Brandon must deal with its albatross

Some of you may be familiar with Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” which recounts the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage.

This particular poem gave rise to the infamous idiom of having an “albatross around the neck” — meaning that a person or a place is carrying a heavy burden that prevents them from achieving success. It can be a psychological burden, a stigma or even a curse.

At the risk of sounding churlish, I would suggest that downtown Brandon has such an albatross in the aging McKenzie Seeds building.

Yesterday we brought you news that a “new” company — Blackbird Housing Inc. — has finalized the purchase of the long-vacant McKenzie Seeds building on Ninth Street with plans to transform the structure into senior housing.

The proposed $20-million development would include about 130 residential suites, medical and wellness-related commercial spaces and amenities that would include a 10,000-square-foot rooftop deck. The developers also hope to partner with senior housing operators locally who could lease and operate portions of the facility once construction is completed.

The project is being run by Blackbird Housing president Paul Souque — and that name may be familiar to you. Mr. Souque was until recently the vice-president of Brandon Fresh Farms, the company that only a few years ago planned to transform the historic McKenzie Seeds building into a state-of-the-art indoor farming facility.

That particular plan hit a brick wall in 2024 after local investors were hesitant to commit to the project. A subsequent plan to seek funding from sources outside the local community came to an equally untenable conclusion.

This new project, according to Souque, is fully funded through the company’s partnerships and apparently does not currently require public fundraising efforts. Unfortunately, he could not provide an estimate for when the development would be completed.

Blackbird Housing has also partnered with Calgary-based Fotonara, a Canadian engineering and real estate technology firm, operated by its chief executive officer, Adam Morand. It’s notable that Morand serves as president of Brandon Fresh Farms, which previously owned the McKenzie Seeds building.

Of course, a change of plans by the owners and a restructuring of how their companies are set up does not necessarily curse the project, nor make it any less viable. The creation of additional seniors housing is a great idea for downtown Brandon, and if Mr. Souque and his investors can make it work, area residents will be very glad to see the project move forward.

But the cynic in me says we’ve been here before.

Recall that B.C.-based Resland Development Group first purchased the building in 2009, after the original McKenzie Seeds company moved into its current Parker Boulevard location. The original plan was to begin construction in 2011 on a 93-condo project. In order to make this project move forward, millions of dollars were committed by our municipal and provincial governments in direct loans, grants and tax incentives to support the building’s redevelopment.

Unfortunately, it faced considerable delays, and ultimately there was not enough interest from prospective buyers.

Resland then shifted from condo units to rental apartments, with the first phase of what it called the “McKenzie Towers” project including 40 residential units and approximately 2,500 square feet of commercial space. The second phase would have seen the construction of an additional 45 residential units.

The Sun reported that this change in plans was then supported with $2.2 million in provincial tax increment financing and $1.8 million in municipal tax increment financing. And what was then known as Renaissance Brandon — the city’s downtown development agency — had promised a $950,000 grant.

But this project, too, failed to materialize. We reported at the time that promised money was then reallocated when it was announced the project would not move forward, and the building went up for sale again in 2020.

Again, we need to be supportive of a company that wants to redevelop this property. But it must be said that the building is showing its age these days.

One way or the other, the McKenzie Seeds building needs to be transformed as either a refurbished housing facility — or razed entirely with something else built on the site. Either one would go a long way to showing some forward momentum in revitalization efforts for our city’s downtown.

It’s a burden for this city that must finally see an end.

» Matt Goerzen, editor