Québec will pay out$ 10 to renovate the offices of Justice officials

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Québec will pay$ 10 to re-design the offices of the headquarters of the ministry of Justice.

Pierre-Paul Biron

Wednesday, march 14, 2018 10:18

UPDATE
Wednesday, march 14, 2018 10:23

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Québec will pay$ 10 to re-design the offices of the headquarters of the ministry of Justice, even if the government is a tenant since the sale of the building to the private there are less than two years.

Quebec is the tenant of the Building, Louis-Philippe-Pigeon, located at 1200 route de l’église, since he has sold the building to Industrial Alliance in may 2016 for the sum of$ 34.1 Million. The transaction had at the time, raised questions of the auditor general, who did not understand the willingness of the government to sell the building.

Less than two years later, now the government will pay out$ 10 to redevelop the premises that it leases to Industrial Alliance. The amount of the 20-year lease between the two parties amounted to approximately$ 4M per year, according to figures provided by the ministry of Justice.

The renovations will be “to create spaces of work, purchase of built-in furniture and an upgrade of technological equipment”, according to the ministry. Ultimately, we would like to resolve some of the “problematic operation” in repatriation to the building of the workforce temporarily settled elsewhere and by consolidating some units.

The responsibility of the tenant

Questioned on the reasons why the invoice of$ 10 is in its load rather than that of the owner of the building, the Corporation of the Québec infrastructure (SQI) ensures that the procedure is common.

“In all commercial buildings, rented spaces, and the amenities are always the responsibility of the tenant. This is no different in this case,” says Martin Roy, spokesperson of the SQI, which adds that this work was planned for a long time. “The ministry already had a project of redevelopment of its space prior to the sale.”

For its part, Industrial Alliance invested twenty million for work affecting the exterior envelope of the building and its mechanical systems. It was agreed at the time of the sale that the government will take care of the inside. “We had a super nice development opportunity because it is a location that is extremely strategic at the corner of Church and Laurel,” says the public relations officer of the company, Pierre Picard.

Report of the auditor general

The sale of the Louis-Philippe-Pigeon had been talking to them in 2016, while the auditor general questioned the lack of planning of the SQI in his approach. The sale was concluded without any analysis of the market value of the building.

The auditor noted in a report that the decision to dispose of the building “was designed to fill a budget deficit” and this, “without consideration of its financial impact in the long term”.

The SQI is defended today by stating that the building is located in an area where there is high demand for the commercial and residential development and that these sectors were not part of the mandate of the organization. By selling the building, the government was therefore in the sense of “guidance of the city to develop this sector,” “while transferring risks to the new owner,” explains the spokesperson Martin Roy.

The 1200 route de l’église in figures

• Property of Industrial Alliance
• Tenant : Ministry of Justice of Quebec
• Costs annual lease between the government and Industrial Alliance:$3.9 M
• Redevelopment of offices :$ 10 at the expense of the government of Quebec
• Work of the exterior envelope and mechanical systems : Approximately 22M$ at the expense of Industrial Alliance
• Price of sale of the building in 2016:$34.1 Million
• Municipal assessment: 32M$