The City of Regina has announced a proposal for Brandt Group of Companies to purchase and operate several current city-owned facilities on the REAL Campus.
The city, REAL, and Brandt Group, owned by Shaun Semple, have negotiated non-binding terms under which Brandt would purchase nine assets at a full-market price of $6.4 million.
The motion will be taken to the city’s executive committee on April 29. If it passes that vote, it would be up for debate at a full meeting of council on May 6.
“We’re fortunate, I think, as taxpayers that we have someone willing to put their own private investment into this and take the risk to make this go,” said deputy city manager Daren Anderson.
“We feel like given the pressures on the taxpayer right now with the amount of deferred maintenance the city has and the amount of facilities that are coming due, that this is the best way forward for taxpayers.”
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CBC Saskatchewan’s Alexander Quon joins The 306 to talk about the City of Regina announcing a proposal for Brandt Group of Companies to purchase and operate several current city-owned facilities on the REAL Campus.
The city says Brandt made an unsolicited offer in November 2025 to purchase and operate certain city-owned REAL facilities.
According to the current proposal, Brandt would own and operate assets such as the Brandt Centre, Commercial Cattle Barn, Stockman’s Building, Canada Centre Building (Avana), Queensbury Centre, Ag-EX Building, Queen City Distillery, McDonald’s and portions of the parking lot.
“The thing that’s unique in this deal is selling the Brandt Centre. There’s not a large market for people wanting to buy a facility like the Brandt Centre,” Anderson said.
“I will say none of the purchase price gave a discount for that; Brandt is taking that risk on solely.”
The city will retain the Co-operators Centre, the AffinityPlex and Mosaic Stadium.
The proposed deal also indicates Brandt will have access to Mosaic Stadium to host two events per year.
Clauses included in the proposed deal mean the buildings to be purchased by Brandt will be exempt from property taxes for five years.
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After those five years, if future tax exemptions are not approved by city council and Brandt continues to operate the campus, the city will provide an operating grant equal to the taxes imposed on the purchased buildings.
Brandt will also have the right of first refusal to buy the buildings retained by the City of Regina, if the city looks to sell or dispose of them in the future. This right of first refusal does not apply to Mosaic Stadium.
There is also an exclusivity agreement that will run for a period of 20 years. It says that if a new stadium or arena is built in the city to replace the Brandt Centre and Brandt is not granted the opportunity to participate in the ownership of the new building, then Brandt “may” sell the purchased building back to the city based on the depreciated value.
How was purchase price decided?
Under the deal, Brandt would pay the city $6.4 million for the collection of nine assets, which it says have an average age of 45 years.
The Brandt Centre alone was built in 1977 for a cost of $7.7 million.
Anderson said the purchase price was a complex decision and that the city engaged expert, accredited professionals to determine a range of market values.
He said Brandt purchased at the top of that range.
“It’s a difficult business to generate enough cash flow to properly maintain those buildings,” he said.
City officials said the deal will save the city approximately $79 million over five years.
“Ultimately it’s administration’s opinion that if the private sector wants to step up and take on this risk, we believe it’s better suited by the private sector,” Anderson said.
“We’ll leave taxpayer dollars to invest in core assets like parks, playgrounds, roads, infrastructure, all that stuff.”
Brandt is also committing to invest at least $15 million in the buildings within two years.
A spokesperson for the Brandt group of companies said in a statement to CBC News that it acknowledged the offer.
“We respect city council’s role in reviewing the report and will not be commenting at this time,” the statement said.
Subject to council approval, the city remains confident Brandt will continue to host cultural, recreational, sporting, convention and agri-business events, including yearly staples such as Canadian Western Agribition.
Brandt will also operate the Queen City Ex, as long as it’s commercially viable and demand for the event is still there. The Queen City Ex, which is currently run by REAL, would be taken over by Brandt and its employees transferred to Brandt if the deal is approved.
“Likewise with Agribition, it’s a tremendously important event and organization for our community,” said Chad Jedlic, the city’s director of land, real estate and economic development.
He said the city made sure stakeholders like Canadian Western Agribition and the Queen City Ex will be protected.
The city says REAL will still exist, and remains an organization until a further decision is made.
“We don’t want to say, yeah, REAL is done now. That’s not part of this deal. We will address the organization of REAL at some point in the future,” Anderson said.
If approved, all of the municipal corporation’s unionized employees — nearly 700 people — would become Brandt employees.
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