Until today, the public discussion about a proposed convention centre in downtown Halifax revolved around a government expenditure of about $100 million. That amount would pay for the public portion of the proposed complex—that is, the convention centre proper. Construction of the adjoining hotel and office complex would be paid for by the private developer, Rank, Inc.
Readers will recall that I’ve criticized the government for releasing only redacted copies of four reports that analyzed the business case for the convention centre. To his credit, provincial infrastructure minister Bill Estabrooks reversed that decision, and today all four reports were put live on the internet.
Still, while the documents placed on the internet are a vast improvement from the earlier released versions, there were still some redaction. In particular, key clauses in a report compiled by Criterion Communications Inc. were blackened. But, those blackened reports can be read by simply copying them and pasting them into a Word document, which reveals the redacted text as simply text. One passage, in particular, is the “money quote”:
Recent experiences in North America suggest a construction cost for a centre
incorporating a mix of exhibit, meeting and ballroom spaces in the range of $400 to
$500 CDN per sf., depending on the proportion of various spaces with different degrees of finishing. For a 300,000 – 340,000 sf centre this would correspond very roughly to a construction cost in the range of between $120 and $170 million CDN, exclusive of design, furnishings and equipment costs.
There’s no indication what the costs of “design, furnishings and equipment” will be, but a safe guestimate would be $30 million, so let’s just call it an even $200 million for the public costs of the convention centre—TWICE that previously discussed.
Update, 5pm Friday: After The Coast announced the work-around for the redacted Criterion report, the report has been un-redacted.
Here’s a screenshot of the original redaction:
This article appears in Apr 29 – May 5, 2010.
You based your calculations on a 300,000 – 340,000 square foot centre whereas the Request for Proposals was for a 150,000 net square footage centre. Probably this is why your calculated estimate is so high.
Anything Tim B. can do to shit on this proposal will be done.
More misleading facts a figues by Tim…anything to stop the much needed conference centre that will help our city move forward…eh Tim.
Now hold on there fenwick16…………. there is a huge difference between net and gross square footages. Double is not necessarily unrealistic…………you’d have to see the actual program to get the facts………..but if you use net to calculate the actual cost…………you ARE going to seriously under estimate the final price tag. Do these numbers include soft costs………Smee thinks not. On top of all that……….when has an estimate for public consumption EVER been bang-on or less than the reality experienced 5 years later at the ribbon cutting ceremony?………never…Smee thinks.
The only way that it could be 300,000 – 340,000 square feet is if the two parking levels are added to the two convention levels. However, parking won’t cost $500 per square foot.
fenwick16 – what number do you like ?
$100 million
$120 million
$150 million
$80 million
Is any number too big for you ?
Do you think a concert hall would move us along
1) not very much
2) not at all
3) a whole lot
4) don’t need one
I would go with the number that has been quoted – $100 million. This amount will probably be partly funded by the federal government.
What is the source for the 300,000 – 340,000 square feet? It you look at Mapquest.com and multiply the block size, you will see that 300,000 – 340,000 square feet is not possible on two floors. My source for two floors of convention space is figure 5 of this report (Deloitte) – http://www.tradecentrelimited.com/site-tcl… .
Net area = 150,000sf for the convention center proper
Gross area = 250,000sf for the convention center proper
but it doesn’t end there……
this facility requires large shipping, receiving, unloading areas
some of the parking areas will be allocated to support WTCC2
there are exiting corridors passing through other areas
and shared heating, cooling, maintenance, storage, kitchens, etc
It’s a moot point to argue detail without the facts but it does appear we are looking at……..
300,000sf easy x $500sf easy = $150mil easily
plus lawyers, bankers, accountants, architects, engineers, staff, politicians, promotions, fixtures, furniture, and equipment…….they all cost more money.
$200 million?…………..easy!
…….as Smee sees it.
The number that I keep hearing for the convention centre is 125,000 square feet net so it might be 150,000 square feet gross. If the parking is part of the cost then at least that will generate revenue for the city. However, parking shouldn’t cost $500 per square foot. (Possibly $150 per square foot). However, if the city doesn’t want the parking, then do what Calgary does – reduce the parking requirement and put the money towards public transit. Halifax should be reducing parking requirements downtown and encourage rapid transit. There are simple solutions to keep the cost down – I will put faith in the politicians to keep it down since that is what they normally do around the Halifax area (there aren’t many elaborate public buildings in the Halifax area). Just look at the Metro Centre; Halifax has a great venue and it was built at a reasonable price.
I notice that several of the reports have certain paragraphs that are exactly the same, word for word.
Were the authors copying or were the same words provided to them by another source ?
My take is the province may not pay upfront but pay an annual sum depending on the revenue streams to the hotel from conventions. One report covers this ground very well and CUPE will not like it because the best option appears to support private ownership of the convention centre and a variable annual subsidy from the province.
I did notice that no report looks at the adverse impact the new convention centre would have on certain hotels who host smaller conventions. It is possible that WTCC2 plans to steal all the convention business in metro and deprive existing hotels of stable revenue.
Hope Tim asks more questions.