this is the T&T article relating to the RFQ announcement today....
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=10889
Potential events centre developers named
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Times & Transcript
By: Brent Mazerolle
Bird Construction, Ellis Don, and L'Aréna de Canadiens Inc./Evenko all interested in proposed Moncton project
More details will come at the next public meeting of Moncton city council on May 6, but we now know the names of the three proponents interested in building a multi-purpose events centre in Moncton's downtown.
They are L'Aréna de Canadiens Inc./Evenko, Bird Construction and Ellis Don, all of whom answered a request for qualifications the city issued in December.
Their names were made public as City of Moncton staff presented a lengthy review of the whole history and timeline of the proposed project, from the first events centre feasibility study done in 2009 to the important steps that will be taken in the next couple months, to the idea of being open for business in 2017 if the city council ultimately decides to go ahead.
The request for qualifications was the city's first step ahead of issuing a request for proposals. At this stage, the three proponents have merely demonstrated their interest and their capacity to take on such a large-scale project.
Because developers can spend significant amounts of money just responding to a request for proposals, the RFQ step gets them on the exclusive shortlist. Only those who meet the criteria of the RFQ get to bid on the RFP, giving proponents better odds of recouping their investments.
Ellis Don's partners are Global Spectrum, the architectural fir m BBB, Southwest Properties Ltd., and Dufferin Financial Services. Among their projects are London, Ontario's Budweiser Gardens, which will be the subject of a case study presentation Wednesday morning at the Capitol Theatre, sponsored by Downtown Moncton Centre-Ville Inc.
The Rogers Centre in Toronto and the Red Ball Internet Centre are also Ellis Don projects.
Bird Construction has partnered with Armco Capital, SMG, Populous, and Moncton architectural fir m Stantec. Among its projects are the Thunderbird Sports Centre built for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the Trout Lake Arena in Vancouver, and the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
L'Aréna de Canadiens Inc./Evenko's projects include the Bell Centre in Montréal, the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, Que., and the proposed Place Bell in Laval, Que.
Both London's Budweiser Gardens, formerly known as the John Labatt Centre, and the Ford Center in Evansville have been looked at by city staff and in previous Times & Transcript stories as potential models for Moncton to emulate because of similarities of scale.
Meanwhile, Global Spectrum markets, manages and operates large venues around the world, while Evenko is one of the world's top events promoters.
The public will hear more about the three proponents on May 6, the same night they will hear the City of Moncton's chief financial officer John Martin present a 30-year financial plan for the city.
The mayor said after last night's meeting the 30-year plan 'will make the case we can significantly address the city's infrastructure deficit and build an events centre.' Some of the liveliest discussion on council has been framed around an either/or debate about whether to spend on the city's infrastructure deficit or to spend on the proposed centre. If Martin can convincingly show it's possible to do both, that will have a significant impact on the decisions council will ultimately have to make.
In June, the results of an independent economic analysis should also be ready for public presentation and discussion. Also, the council must decide whether or not to buy the Highfield Square property. The city holds an option on the land which expires at the end of June.
If council votes to go ahead, they will likely issue a request for proposals in the fall, giving the three proponents six months to put their proposals together.
Allowing the city time to evaluate the proposals, and assuming one of them is deemed acceptable, construction could begin in 2015, with an opening date for the multi-purpose sports, entertainment, arts, culture and civic complex in 2017.
That of course assumes the city secures funding from other partners besides the successful proponent.