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AUGUST 2010, Volume
25 Issue 8
What's
Happening in Saskatchewan
Harvard plans first Class A
office towner in 18 years
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High-rise office tower will replace mix of old buildings on
this site downtown.
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Harvard Developments of Regina has unveiled plans to build an 18-to-20-storey office tower on the northwest corner of 12th Avenue and Hamilton Street.
"It's a project we've been working on for a while," said Rosanne Hill Blaisdell, managing director for Harvard.
"We're certainly in a market that has a very low vacancy rate. We've had a lot of companies inquiring about space and we really just don't have any. There hasn't been an office building built in Regina in almost 20 years. We're looking at the opportunity of doing that now."
The building is the first major Class A office tower to be built in Regina since 1992. Harvard is the development manager and is partnering with Greystone Managed Investments, which is acting on behalf of its institutional pension fund investors.
Harvard is working through the urban design review process with the city's staff and plans to unveil more details this summer.
"We certainly hope to be under construction this summer," Hill Blaisdell said, noting most of the existing buildings on the site are empty and one is occupied by a tenant that is moving in a month.
The lead tenant in the new tower is the Mosaic Company, the world's largest producer and marketer of concentrated potash and phosphate.
Mosaic has mine operations in Saskatchewan at Belle Plaine, Esterhazy and Colonsay and offices in a smaller existing building in Regina. Mosaic would occupy the upper floors of the new building and would have the rights to the building's top signage.
"It's absolutely wonderful," Mayor Pat Fiacco said about the project. "It fits in perfectly with the downtown neighbourhood plan."
Fiacco pointed out that three other towers - a 26-storey hotel and condo complex at Albert Street and Victoria Avenue; a smaller office tower for Albert Street and 11th Avenue; and a residential tower in the 2000 block of Rose Street - are in all the works.
"In the last 20 years at least, I don't think we've ever seen this type of major development all at once," he said. "All of this is private-sector investment, which is exciting."
Wall shuffles
upper staff
Karen Layng became the first woman to hold the position of deputy minister of Finance in Saskatchewan as a result of a series of economic appointments made by Premier Brad Wall last month.
Layng had served as assistant deputy minister, treasury board branch, at finance since 2005. Layng replaced Doug Matthies, who became president of SaskWater Corp.
Ron Styles moved from president and CEO of the Crown Investments Corp. of Saskatchewan, the holding company for Saskatchewan's commercial Crown corporations, to be president and CEO of SaskTel.
Robert Watson moved from the top job at SaskTel to SaskPower, filling a vacancy created by the retirement last year of Pat Youzwa.
Dick Carter moved from chief of staff to the minister of finance to president and CFO of Crown Investments Corp.
Harley Olsen was promoted from an associate deputy minister position in the premier's office to CEO of the new Provincial Capital Commission.
Transit building
goes green
The new Saskatoon Access Transit Building is the city's first civic structure designed and constructed as an energy-efficient and sustainable building.
The facility, which opened last month, was constructed with the assistance of $5.2 million from the federal government.
The new garage provides heated storage for a fleet of 41 buses: 25 Access Transit buses, as well as 12 conventional buses and up to four articulating buses.
Access Transit is a service for people who are unable to use the regular transit system. Service is provided using lift-equipped buses and cabs within the city limits of Saskatoon on an "accessible door to accessible door" basis.
In 2009, Access Transit provided 120,620 trips.
$15 Million reno
at Southland Mall
Southland Mall in Regina, which celebrated its 35th anniversary this year, is getting a $15-million facelift and a new anchor tenant to replace Wal-Mart.
Zellers is taking over the space left vacant when Wal-Mart relocated to the nearby Grasslands commercial development and rebranded as a Wal-Mart Supercentre.
CEO David Fiume of Retrocom Mid-Market REIT, which owns the mall, described the changes to the mall and the addition of Zellers as making Southland "more unified [and] giving it a more modern, contemporary look."
In total, Retrocom is investing $15 million into the mall and its tenants, with $11 million being invested in the revitalization of the exterior and interior of the mall.
Fiume said the mall will get updated columns, tiling and lighting, in addition to a new entrance on the east side and elevations on the north and south ends of the mall. The food court will also be revamped.
"We are looking for it to create a better experience for shoppers here," Fiume said.
The revitalization process will begin immediately he said, and it will take 18 months to two years to complete.
Construction on the Zellers store, the third in Regina, will begin in the fall.
The Safeway in the mall is also involved in the revitalization process, as it is changing its "lifestyle format."
Todd Leibel, Safeway's Saskatchewan district manager, said a Starbucks and a pharmacy are included.
According to Leibel, construction could start as early as this month and he estimated the makeover and expansion could be done in about 45 days.
New interchange
for Saskatoon
The City of Saskatoon is using money it saved from the Circle Drive South project to build an interchange at Preston Avenue and Circle Drive near the University of Saskatchewan.
The interchange is almost identical to the diamond-style flyover at the Clarence Avenue overpass, which cost $14 million.
"There's a lot of anger coming my way and a lot of concern about that intersection being unsafe," said Coun. Bob Pringle.
"Traffic flow, too, has been a real challenge. The volume of traffic is only going to continue to significantly increase as [the Stonebridge subdivision is finished]. So I'm thrilled."
An aggressive construction schedule will mean there will be significant commuter delays in the area for many months
- Compiled by Joe Ralko
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