Article content continued

Q: What does this mean to you as a Saskatoon resident?

A: Quite honestly, when it was first proposed, 2006, I know it’s got a long history of trying to get it out of the ground. But when it was first proposed, I thought: ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ Now here I am being a part of it and very happy to see it go up. It means a lot to the city, I believe. I think it’s going to be a new focus of downtown, especially with the new art gallery and performing arts centre. It’s going to be a good node of activity.

Q; This started out looking like a Victory Majors project. Now, you’re part of a consortium. How is that working out?

A: It actually has worked out fabulously. That might be a strong word. We got Triovest (Realty Advisors from Calgary) involved and Greystone (Managed Investments from Regina). They’re pros. They’re so good at what they do. Same with Urban Capital (condo developers) and Groupe Germain (hotel developers) out of Quebec. It’s truly a national development. There’s all these national players that are involved in it and they bring such a depth of experience and their attraction to the site, it shows how special the site is and how special it will be for the city that you can get all these national players interested and working on it and pulling in the same direction to make it work. So it’s worked out great.

Q: How surprised are you that the office building is moving ahead so quickly?

A: I’m not. I’ve been in close contact with Blair (Sinclair) at Triovest and he’s bullish on our economy. Quite frankly, Triovest and Greystone believe in Saskatoon and in Saskatchewan and we believe there’s demand for a new product. So henceforth, they’ve decided there should be an office building going in on the site. They’ve got enough interest in the site that made it more probable to go ahead.