The City of St. Albert is now the official new owner of a building in Campbell Business Park.
The city announced last week it had purchased the building at 110 Carleton Drive for $8.8 million. The building, which was constructed in 2010, is just north of Servus Place and provides the city with an extra 29,369 square feet of space.
Ian McKay, the city's general manager for infrastructure and development services, said the city used its lifecycle reserves to pay for the building in order to avoid a tax hike.
"When we did the financial analysis, we analyzed whether the purchase was a good deal for the city. Having no impact on taxes was the big thing," he said.
The purchase is being treated similar to a long-term mortgage: The city plans to replenish the $8.8 million to its reserves over a 30-year period, essentially paying itself back for the purchase.
McKay said the building currently houses the city's recreation department.
"We were previously a tenant from the people who owned the building before," he said, adding there are two other tenants currently occupying the remainder of the building's first and second floors.
Those leases will help to pay for the building until the tenants move out, at which point the city will start consolidating its staff in that building.
"When those leases end, we'll determine what to do with our staffing arrangement around the city," McKay said.
Mayor Cathy Heron said in a news release the city has been short on space for a while.
"This purchase will provide us with flexibility in terms of space planning and enable us to house our staff for years to come," she stated.
McKay said the city leases a number of other spaces around the city right now in order to properly house all its staff. The time frame for moving staff into 110 Carleton Drive is in the two- to three-year range.
"We currently have several leases that will expire in the future, so we may move some people into this building and then save some money on the leases we currently have in the downtown area," he said.
The purchase also delays any need for a new civic centre in the downtown area.
"With the building we have now, if we could occupy the remainder of the building that's currently leased out to others then there's a significant amount of space there," McKay said. "We're talking 10-plus years before any more space is needed."
