| Ottawa Paramedic Centre: Wave of the Future
December 3, 2004 Garry Marr Richard Abboud, president of Forum Leasehold Partners, says the new $20-million paramedic centre in Ottawa may be the wave of the future for real estate investment. The 100,000-square-foot building, which will be completed by the end of next year, is a public-private partnership. The city gave Forum a 30-year land lease and the company is constructing the building in exchange for a long-term rental agreement. The city will own the building after 30 years. Forum teamed with designers Aecon-Westeinde Alliance Inc. and property managers Trammell Crow Co. Canada on the bid. "The city realizes that the private sector can build this more efficiently, and this also limits the city's risk," said Mr. Abboud, who spoke at a real estate forum in Toronto this week about the future of public-private partnerships. The benefit for Forum and its investors is that they get a stable cash stream for the next 30 years and can borrow for construction at favourable rates because they have a AAA tenant in the city. Mr. Abboud would not say what other investors are involved in the project but said there is plenty of institutional money. "There are pensions and insurance companies looking for long-term stable returns," he said. Forum was established two years ago and now has a portfolio of $100-million, some of it established using the public-private partnership model. Copyright © 2004 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All rights reserved. |
