Saskatoon Construction II

[prairieguy]

Wow....a total of 3 designs to choose from....unbelievable for a project of this magnitude. Not passing judgement yet on the 'selected' design, as at this point, to little information.

I was at a friends place in a condo on the east side of river that overlooks downtown. It was kind of cool, as both the crane towers of the Holiday Inn and Lighthhouse were easily visible. How cool will it look when the Tonka crane gets up too! (now if we had River Landing Village crane erected at same time, that would be a very impressive site....or the 2SEVEN5 tower .... )

[TheCricket]

The Forzani Group Ltd. to be Acquired by Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited for $26.50 Per Share in Cash

05-09-2011 | 06:35

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - May 9, 2011) - The Forzani Group Ltd. (TSX:FGL) ("FGL", "Forzani" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into a friendly transaction with Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC, CTC.CA)("Canadian Tire") that will combine Forzani's premium sporting goods and apparel business with Canadian Tire's "everyday" selection of sporting goods in Canada. Under the terms of the transaction, Forzani shareholders will receive $26.50 in cash for each FGL Class "A" share pursuant to a take-over bid to be made by Canadian Tire (the "Offer"), which is the equivalent of a 50% premium relative to the closing price of FGL Class "A" shares on the TSX on May 6, 2011.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Forzani Group Ltd. - Media:
David Ryan Longview Communications Inc. (416) 649-8007 (416) 649-8007

Forzani Group Ltd. - Investors:
Michael Lambert, CA Chief Financial Officer (403) 717-1666 (403) 717-1666

Forzani Group Ltd. - Investors:
Evan Johnston Vice-President and General Counsel (403) 717-1453 (403) 717-1453

http://www.forzanigroup.com/InvestorRelations.aspx?selected=pressReleases

Source: The Forzani Group Ltd./Le Groupe Forzani Ltee

[dsim249]

Originally Posted by prairieguy

Wow....a total of 3 designs to choose from....unbelievable for a project of this magnitude. Not passing judgement yet on the 'selected' design, as at this point, to little information.

I guess I should have said 3 final designs? A number of designs were looked at. I think I described a couple of them a few months ago.

[Scruff Bucket]

Originally Posted by jigglysquishy

No way is 21,000 right. The Saskatoon CMA grew by 7,300 in 2010 and was one of the fastest growth rates in the country.

Tripling the current rate is simply not possible.

Judging from Statcan tables (by province, by CMA), it looks like the 21000 might reflect the the increase of Saskatchewan's population in 2011. At this rate, Saskatoon's population should increase by some 9300 people to a nevertheless impressive 272600!

If 21000 is correct for the increase for Saskatoon's population, then the population of Saskatchewan should bloom by 47000! -- Sounds great, but that would be stretching it!

[vyllym]

BHP Billiton moving Vancouver office to Saskatoon


BY CASSANDRA KYLE, THE STARPHOENIX MAY 10, 2011 11:02 AM BE THE FIRST TO POST A COMMENT


STORYPHOTOS ( 1 )



BHP Billiton Ltd. plans to close its Vancouver office and move its operations and staff to Saskatoon.
Photograph by: William West, Getty Images
BHP Billiton Ltd. is closing its Vancouver office and moving its operations and staff to Saskatoon.

The company’s Diamonds and Specialty Products division, which includes the firm’s Saskatchewan potash projects, is being relocated to “reflect the company’s commitment to establish a premier potash business managed from Saskatchewan,” BHP Billiton wrote in a news release.

The move will see 30 jobs added to the downtown Saskatoon office, where 69 people currently work. The figure from Vancouver includes the division’s leadership team.



Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Billiton+m...skatoon/4757801/story.html#ixzz1LxzXiXle

[prairieguy]

BHP Billiton announcement is great news for Saskatoon! Although it is a relatively small number of jobs (at this point in time), they are likely high level jobs which is a boost to the economy and downtown. For me, this certainly bodes well for BHP's commitment to Saskatoon and also the Jansen project....which will be huge in terms of economic impact for Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

I wonder how many jobs have relocated via Potash Corp so far....

[shmakim]

Originally Posted by vyllym

BHP Billiton moving Vancouver office to Saskatoon

Oh no, another housing bubble. First Saskatoon was Calgary's bitch, now Vancouver's...

[nook]

Just a question... with BHP moving it's operations to Saskatoon, any chance we see them build a tower downtown as opposed to that little complex they have currently?

[111ddd]

Not likely any time soon. They leased 3 floors of that building and are only using 1 at this point. They'll be moving people into a second floor soon, but i'd guess it will be quite a while before they fill up the entire building.

69 people there now, 30 more positions coming from Vancouver.

Originally Posted by nook

Just a question... with BHP moving it's operations to Saskatoon, any chance we see them build a tower downtown as opposed to that little complex they have currently?

[shmakim]

Circle drive cam

In other news, more bridge spans are up at the south bridge!

[Wyku]

I'm suprised they're still dry on the area under the spans--the river has gone up a lot in the past couple of weeks, and the high flow rate must be hammering the south side/corner of it.

[111ddd]

Chatting with some accountants, I heard that 10 accounting jobs moved here from Chicago. They laid off 10 people in Chicago and hired 10 new people here.

Also heard a rumour that PCS might be looking for more space in their tower.

Originally Posted by prairieguy

BHP Billiton announcement is great news for Saskatoon! Although it is a relatively small number of jobs (at this point in time), they are likely high level jobs which is a boost to the economy and downtown. For me, this certainly bodes well for BHP's commitment to Saskatoon and also the Jansen project....which will be huge in terms of economic impact for Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

I wonder how many jobs have relocated via Potash Corp so far....

[prairieguy]

Originally Posted by nook

Just a question... with BHP moving it's operations to Saskatoon, any chance we see them build a tower downtown as opposed to that little complex they have currently?

Not sure I would refer to their leased building on 3rd Ave as "that little complex", as I believe it was intended to accomodate up to 200 employees. That is close to what PCS has in its 'tower'.

I have to say I wasn't a big fan of the BHP building initially, but it has grown on me. I also appreciate that it has been built to LEEDS standards!

[gowest]

BHP are quietly becoming more involved in the community with charity events and donations. Nice to see.

[Echoes]

Regarding the speculation that PCS may need more office space....

PotashCorp plans workforce expansion

By Cassandra Kyle, The StarPhoenix May 13, 2011

[....]

Its headquarters in Saskatoon will be home to some 250 workers by the end of the year, up from 210 at the beginning of 2011, the CEO said. While space is getting tight inside PCS Tower downtown, Doyle said the firm has no plans to move into a new building.

"I don't see us doing that. Our home has been in PCS Tower for many years. We like that space, it's very central, it serves us well, our cost basis there is good. We're well set-up there," he said.

[....]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/PotashCorp+plans+workforce+expansion/4777164/story.html#ixzz1MLdMw500

[Morogolus]

As the street food craze rages across North America, punctuated by a number of TV series, Saskatoon's street eats remain limited to hot dogs and smokies. In a city with an long-standing diversity of restaurants, a popular summer food festival and a growing number of amateur and professional cooks with imagination, many wonder why the street food scene hasn't flourished beyond the ordinary.

.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Dining+cart+downtown/4784220/story.html#ixzz1MNF6SFt0

Even though it's not directly related to construction, it's an interesting read. Saskatoon is missing out on an opportunity to make it a livelier city and not make our streets so cold and lifeless by restricting street activity so much (performers, buskers, vendors and whatever else). Yet another example of city council wrecking something by over regulation and outdated laws.

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by Morogolus

.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/life/Dining+cart+downtown/4784220/story.html#ixzz1MNF6SFt0

Even though it's not directly related to construction, it's an interesting read. Saskatoon is missing out on an opportunity to make it a livelier city and not make our streets so cold and lifeless by restricting street activity so much (performers, buskers, vendors and whatever else). Yet another example of city council wrecking something by over regulation and outdated laws.

I do agree that there could be a lot o abuse if this program was expanded too quickly, but I don't think it requires a conservative approach either. Maybe a 5 year expansion could take place, where the goal could be to have 100 vendours across the city or something like that. I would LOVE to see this grow, each city has it's own unique flare and Saskatoon could carve out it's own strange foodey identity in the street meat world!

[gowest]

Originally Posted by Wyku

I'm suprised they're still dry on the area under the spans--the river has gone up a lot in the past couple of weeks, and the high flow rate must be hammering the south side/corner of it.

They took all the equipment off the fill under the bridge and Friday load after load of dirt was hauled in sll day to build it up. They dumped loads of rocks around the fill. Hopefully, it won't stall constructions too much as the river raises.

[Morogolus]

Just doing some booting around town this weekend and I saw that they're making good progress on 3rd ave between 20th and 21st doing the streetscaping. Also noticed some heavy machinery doing some work at the end of 25th, I imagine they are laying sewer and whatnot for the 25th st extension but I could be wrong.

[nowayjose]

Hi long time reader first time poster here..
I heard from somebody that moxies on 8th street is closing and converting to a swiss chalet? I don't know if its true but i live in martensville so i don't go in that area regularly. Also i've heard that harvey's is opening in place riel? Can anybody confirm this? Thanks