Uptown Property Group has pulled the plug on its partnership with the City of New Westminster on the multiuse civic centre.
In the fall of 2010, the City of New Westminster selected the Uptown Property Group as the developer to collaborate with on the multiuse civic facility project that's being built at the corner of Eighth and Columbia streets. The Uptown Property Group proposed to build a 100,000 square foot office tower above the city's 80,000 to 85,000 square foot civic facility.
"We are no longer involved in the project," said Bart Slotman, vice-president of Uptown Property Group. "We stepped out of it for business reasons. I don't want to get into the details of that."
Slotman said UPG was "very motivated and very excited about the opportunity" but as time went on, it became evident that it wasn't meant to be.
"It wasn't an easy decision," he said. "In business you have to make hard decisions. For business reasons, we decided we couldn't carry on."
In addition to bringing 500 people into the downtown, the office tower was planning to build and fund about 180 parking spaces that could be used by civic centre patrons in non-peak office times.
A staff report presented to city council in October 2010 stated that the proposal provides the city with many benefits, including: employment in the downtown, which is a top priority in the downtown community plan and the Livable City Strategy (an economic development plan); property taxes that will assist in the ongoing operating costs of the multiuse civic centre; and maximizing the use of casino funding for cultural amenities.
"What it means is we are currently searching for a new partner," said Coun. Bill Harper. "It's been going on for the last few months."
Harper is hopeful the city will be able to find a new partner willing to build office space at the civic centre, which is not only on top of a civic centre but also across the street from a SkyTrain station. He said the provision of Class A office space is something the city wants to see more of in the downtown.
Because a lot of the information surrounding this issue is being discussed in camera, Harper was reluctant to say too much about the project. He couldn't comment on how the parking construction would proceed without the financial input of the Uptown Property Group.
The City of New Westminster is building a $35-million multi-use civic facility with casino funds known as development assistance compensation. The four-way agreement, which was signed by the City of New Westminster, the B.C. Lotteries Corporation, the provincial government and Starlight Casino, states that the project must be complete by Dec. 31, 2013.
In 2010, the city launched an expression of interest process indicating its desire to partner with a developer. The proposal from UPG was the only submission that offered office and employment-generating market uses.
Under the proposal, the civic centre will face Columbia Street, while the office tower will face Eighth Street.
The City of New Westminster held a groundbreaking ceremony for the civic centre in September 2010. The first stage of construction included
underground site servicing, excavation of the underground parkade and shoring of the excavation walls for three levels of underground parking.
Construction of the civic centre is set to begin early in 2013, but The Record was unable to reach city officials to inquire whether the setback would impact the construction timeline.
The City of New Westminster is building a $35-million multi-use civic facility with casino funds known as development assistance compensation. The four-way agreement was signed by the City of New Westminster, the B.C. Lotteries Corporation, the provincial government and Starlight Casino. The project must be complete by Dec. 31, 2013.
The city's portion of the civic centre will include a 350-seat theatre with flexible seating to accommodate a variety of productions, conference and meeting space, art studios, an art gallery, tourist information centre and the city's museum and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
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