Who’s who: The partnership that built ‘Camelot’
Within the defence department, the Cse construction project has been officially dubbed Camelot, after the mythical castle and court of King arthur. the job ranks as the biggest federal accommodation project ever attempted under a publicprivate partnership.
The project consortium is Plenary Properties LTAP (for long-term accommodation project.) the lead player is Plenary Group (Canada) Ltd., a successful P3 developer with a dozen other Canadian projects, primarily ontario hospitals and health care facilities. the company is privately held and unlisted. it says it has no intention of ever divesting the Cse holding. its parent, Plenary Group
Australia, has delivered several P3 developments down under, including two accommodation projects for the australian defence Forces as well as courthouses and police stations. (the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a big investor there, pouring about $138 million into five Plenary Group australia projects last year.)
Other participants in the Cse project include:
❚ Plenary Canadian Holdings, which is providing $125 million in equity
❚ Builder PCL Construction Canada
❚ Honeywell Limited, which is to manage the facility
❚ Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Co., which is to provide it equipment and services.
❚ The government partner is the Department of National Defence, assisted by defence Construction Canada. the construction price is $867 million under a fixed-price contract.
❚ RBC Capital Markets has underwritten about $1 billion in short- and long-term senior bonds, with an “a” rating from ratings agencies dBRs and standard & Poor’s. the Cse vets and approves all the bond buyers.
The Crown will own the completed buildings. Plenary Properties LtaP is to maintain and service the premises and it equipment — telephony, desktop computers, office applications, and service desk operations — for 30 years after next summer’s handover. the government, in turn, is to pay the consortium a total of $4.1 billion over the same period, in monthly reimbursements for capital, operating, maintenance and it costs.
An initial $300-million payment is due late next summer, when the project reaches “substantial completion.”
“P3 is a very useful tool for large and complex capital projects, with high maintenance, service, and operating requirements,” olivia macangus, Plenary’s vice-president of corporate development, said in a written statement.