after the demolition of the former St. Patrick’s High School on Quinpool Road the land has been quietly sold by the Halfiax Regional Municipality.
A spokesperson for the municipality confirmed the deal was approved by Halifax Regional Council in an in-camera meeting on Jan. 14.
BANC Investments Ltd., a company operated by Halifax-based developers Besim Halef and Alex Halef, closed the deal on Feb. 4.
According to property assessments, BANC purchased the former St. Pat’s site for $37.61 million.
The 3.3-acre site at the corner of Quinpool Road and Windsor Street has sat empty, functioning as a green space, since the former school was demolished in 2015.
The high school was closed in 2007 but was used for other school board and community activities until it was vacated and turned over to the city in December 2013.
Any future development on the site will be governed by the municipality’s Centre Plan, a set of land-use planning rules for the Halifax peninsula and downtown Dartmouth.
Under the first half of the plan adopted in 2019, the former St. Pat’s property was zoned as Centre 2, which uses a gross floor area ratio calculation to govern the size of the project.
As part of the assessment, any future development will be subject to a maximum height of 90 metres or roughly 30 storeys.
— With a file from Marieke Walsh