Saskatoon company set to revamp bus barns into cultural hub with affordable housing

A Saskatoon company has agreed to purchase the old bus barns in Caswell Hill for $2 million, according to a city finance committee report. (Courtesy: City of Saskatoon)

The former site of the city’s bus barns is getting a facelift.

A Saskatoon company has agreed to purchase the south-Caswell Hill facility for $2 million for a mixed-use development, according to a report before the city’s finance committee on Wednesday.

The developer says the project, dubbed Caswell Bus Barns, is intended to “create a mixed-use building that supports local arts and culture, provides green space, and offers affordable housing for students, seniors and artists.”

The terms of the agreement with the city outline a two-phase construction, divided into two adjacent sites.

The first site, with a price tag of $1.1 million due March 2024, includes a refurbishment of the existing warehouse facility.

Separate residential and commercial buildings are scheduled to be built on site B several years later, with a $900,000 payment due in May 2026.

A $200,000 down payment on the first site is due when the sale is finalized but that won’t take effect until city council rezones the property, according to the report from the city’s land development administrators.

“The final agreement for sale may include minor adjustments to address as-yet-unknown factors, such as those that may arise through the land use amendment process,” Brad Murray, land development project manager writes.

Murray says the city plans on reinvesting revenue from the sale into the broader redevelopment of the south Caswell Hill area.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress currently leases space in the warehouse to distribute furniture and household items for displaced Ukrainians, and Saskatoon Light and Power is storing some of its equipment there but has been told to vacate by July 31.

The Ukrainian organization will be notified before the developer intends to begin construction, the city says.