News Release
Province will lease new office tower from City of Fredericton
December 21, 2007
Fredericton (December 21, 2007) - Premier Shawn Graham announced today that the Province will enter into a lease agreement with the City of Fredericton for about 13,500 square metres (150,000 square feet) of space in a new office tower to be built by the city as part of its downtown redevelopment project.
Joining Graham for the announcement were Mayor Brad Woodside and Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne.
"Our participation in this project is evidence of our government's effort to build relationships and work co-operatively with our municipalities to create a more self-sufficient province," Graham said. "Together, we will be investing in strategic infrastructure that will transform the face of the provincial capital and attract future growth and economic development to the Fredericton region."
The leased space will provide the provincial government with the flexibility it needs to proceed with major renovations to the aging Centennial Building, which is more than 40 years old. The lease agreement with the City of Fredericton is estimated to be worth about $4.5 - $5 million per year.
The new city office building will accommodate employees of the civil service while the Centennial Building is being renovated. Once it has been refurbished, government offices will then be relocated back to the Centennial Building. In the meantime, the Department of Supply and Services will prepare a long-range strategic plan for its building inventory in the City of Fredericton. This plan will identify and address the long-term space needs of government.
The City of Fredericton's redevelopment plans include the office tower, a parking garage and convention centre in downtown Fredericton adjacent to the Playhouse at an estimated total cost of $69 million. ADI Ltd. has been awarded the city contract for design and construction. The project is expected to be under construction in the spring of 2008 and will take about two years to complete. The Province would move into the office tower in 2010.
"This is a great day for Fredericton and the downtown east end development project," Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside said. "It makes good economic sense for the convention centre and office building projects to be designed and constructed at the same time. I want to thank the Province for their support and leadership on this project. Hopefully, in the New Year, we will see the Government of Canada step up to the plate and become involved in this important infrastructure project."
The City of Fredericton is seeking further support from the province and the federal government in the form of funding for the convention facility portion of the complex. Negotiations for funding the convention centre are ongoing.
In the meantime, the Department of Supply and Services is in the process of transferring land at the northwest corner of King and St. John Street, which the city is purchasing to accommodate the construction of the convention centre and parking garage.
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MEDIA CONTACTS: Marie-Andrée Bolduc, Office of the Premier, 506-444-2286; Judy Cole, communications officer, Supply and Services, 506-457-7903; Wayne Knorr, communications, City of Fredericton, 506-460-2181.