The Koermann Block: historic but dilapidated city property looks for buyers this spring

A historic building in Edmonton could soon be demolished. CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson has more on the future of the Koermann Block.

Edmonton city council’s spring budget adjustment plan doesn’t amount to major property tax increases – potentially 0.04-per-cent extra, should it pass – but it is looking to get a couple things off its chest.

The Koermann Block, for example: first built by a German immigrant in The Quarters Downtown around 1912, once a Ukrainian bookstore so iconic it was replicated at Fort Edmonton Park.

Circa 2020, the city bought the Koermann Block for $440,000 before it was ultimately deemed unsuitable for habitation.

A city spokesperson said at the time of purchasing, administration’s intent was to consolidate the building with nearby city-owned lands to create “a more viable redevelopment opportunity and support broader revitalization objectives in the area.”

The building now requires immediate demolition due to “critical structural failures, safety hazards and ongoing liability risks,” according to council reports.

The cost of that demo will run the city about $600,000 in an adjustment to the 2023-2026 capital budget.

Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford says that’s not a large amount of money in the grand scheme of things, but it still points to the city’s need for wariness when it comes to land acquisition.

“I’m always about these small fees. We have to look at the process for how we got to where we are, and the fact that we acquired this land, knowing that it had these kinds of conditions,” she told reporters in between council sessions Tuesday.

“(We had this) utopian idea of building it for housing, not budgeting for the demo that we knew we would need to do in taking on these liabilities.”

Arts Habitat Edmonton’s vision just before that time was to turn the building’s facade into an extension of an arts community downtown hub. The project’s name is still painted on one side of the building – ‘Artist Quarters’ - along with an ad for cigarettes.

Arts Habitat executive director Al Chapman says provincial funding never pulled through and the project ultimately stalled. The group informed the city it was pulling out of the project in 2019.

“I’m a real proponent of saving historic buildings, and us as an organization, we’ve done a really good job of that. Any way you can save it … Is there a way to repurpose the facade of the building, then rebuild it later on?” he said Tuesday.

“I think if somebody could take it, disassemble part of it, and then integrate that into a new build, that would be great for the neighbourhood.”

The Koermann Block is already listed for sale, and real estate branch manager Chris Hodgson says the city is in talks with “various interested parties.” Outside of an annual $10,000 for grass cutting, snow removal and site maintenance, the city is not investing in capital improvements for the building.

Council spent part of Tuesday discussing several potential adjustments to the city budget on top of the Koermann Block, including one of which would use tax-supported debt to fund the Southeast Transit Garage’s extra $15-million adjustment.

The estimated tax levy impact of that adjustment, council reports suggest, would cost homeowners an increase of 0.04-per-cent in the new four-year budget starting in 2027.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson