Newfoundland Growlers owner Dean MacDonald is making long-term guarantees that if he were to purchase Mile One Centre from the City of St. John’s, it would not be repurposed somewhere down the road. A local lawyer says those terms can certainly be laid out in any agreement.
Some have expressed concerns over privatizing Mile One that it could one day be repurposed from its expressed intention, a sports and entertainment facility. MacDonald says they’re interested in being in the sports and entertainment business, and not building condos.
Lawyer John Samms with Stewart McKelvey Law in St. John’s says those types of guarantees can absolutely be established in concrete terms legally, and are very commonly found when it comes to these types of commercial arrangements. He says the legal term would be a “restrictive covenant,” which would set out restrictions on the use of the property as a condition of sale.
Samms says it strikes him as a “false boogeyman” that there could be some sort of “total limitation” on the fact that Mile One would remain a sports and entertainment facility if it were to be sold or there would be some sort of partnership.
Samms explains that the one thing to keep in mind is how the sale would impact value, he says in a commercial arrangement like this if restrictions are put on the use of the land or property, the question then becomes what is that worth. Samms says that’s something that would have to be hammered out in negotiations.
KPMG Report Expected in Coming Weeks
Meanwhile, St. John’s Councillor Jamie Korab says the KPMG report into the sale of the Mile One Centre will be released publically in the next couple of weeks.
The St. John’s Sports and Entertainment subcommittee will meet with KPMG to discuss the findings this week. From there the report goes to the whole SJSE board before being given to council, at which point the report will be made public.
In a release, Korab says if they decide to explore privatization, they will need to have a competitive process.
He says if they were to engage now with one potential owner, they could unfairly disadvantage a competitive bidding process. Therefore, they will not be meeting with Mr. MacDonald or any other potential owner for Mile One.
