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Posted Sep 3, 2010, 9:14 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Coquitlam
Posts: 39,424
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some good news for them to get a big tenant like this
Quote:
TransLink heading to New Westminster
BY THERESA MCMANUS, THE RECORD SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
Next stop: New Westminster.
TransLink's corporate headquarters and the Transit Police will be relocating to New Westminster in early 2013. They'll be moving into the Brewery District development that's currently being built by the Wesgroup Properties in Sapperton, on a site adjacent to Royal Columbian Hospital and the Sapperton SkyTrain station.
About 500 TransLink and Transit Police staff will be involved. Moving day is expected to be in January 2013.
"The timing for us is perfect," said Mayor Wayne Wright. "Completion is 2013. All the infrastructure is done in there. They are prepared to start right away."
The city's livable city strategy, an economic development plan, highlighted the need to have corporate offices set up shop in New Westminster
"It's been on the wish list," Wright said. "Now it is happening. I am ecstatic."
Wright said city staff, the police service and the police board have been working on the plan for a considerable amount of time, recognizing the benefits of having a major corporate office in New Westminster.
"It legitimizes the city," Wright said about TransLink's decision to move to New Westminster. "That's been hard for us to get."
A building currently under construction at the Brewery District site will be home to Thrifty Foods and TD Canada Trust. TransLink will be located in a building to be built nearby.
"TransLink's lease at its current Metrotown location is due to expire at the end of January, 2013, which provided an opportunity to look at options," said Doug Kelsey, TransLink's executive vice president. "At the same time, the Transit Police must be relocated into a better facility - they are spread out into two separate buildings, neither of which meets seismic standards required for an operation that would have a critical emergency response role."
In addition to operating efficiencies, TransLink expects to save $430,000 annually over its current costs. The design of the building will allow TransLink to function more efficiently on less space than it now occupies.
"That, plus the cost savings involved in sharing common facilities with the Transit Police, are the main reasons we'll end up with lower annual expenses; enough in fact to buy a new bus every year," Kelsey said in a news release.
Noting the growth taking place in the Tri-Cities and south of the Fraser River, Wesgroup president Gino Nonni said TransLink will be located closer to the true centre of Metro Vancouver. He said his company's proposal met TransLink's requirements on a number of levels, beyond its specific office needs.
"We realized that the facility we're going to build, both in design and location, is consistent with TransLink's broader goals," he said. "It's next to SkyTrain and it will anchor other retail and residential developments that will put more people and jobs where rapid transit is an attractive travel option."
Mitchell Edgar, the city's manager of economic development, said the announcement is the result of a two-year site selection process. He's not surprised New Westminster was selected, given its central location and proximity to SkyTrain.
"It bodes well for attracting future offices," he said. "It is a seal of approval from a corporate organization. Others I think will take notice of that."
Edgar said the final decision came down to cost, location, proximity to SkyTrain, and the ability to plug into a great development that's under construction.
"It's one of the things I am working on, attracting corporate offices," he said. "We are hoping there will be more. Organizations, companies looking to renew their leases in this type of tenant-favourable market are going to take notice that TransLink has made the move. Companies are already considering New West. It is really a huge promotional opportunity for us."
Edgar said the key to vitality of neighbourhoods, including Sapperton and the downtown, is having places where people can live and work, as it creates a demand for retail, restaurants and other services.
"Looking at the Brewery District and the hospital with their plans for expansion, this whole area becomes a major employment centre for New Westminster," he said. "It bodes well for the vitality of Sapperton for years to come."
Phil Christie, TransLink's vice president of real estate, said the agreement with Wesgroup Properties culminated a two-year process.
"We wanted to be well out ahead of the timeline for the end of TransLink's current lease and there is urgency to get a better facility for the Transit Police," he said. "All of this background work put us in an excellent position to take best advantage of a 'tenant-favoured market' and lock into a long-term partnership with Wesgroup that gives us a better facility and lowers our costs."
In recent years, New Westminster has lost major employers including Labatt's Brewery, St. Mary's Hospital and three mills.
"We are replacing the heavy industry we have lost with what is needed," Wright said. "It makes other things viable, like restaurants."
Wright said TransLink and the Transit Police decision to relocate to Sapperton is a positive for that neighbourhood. It's already home to Royal Columbian Hospital. (The Transit Police is a division of TransLink that is services the transit system)
"That particular area becomes a hub, the most employed area of the city," he said. "You are talking about it being a little town centre itself."
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Read more: http://www.royalcityrecord.com/Trans...#ixzz0yVGqivxt
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