Health Unit heading downtown
Peterborough County-city Health Unit to have all offices under one roof next year after purchasing Jackson Square former federal office building on King St.
The Peterborough CountyCity Health Unit’s purchase of the former Jackson Square federal building on King St. is a welcome move that could lead to more health-care professionals and agencies coming into the city’s core, observers say.
The health unit announced Thursday that it has reached a conditional agreement with Aon Inc. to purchase the roughly 70,000-square-foot, five-storey building, previously leased to the federal government and occupied by more than 100 employ- ees in several departments.
The health unit’s offer has been accepted, said Brent Woodford, director of corporate services. The sale is subject to conditions including soil testing and building inspections by a structural engineer and an architect, said Woodford, who would not disclose the price. That figure will be made public once the sale is final.
The health unit will put its current facility on Hospital Dr. up for sale once the conditions have been met on the King St. building, Woodford said.
“We’re very excited about this because it will let us bring all our staff under one roof,” he said. About 80 health unit staff work in the 30,000-square-foot Hospital Dr. building. Another 40 are in rented facilities in the former teachers’ college on O’Carroll Ave.
“This move will also bring us closer to public transit, so it will be much more convenient for our community to reach us, and it will bring us closer to some of our community partners, Woodford said.
The health unit’s dental clinic will remain in Peterborough Square.
The health unit will occupy about 40,000 square feet of the building, or about 3 1/2 floors, and will rent the remaining space, Woodford said.
The health unit expects to make the move early next year, he said.
“For us, this is simple and straightforward,” said Dave Madill, chairman of the Downtown Business Improvement Area. “It’s good news. These are quality jobs coming downtown, so it’s all good. I think we have felt the impact of that building vacating, and so I look forward to them moving in.”
“This is nothing but good news for the downtown,” said David Smith, broker of record for DNS Real Estate Ltd., which listed the King St. building. “There will be well over 100 employees coming and our challenge will be to assist the health unit in renting out the balance of the space.”
The purchase could help accelerate a “gradual turnaround” being seen in the downtown, Smith said.
“I believe the health unit’s downtown presence will encourage other compatible entries that might see an opportunity to be near the health unit. And we’ll be out knocking on doors.”
The move, Smith said, “puts the downtown back on the road to recovery.”