The federal government will leave one million square-feet of office space in Centretown, and could be moving to the former Nortel campus, according to an Ottawa Citizen article, Friday.
The article said Claude Seguin, a spokesperson for public works and government services, told a commercial real estate conference the federal government will vacate its Centretown space over the next three to five years.
The government’s Centretown offices represent around 10 per cent of total federal office space, according to the article. The federal government has been looking to find new space for several years.
A previous Citizen article said Nortel offered the government its Ottawa campus last year.
Regarding the Nortel property, the article quoted Seguin as saying "we have been engaged in the bidding process and at this time it would be premature to say more. There is no agreement in place.”
The article said negotiations to sell have been ongoing since the spring. Nortel is believed to be asking $150 million for the space in city’s west end.
While the sale may be positive for Nortel, the article said Seguin’s speech worried some commercial market experts. It said they are concerned the move may cause the Centretown vacancy rate, now nearly five per cent, to double in the next few years.
In recent months, companies like Sun Life and EDS have left Centretown for lower rents in west end suburbs and Kanata, the Citizen article said.
Public works was not available for comment Friday.