City of Edmonton officials announced plans Thursday to move thousands of city staff members into one new downtown building in 2016.
The city said Thursday that an agreement had been reached with the EAD First Street Building Corporation, with a 20-year lease for 350,000 square feet of space.
The building, which is expected to be completed in the summer of 2016, will be built on the corner of 104 Avenue and 101 Street.
Construction on the $300 million, 27 storey tower is expected to begin in the spring.
The winning proposal by the Edmonton Arena Development Group, made up of The Katz Group and WAM Developments, was chosen from 14 submissions; the city said the entire process was reviewed by an external fairness advisor, and two independent reviewers.
“We’ll have approximately 65 percent of our downtown staff in the new building,” Gary Klassen, GM of Edmonton Sustainable Development said Thursday.
Currently, the city said space for staff is leased in five buildings, and the city owns four others – three of the city’s leases are set to expire on or before March 31, 2016, discussions on extending current leases until the new building is completed are underway.
Its estimated consolidating office space to one building will add up to a savings of about $5 million over the first five years.
It will be up to the city to name the new building.
With files from Bill Fortier
