After several deal fall-throughs, the Ottawa Construction Association (OCA) has purchased its new headquarters – a 16,797 sq. ft. building at 9 Antares Dr. Near Hunt Club and Prince of Wales Dr.
The OCA paid $2,995,000 for the building, originally constructed in 1998 and for many years housed Capital Air Conditioning, before it was sold to another organization a few years ago.
OCA president John DeVries says the association will look for a project manager to lead what he expects to be a $2 million project once the new building closes on March 17. The association has the funds in reserve for what will be a total $5 million initiative.
The building is near at least one other location that the OCA had selected, but that deal aborted when the vendor decided not to close the sale.
The association had sold its current 196 Bronson Ave. headquarters to Toronto-based condominium developer Lamb Developments about three years ago, and it has been leasing back the property.
DeVries said the new property purchase was conditional on Lamb paying back a $3 million vendor take-back mortgage. He said there was some concern that the developer would default on the payback obligations, but in the end, the OCA received the funds in January.
Property committee chair Wayne Jennings said the new headquarters site meets all of the associations’s requirements. It will have an additional approximately 7,000 sq. ft. for rentals, training or other uses. It is in an established business park with many member firms in close proximity. There is plenty of parking with 74 spaces on 1.4 acres of land.
The property, sold by the mortgage holder for the previous owner, was priced “well below the replacement cost for the property,” Jennings said.
The OCA will move to the new building in April 2018. The overlap time will allow the association to obtain design permits and then arrange the tenant fit-up.
DeVries said in an interview that the OCA will soon set an advertisement for a project manager, who will work to select a designer, and then co-ordinate the project site work.