The Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine (RDKS) is the new owner of its very own office building as it recently closed a deal to purchase the $2,600,000 four-storey building at the corner of Lazelle and Atwood in which it currently rents an office for its headquarters.
The in-camera plans to close the deal considered several options, and although there was some opposition among regional district directors, nobody voted against the motion to purchase the building when it came time to vote, said RDKS spokesperson Robert Marcellin.
Currently there are two other tenants in the building which has been the home of the RDKS for 27 years and who will now pay rent to the RDKS. They include the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the BC Assessment offices.
According to Marcellin, the RDKS will focus on expanding its offices within the building to fit its own needs and only after that will it look to perhaps rent out the remaining space to other groups.
“We looked at long-term lease agreements with the school board, looked at other private buildings to lease and purchase and after going through that exercise, we decided to look and see if we could purchase the building we are in,” said Marcellin. “Our five year lease agreement was coming up about two years ago, so about three years ago we started looking at options on whether or not we should continue renting, [or] should we purchase?”
According to Marcellin, one of the main reasons for going ahead with the purchase was because the RDKS operations had outgrown the space it was currently leasing. Purchasing the building means having other floors to expand into and a number of parking lots.
“We have outgrown the space we had. And we had to look at some additional space, so we are going to be looking at our special needs and making some adjustments before we make any other space available,” he said.
The RDKS purchased the building from Dasilva Developments and has entered into a lease-to-own type agreement directly with the company on a short-term basis, he said.
Dasilva Developments owns several buildings around town, including the one in which the BC Liquor Store is located.
The RDKS spent $500,000 from an existing reserve fund, said Marcellin, with the balance “to be paid over five years under an agreement for sale with the owner and the interest set at prime rate.”