EDITOR'S NOTE: The submission below was prepared by Kirk MacCulloch of Fairwyn Developments Limited (www.fairwyn.ca) on behalf of The Snook Group regarding its proposal to the Town of Truro to accommodate the Colchester East Hants Public Library and regional headquarters in the redeveloped 'Old Hat Factory' building. Fairwyn will be development consultant and project manager for the redevelopment of the Old Hat Factory.
By Kirk MacCulloch
Special to the Truro Daily News
TRURO - At the Jan. 9 town council meeting, Truro Mayor Bill Mills stated that, "The right spot (referring to the Old Hat Factory) costs $18 million."
We believe that this dollar amount and other statements we have read in the Truro Daily News and elsewhere do not accurately reflect the Snook Group's 'Old Hat Factory' proposal for the Colchester East Hants Public Library and regional headquarters, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to clarify the facts regarding to our proposal.
The Snook Group was selected by the Town of Truro as the successful proponent under the town's Request For Proposals (RFP) in March 2010 that requested long-term lease proposals for approximately 34,000 square feet of space on a maximum of two floors to accommodate the regional library and regional headquarters.
The Snook Group proposed a fully finished (i.e. ready for the library's furniture, books, etc.) two-level location in the 'Old Hat Factory' on Prince Street, which would be completely redeveloped to meet virtually all of the performance specifications set out in the RFP, including the library's total space needs and LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design designation certifying the building's high standard of environmental design and energy efficiency, resulting lower annual operating costs).
The only other response received by the town to its RFP was a proposal by L&R Construction Limited to restore the four-storey, 17,254 square foot (approximately usable area) old Normal College on behalf of the town for an estimated cost of approximately $3,500,000.
We are not in a position to comment on the merits of the old Normal College proposal; however we understand and support the town's endeavour to find a suitable use for this significant heritage building.
Regarding our own proposal, the annual net rent quoted for the Old Hat Factory in our RFP response was $795,800 for a 34,600 square-foot premise. In naming The Snook Group as the successful proponent, the town said that it liked our proposal, but requested that the annual rent be reduced by $250,000 without any decrease in quality or building performance specifications and still retaining the LEED Certification.
As a result, on July 27, 2010, we quoted the town a reduced annual rent of $666,000 a year for a premise of 33,000 square feet. We explained that a reduction in rent of $130,000 was the most we could achieve without impacting quality or energy efficiency.
A longer lease term would allow us to reduce the annual rent. However, the town has advised that it is not permitted to enter into a lease of more than 20 years. We therefore suggested that if they renewed the lease after 10 years for another 10 years (total of 30 years) the annual rent for the remaining 20 years would be reduced to $432,900. This would result in an average annual net rent of $510,600 over 30 years, being a yearly reduction of $285,000 from our original proposal.
In response to a request from the town for an opportunity to own the library, in August 2011 the Snook Group agreed to grant the town the option to purchase the new library on completion for a purchase price of $9 million. This is significantly lower than the estimated cost of over $14 million in today's dollars to build a new library of approximately the same size, which was designed by MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects in 2007 after an extensive consultation process.
We have also agreed to grant further options to purchase at the end of 10, 20 and 30 years for significantly lower prices to reflect the amortization of the initial redevelopment costs over time.
As confirmed by Mayor Mills at the last council meeting, the Old Hat Factory is the 'right spot' for the library and regional headquarters. Since the closing of the RFP, The Snook Group has responded to all requests made to it, including granting a purchase option, and it has done all that it can reasonably do to reduce the rent and purchase price without compromising on either the space requirements or building quality.
The completely redeveloped Old Hat Factory will be an outstanding long-term solution for the library and the regional headquarters. The attractive exterior will be brick complimentary to the downtown's prevalent traditional architecture, and the interior design will feature a two-storey atrium, a community meeting room and much natural light. The site will include 5,000 square feet of green space for the library's exclusive use and access to over 50 parking spaces.
When mutually acceptable lease or purchase terms are agreed to we look forward to working with the library and other stakeholders in a collaborative process to ensure that the final design is the best possible for the library's specific needs and represents excellent value for money.
Our proposal also commits to the demolition portions of the existing buildings on Court Street and redevelopment of the rest of the Old Hat Factory for office and commercial uses. This will generate tax revenue for the town and act as catalyst for further development in the downtown.
Actually the majority of HRM has the tax rate of 1.45