Office space on campus concerns chamber
By Cassandra Kyle and James Wood, The StarPhoenix August 26, 2010
A Saskatoon business group raised concerns Wednesday over a proposal for new office space to be developed at Innovation Place with the backing of the province.
Brian Chalmers, president of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, is questioning the timing of the "fairly significant" development on University of Saskatchewan grounds, saying it could take tenants away from office projects in the south downtown.
"(It is) a fairly significant size and it would likely supply a fair bit of Saskatoon's requirements going forward for a number of years for commercial space," Chalmers said, adding the development is in the "very preliminary stages."
As downtown office projects, such as 275 Second on 20th Street and Second Avenue, wait to confirm tenants prior to starting construction, a government development could unfairly draw away future clients, he said.
The developers behind Lake Placid have also raised concerns about the potential for a new, publicly funded office.
Innovation Place, which also has campuses in Regina and Prince Albert, is the registered business name of the Saskatchewan Opportunities Corp. (SOCO), a provincial Crown corporation.
"There's a concern that there could be a competition for tenants that may be detrimental to these other projects going forward," Chalmers said.
Stressing the chamber is supportive of Innovation Place and its ability to bring intellectual firms into the Saskatoon marketplace, Chalmers said the organization will now work to get input from the business community about the proposed development. The feedback, he said, would be presented to the government before a final decision is made about the office project.
"There is no bad guy, it's how we can make this work the best in the long run," Chalmers said.
Rob Norris, the minister responsible for SOCO in the Saskatchewan Party government, stressed the proposal is at a very early stage and would have to be approved by both Crown Investments Corp. and the provincial cabinet.
"There is going to be a very fulsome consultative process if and as this moves forward," he said.
"A leading principle for us as government is, in the area of innovation, government is certainly not going to compete with the private sector. There are a whole range of options and it really depends on the demand side."
Norris did note the proposal was created in response to interest from potential clients.
Such a facility would not be general commercial office space, but would rather be aimed at specialized companies in need of the services offered at Innovation Place for research and development, he said.
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