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."
August, 2010
