Date of DND move to former Nortel campus still up in the air

OTTAWA — The federal government still has no idea when the Defence Department will move into Nortel’s former campus on Carling Avenue, but a private firm on the site says it has extended an agreement to allow it to occupy one of the buildings there until 2016.

Ciena, a high-tech firm, still occupies two buildings on the campus but is in the process of consolidating its operations into one facility there.

The company was supposed to vacate the site in March 2015, but earlier this year it extended that departure date until March 2016.

“Our agreement allows us to occupy that building until 2016, but we have not communicated any plans other than that at this point,” said Nicole Anderson, Ciena’s senior director of communications.

Cresa Ottawa, a real estate advisory company, suggested in a recent report that Ciena could continue to occupy the site longer.

Darren Fleming, managing principal of Cresa Ottawa, said it is unclear when DND will complete its move into the Nortel campus.

“There’s been ongoing pushback from various groups in DND about who is going to go there and when,” he added.

The move will happen in stages, with Fleming noting that some DND organizations could occupy parts of the campus as early as the spring while it will be years before others set up there.

Fleming said other companies that were on the campus have since found new locations. “(Ciena) is the last one left,” he said.

Fleming said he is not surprised Public Works won’t commit to a date when DND can move in.

“Anytime Public Works does anything in terms of space, planning and design, it takes forever and twice as long as they think,” he said. “They miss every deadline they set for themselves.”

Federal government documents obtained by the Citizen note that although there is no specific date for the move to occur, the Defence Department expects the shift to take place “within the next 5 years.”

Information sent by Public Works to Parliament about the DND move also noted the government would be involved in preparing the site for DND’s needs with “investments made over a five to seven-year period.”

DND declined to comment, referring questions about its move to Public Works.

In an email to the Citizen, Public Works noted that private sector tenants currently occupy 50 per cent of the former Nortel campus. “At this time, we cannot confirm the date for moving into the campus,” stated the email.

Vice Admiral Bruce Donaldson has said more specific dates for the move would be included in a plan he will present to the Conservative government by the end of the year.

His preference is to start the move in the “next few years,” he told the Citizen in May. But he acknowledged, “It is one of the biggest moves I think ever in Canada of an organization.”

The Defence Department and Public Works have been tight-lipped about the move.

But documents tabled last year with Parliament give a glimpse how the relocation will take place. At least 24 Public Works employees are currently on the site involved in the project. The move is expected to be done in phases, with buildings currently occupied by tenants fitted up for DND’s needs as they become available, according to the documents.

The cost to prepare the site involves everything from creating new offices to installing secure computer networks.

The Defence Department has claimed in previous emails that it does not know how much it will cost to prepare the campus as the new home for 8,000 to 10,000 of its employees.

But DND documents obtained by the Citizen put that cost at $623 million. Public Works put the cost at around $600 million.

That price tag is on top of the $208 million the federal government paid in 2010 to buy the campus at 3500 Carling Ave.

DND officials were, however, concerned that taxpayers would find out about the $623 million cost to refit the campus. Documents obtained by the Citizen show DND not only knew about the cost more than a year ago but senior officials ordered references to it removed from public statements and documents. “Media, parliamentarians and Canadians will be focused on the cost to taxpayers for the acquisition of the Campus and the subsequent retro-fit costs,” noted a DND strategy document.

Such concerns were solved when DND’s Deputy Minister Robert Fonberg stepped in. Fonberg’s assistant wrote that the deputy minister was concerned about telling the public about the price tag. According to an email, Fonberg asked, “Why are we using the $623m(illion) fit up cost? It is without context and will be a lightening rod!”

The cost was removed from DND public documents about the Nortel purchase.

In its email to the Citizen, Public Works said its staff, along with DND employees, is in the midst of planning for the fit-up of the campus to meet the department’s needs. “We will ensure that all fit up costs are reasonable and necessary and ensure the highest value of money for tax payers,” the email stated.

The Defence Department estimates it will save $50 million a year by moving most of its employees in the Ottawa area into the former Nortel campus.

DND and the Canadian Forces have 42 office locations in Ottawa and Gatineau. DND is hoping the move to the Carling site will reduce the number to seven or less.

72 per cent of the military and Defence Department staff are in Ottawa, with 28 per cent in Gatineau.

DND plans to try to retain that ratio.

DND’s main headquarters, the Major-General George R. Pearkes Building on Colonel By Drive, as well as its facility on Star Top Road will continue to be used. The Pearkes building was originally intended for Transport Canada but in 1974 became DND headquarters.

DND’s presence in the Louis St. Laurent building, the National Printing Bureau building and the Hotel de Ville building in Gatineau will continue.

As far as the other DND locations throughout Ottawa and Gatineau, the government will allow leases to run out. In some cases other federal departments will use the properties.

Some DND employees and Canadian Forces personnel have voiced concern over the move, pointing out that many live in Orléans and the commute would be too long.

A June 2011 briefing note for Deputy Minister Fonberg described the Carling Campus as a “relatively remote location.”

The campus consists of approximately 28 hectares that was owned by Nortel and 120 hectares leased from the National Capital Commission.

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author:  DAVID PUGLIESE