Government of Canada, Sparks Street, Ottawa
Talbot Consultants International Inc. was retained by the Government of Canada’s Public Works Department to assist them in planning the future of this very high profile four block parcel opposite Canada’s Parliament Buildings. The project is of national significance and involves a blend of heritage and modern buildings providing accommodation for a mix of office, retail, food & beverage and tourist oriented tenants. Our task was to carry out a detailed analysis of each building’s structural and financial viability and then, in consultation with a deputy-minister level working committee, recommend what action the Government should take. Working directly with Public Works we assembled all the available retail sales, rental records, operating expenses and structural report records for each building within the Public Works Sparks Street portfolio. We then conducted a site visit of each property including interviewing the building manager and each major tenant. The gathered data was then carefully checked and verified before being entered into a detailed report for each building and then consolidated into a series of spreadsheets for each block. The resultant interim report provided a detailed analysis of the current and projected income stream, deferred maintenance and capital fund requirements by building, block and portfolio. The project now proceeded to a series of “what-if” scenarios by analysing the various options available to Public Works (including redevelopment and privatisation) and then conducting a workshop with the deputy-minister level working committee before submitting our final report which was eventually accepted by the Federal Cabinet. In 1999 it was announced that the Ottawa area municipalities would be amalgamated into a single city. As a result, in early 2000, the Mayor of Ottawa set up a series of weekend long charrettes to determine the optimum planning "vision" for the East side of the downtown core. Given our extensive working knowledge of the Sparks Street area Richard Talbot was invited to participate in the charrettes as the only non-Ottawa attendee.
(For more details on these projects and how we can help you, please contact us at info@talbotconsultants.com )
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