REPORT NUMBER 198 OF THE PLANNING AND BUDGET COMMITTEE
Special Meeting – Thursday, March 4, 2021
To the Academic Board,
University of Toronto
Your Committee reports that it held a special meeting, virtually, on Thursday, March 3, 2021, at 12:00 p.m. with the following members present:
PRESENT:
Jan K. Mahrt-Smith, Chair, Mark Lautens, Vice Chair, Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President and Provost, Scott Mabury, Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships, Trevor Rodgers, Assistant Vice-President, Planning & Budget, Adanna Yvette Chigbo, Carol C. Chin, Ettore Vincenzo Damiano, Markus D. Dubber, Sarosh Jamal, Ernest W.N. Lam, Joanne McNamara, Nicole Mideo, Amy Mullin, Matt Ratto, Daniel Rozhko, Marium Nur Vahed, Grace Ann Westcott, Melanie A. Woodin
REGRETS:
Adalsteinn (Steini) I. D. Brown
Lisa Rebecca Dolovich
Fabian Parsch
NON-VOTING ASSESSORS:
Christine E. Burke (Assistant Vice-President, University Planning), Saher Fazilat (Chief Administrative Officer, UTM), William A. Gough (Vice-Principal Academic and Dean, UTSC), David Palmer, (Vice-President Advancement)
SECRETARIAT:
Tracey Gameiro, Committee Secretary
Sheree Drummond, Secretary, Governing Council
Anwar Kazimi, Deputy Secretary, Governing Council
IN ATTENDANCE:
Elizabeth Cragg (Director, Office of the Vice-President University Operations)
Joshua Mitchell (Director, Real Estate, Office of the Vice-President University Operations)
Heather Taylor (Director, Facilities Management & Space Planning, Temerty Faculty of Medicine)
ITEMS 2 AND IN CAMERA 3 ARE RECOMMENDED TO THE ACADEMIC BOARD FOR APPROVAL.
Pursuant to section 33(i) of By-Law Number 2,
Item 3 was considered in camera.
OPEN SESSION
- Chair’s Remarks
The Chair thanked members for their attendance at the special meeting
- Capital Project: Temerty Faculty of Medicine off-campus lease space conversion – Project Scope and Sources of Funding
Professor Scott Mabury, Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships, introduced the project highlighting the following:- Research and administrative activities currently housed in the Medical Sciences Building West Wing needed to be relocated to allow construction of the James and Louise Temerty Faculty of Medicine Medical Sciences Building capital project.
- Given the lack of suitable swing space on campus for research labs and laboratory kinds of activities, off-campus options were explored.
- The off-campus leased-space identified was highly desirable given its close proximity to campus and the willingness of the landlord to convert existing office space into a laboratory floor.
- With only 45 days to execute the lease, expeditious governance approval was being sought.
- The landlord had offered term flexibility, with options to extend beyond the initial ten years.
- Ten years was assessed to be sufficient time to plan and design the larger James and Louise Temerty Faculty of Medicine Medical Sciences Building capital project.
- Regular updates on the progress of the project both in terms of scope and costs, would be provided to the Committee on a go forward basis.
Heather Taylor, (Director, Facilities Management & Space Planning, Temerty Faculty of Medicine), joined the presentation, reiterating the advantageous location and feasibility of the sourced off-campus location to support the large space requirements and specialized laboratory needs of the Faculty.
In response to a member’s question regarding any increased risk associated with expedited construction, Professor Mabury explained that the landlord would execute the project based on the University’s needs. He added that having the landlord undertake all design and construction to repurpose the space would result in both cost savings and improved time to completion. Professor Mabury added that while the landlord would undertake the work, the University would provide management oversight, be descriptive and prescriptive in its requirements, and require that those engaged in the lease space conversion were steeped in experience in developing lab space specific to the University of Toronto and deeply familiar with its needs. In addition, Ms. Taylor reported that the Faculty’s Facilities Management and Space Planning team had significant expertise in developing laboratory space.
With regards to the term of the lease, Professor Mabury indicated his confidence that 10 years was sufficient for the broader capital project and well within the timelines suggested in the donor agreement. He emphasized however, that renewal options were part of the contract which would allow the University to continue to take advantage of this capital investment if there was a need to extend.
Professor Mabury maintained that all internal options had been considered and that there was no suitable on-campus space available. He remarked that with the landlord undertaking all the design and construction work for the fit out of the space, the cost of construction would be less than that spent by the University to upgrade its own office space to laboratory space, even if that space were available on campus. Professor Mabury reiterated that the request to expedite the governance approval process was based on a time-sensitive need to relocate the Faculty’s research and laboratory activities, and also market opportunity. The location was considered the most ideally suited for these activities, especially given its proximity to campus. Further, the fact that the University’s Faculty of Dentistry already occupied space in the same building, strengthened the University’s negotiating power. Professor Mabury commented that the capital project to relocate the Faculty of Dentistry to the same building had not come to governance as it was a level one project (i.e. one with less than a $5 million budget), which pursuant to the Policy on Capital Planning and Capital Projects, the Vice-President Operations and Real Estate Partnerships had delegated authority to approve.
YOUR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED
THAT the Temerty Faculty of Medicine off-campus lease space conversion capital project be approved in principle; and,
THAT the project scope of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine off-campus lease space conversion, totaling approximately 48,000 rentable square feet, to be funded by the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Office of the Dean, be approved in principle.
THE COMMITTEE MOVED IN CAMERA.
- Capital Project: Temerty Faculty of Medicine off-campus lease space conversion - Total Project Cost and Sources of Funding
On motion duly moved, seconded and carried
YOUR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED
THAT the recommendation by Professor Scott Mabury, Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships, regarding the Total Project Cost and Sources of Funding for the Temerty Faculty of Medicine off-campus lease space conversion as outlined in the memorandum dated March 3, 2021, be approved in principle.
The Committee returned to Open Session.
The Chair thanked members for their attendance and participation in the Committee meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 12:39 p.m.
March 7, 2021