By Alison Roach
New contract could mean a 75,000-square-foot expansion
SFU has recently renewed the lease on the downtown campus, ensuring that SFU Vancouver will remain there until at least 2028.
The original lease was put in place in 1989, and was set to expire in 2017. This may seem like a fair ways off, but as SFU president Andrew Petter explained to The Peak, “if we were to lose the right to the facility, the time to find an alternative is becoming short.”
This new lease is a result of discussions with the owners of the Harbour Centre Complex, a family business based in Germany that, according to SFU administration, was very keen to enter into negotiations. The lease was officially approved at the most recent SFU board of governors meeting, and the final documents were signed and sealed in the last few months. “The initial impetus was to provide adult programming,” said Petter on the evolution of the Harbour Centre space, “but it has obviously grown over time. There is now a major undergraduate population downtown.”
Though the main objective of the negotiations was to secure the Harbour Centre space for the future, the new lease also provides room from growth. SFU currently holds 175,000 square feet in the building, but a provision has been included in the new contract that would allow SFU to expand into an additional 75,000 square feet in the future. This opportunity will arise three years from now. A review is planned to determine if this expansion can be justified, taking into account the current programming, financial considerations, and alignment with the university’s academic plan. Petter said that they hope to reach a decision on whether to expand or not before the end of this calendar year.
“Most people identify it as the structure that really marked SFU’s establishment of its downtown campus,” said Petter. “It was the Harbour Centre facility . . . that marked the decision that SFU had made to not confine itself to Burnaby Mountain.”
The strengthening of SFU’s ties to downtown falls in line with Petter’s vision of SFU as a strong three campus university, each with their own distinct cultures, rather than a school made up of a main campus and two satellites. “I think with the new vision of the university as an engaged university, it was the move downtown and to Surrey that shows we could engage physically, and established in people’s minds that we were a university that was working down from the mountain and engaging with the community,” said Petter.
“SFU has three distinct campuses, each one, we hope, being the distinct ‘intellectual heart’ of their respective communities,” said Laurie Anderson, the executive director of SFU Vancouver.
Douglas Hume, the general manager of the Harbour Centre Complex Ltd., believes in the importance of having the university in downtown Vancouver. “SFU is not only an excellent tenant, but they’re good for the city. It brings people into the downtown core and adds a certain degree of vibrancy,” said Hume. Anderson agreed, stating, “SFU Vancouver enhances downtown intellectually, socially, culturally, and economically. The range of programs we offer, the free public lectures, the myriad of community ties we have, the money spent by the SFU Vancouver community in downtown businesses, and the joint ventures we’re engaged in; SFU Vancouver’s impact on the health of the urban core of the city is enormous.”
For now, the renewal of the lease provides a welcome sense of security. “We’re very, very pleased that we know that they’ll be here for the next 20 years,” said Hume.
