What does ～したいところだ mean?


I've seen it a few times but I'm not sure what it means. Sometimes だが or the
like follows. Here's a relevent line I encountered recently:

> ねぎらいの席…なるほど。確かにあなたは頑張っているから、是非ともねぎらってあげたいところだ

The context is that the speaker is responding to a subordinate who believes
they were summoned to be praised but in reality is about to be admonished. The
line seems like it would mean the the same thing without the ところ. What
function does the ところ perform?




ところ has many meanings.
<http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/158611/meaning/m0u/%E3%81%A8%E3%81%93%E3%82%8D/>

I think ところ in this sentence means _situation_. For example, 今、考えているところだ (I am
thinking now).

