The former Belleville Intelligencer building is for sale.
Over the weekend a for sale sign went up in front of the derelict building, at the corner of Bridge Street and Pinnacle.
Realtor Jamie Troke tells Quinte News the listing for the property will go up this week.
Troke says the owners have torn out much of the interior of the building, including the non-load bearing walls, and ceilings.
He says the structure of the building is concrete and steel and very solid. The realtor adds that the building once held newspaper printing equipment and heavy paper, so it needed to be strong.
The asking price will be $1.95 million.
Conception drawings say it could be retrofitted into 24 residential condos between 1,000 and 1,200 square feet. There is also room for 24 vehicles to be parked on site. Troke says the building could actually have floors added on top, and underground parking.
Troke went on to say that the site has been given a bad rap, considering it has good bones, and it is in the downtown core.
It has been vacant since August 2011, when the newspaper company moved next door to the Century 21 building. It was sold in 2008 to the current owner Prime Canadian Properties.
The municipality has had a difficult relationship with the current owners. There have been multiple requests for upkeep on the facade, after pieces of concrete came tumbling down on the sidewalk in the past. There were also some open windows allowing birds in, and some people have even been spotted inside. This past October council discussed the challenges of dealing with the current owners and the property. Council wanted them to either remediate the site or sell it.
Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk says he is happy and relieved about the news and hopes the site goes to someone who will bring the building up to standard.
