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The federal government is gearing up for a four-year renovation of the aging L’Esplanade Laurier, one of Ottawa’s signature downtown buildings.

This week, Public Works and Government Services Canada invited parties interested in renovating, owning, leasing and operating the 40-year-old marble-clad office complex at Bank Street and Laurier Avenue to submit a response by Sept. 28.

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That will kick off a three-stage competitive process leading to a contract to rehabilitate 66,000 square metres of office space, 2,000 square metres of storage space, parking space and common areas starting in September 2017.

The target date for completing the work in one of the complex’s two 23-storey towers is July 31, 2020, with work in the second tower finished a year later.

The building is already nearly 75 per cent empty. About 1,200 employees of the Department of Finance moved into new quarters last year in the James Michael Flaherty Building at 90 Elgin St.