SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A work crew removed lumber and debris from the idle Bayview Estates site on Wednesday, after owners received several complaints from the city and the fire marshal's office.

A work crew prepares to haul lumber from the Bayview Estates site at Niven Lake to the dump on Wednesday after the deputy fire marshal and the city told the property's developer to clean it up. - Elizabeth McMillan/NNSL photo

Jeff Humble, director of planning and lands, said the city had issued a cleanup order more than a month ago to Bond Street Properties, the developer which foreclosed on the site last summer.

"They were notified quite a number of times and we were going to take action this Wednesday if (the material) wasn't moved," he said.

Humble said the fire marshal had concerns about potentially combustible material at the site.

"If the buildings went up (in flames), we'd have a big problem," said Humble. "Some of the material may be stored on site and the rest will probably end up going to the dump."

A waste removal truck was filling a dump truck with wood on Wednesday.

"We issued an order to clean up the combustible material around the building and secure the material," said fire chief Albert Headrick.

No work has taken place at the incomplete construction site, where Bond Street was building 17 condo townhouses containing 92 units, since 2007. Bond Street-hired security is on site and a metal fence separates the property from the rest of the neighbourhood.

It appears the building project on Niven Drive will have to withstand another winter without completion.

"My expectation is that nothing may happen 'till the spring," said Ken Pearman of Coldwell Bankers, the realtor for the property. "There's people looking at it but nothing definitive yet."

Pearman said approximately 10 potential buyers have looked at the property but none of them have closed the deal.

The exposed plywood on 16 unfinished townhouses has already weathered two winters and appears to be deteriorating.

"The bank is aware, the purchaser is aware of it," said Pearman.

"There will be deterioration over time. It'll be up to the new buyer to decide to save them or tear them down."

Pearman said he's selling the property on behalf of the bank handling the foreclosure and the bank hasn't expressed concern about the existing buildings.

"It's up to the bank to decide what they want to do. Otherwise it'll just sit," he said.

Initial building began on Bayview in 2007 but was sidelined when the developer ran into financial troubles.

Edmonton-based Bond Street Properties went into arrears in 2007 after they failed to pay property taxes. They owed more than $3 million to Fisgard Capital Corporation, a Victoria, B.C.-based investment and lending firm.

The property has been listed for $5.585 million on the Coldwell Bankers website since the summer. The lot covers 7.31 acres of land overlooking Back Bay.

Pearman said the price hasn't been adjusted to account for the effects of time.

"That'll be up to the buyer ... They'll do their due diligence," he said.