Library site selection catches current landowners by surprise
By Peter Kovessy, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Thu, Jun 11, 2009 12:00 PM EST
http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com...2825190533.php
Although city officials selected the site for a new central library a year ago, two of the affected landowners said they first learned they will be forced to part with their property in the hours following Wednesday morning's official announcement.
The largest affected landowner in the city block bounded by Slater, Lyon, Bay and Albert streets, Alterna Savings, had a bit more notice and was notified late last week, company officials said.
While the city has emphasized it wants to negotiate a purchase of the properties, officials have made it clear the municipality retains the right to expropriate the land if necessary.
Following a press conference Wednesday morning, Pamela Sweet, the chairperson of the library facilities and planning committee, said the site had actually been chosen a year ago, but that library officials needed to gather more information on their space requirements before making a public announcement.
Officials apparently kept the site's selection a well-guarded secret.
"I just got wind of it (Wednesday) morning ... I wasn't aware that that was one of the sites," said Michael Fleming, of Fleming Property Management, which owns a pair of 14-unit apartment buildings on Albert Street that the company said date back to the 1930s.
"We've had them for a long time. They are really quite an urban attraction to me, they are in a nice location ... (This) is a shock to me. No one contacted me directly," he added, declining further comment until he had more information on the city's plans.
Similarly, Irene Kaczmarek, whose family has owned a three-storey rental property that currently featuring a street-level restaurant for more than 40 years, said she only learned about the situation Wednesday night.
"I am sort of surprised. I don't know how to react ... I haven't had time to think about it yet. Even if I have time to think about it, what can I do?"
Even though the announcement caught Ms. Kaczmarek off guard, she said knew someone was eventually going to want to redevelop the property, given the limited amount of available land in the downtown core.
Kimberley Ney, Alterna's senior vice-president of marketing and communications, told OBJ Wednesday the company was notified by the city late last week that is eyeing the property, still commonly known by its former name, Civil Service Co-operative Credit Society Ltd. She said it was Alterna's intention "to co-operate with the city" and that the company is "willing to talk" about selling the property.
A city report said if the company cannot be accommodated on the redeveloped site, the municipality intends to "assist in any relocation requirements."
Dave Donaldson, the city's manager of realty initiatives and development, said the nature of the "landmark" library project meant his department had to take a different approach than normal to reaching out to the affected landowners.
Typically, the realty department would be given instructions at an in-camera meeting to move forward with an acquisition and contact the landowners in question. They would then either report back at an in-camera meeting or submit comments for a public report, he said.
However, Mr. Donaldson the central library project was a unique situation, not only because of its size and significance, but because it involved the library board making a request to the city's corporate services committee to give city staff permission to begin the acquisition process.
"It was important to keep this as confidential as possible until the report was finalized (and) was on the agenda," he said, adding he was directed not to approach the landowners until the report was on the verge of being made public.
Mr. Donaldson said the city's process to acquire the library site actually involves a greater amount of information being made public in the early stages of the project.
"In this particular case ... the greater public knows in a very transparent fashion what the library board and the city are trying to do," he said.
"The intention is to negotiate in a very positive fashion with the landowners. ... We are trying to negotiate so there is a win-win for everybody."
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