REAL PROPERTY ADVISORY SERVICES
School Board Asset Rationalization (for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board)
A team of professionals led by Daniel Nixey, provided real property advisory and property disposition services to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board under a standing offer arrangement for ten years.
In addition to component services such as the preparation of appraisal reports (to support disposal decisions) and brokerage work related to dispositions (and more rarely acquisitions of school sites), the team provided a wide array of advisory services in the areas of asset rationalization, lease-in and lease-out strategies, property development options analysis;; and mentoring to the planning and real estate team at the Board.
The advisory team led the analysis and then disposition of approximately ten properties (schools, vacant land and administrative facilities) as part of a school closure and asset rationalization process.
Daniel Nixey reported to the Board through their Property Dispositions Committee.
Capital Contribution Rate Study (for the City of Ottawa)
Daniel Nixey prepared for the City of Ottawa a report presenting a recommended contribution rate for life cycle renewal for the City of Ottawa building portfolio. The research built on work undertaken by the City staff and leveraged work completed by Daniel for several federal departments and the Treasury Board Secretariat.
The report presented the findings of an interview process that included discussions with twenty-five organizations, including five municipalities, Public Works and Government Service Canada, the Ontario Realty Corporation, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the National Research Council, and over a dozen professional organizations.
As a follow-on to this work, Mr. Nixey drafted a policy framework for capital program management and a specific policy guideline for the City’s building lifecycle capital program.
Value for Money Audit of the Management of Federal Accommodation (Office of the Auditor General)
Mr. Nixey was retained as a real property advisory participating in a value for money audit of federal accommodation prepared for the Office of the Auditor General.
Rust-out Guide (for Treasury Board Secretariat)
Mr. Nixey led a team that developed a “Guide” for Understanding “Rust Out” for the Treasury Board Secretariat. The Guide presented investment planning principles, information requirements, and a set of standard definitions – placing “rust out” in the context of capital investment planning.
Long Term Capital Planning (for the Canadian Museum of Nature)
Mr. Nixey was the lead advisor during the preparation of long term capital plans for both the Victoria Memorial Museum Building (exhibitions and galleries) and the Natural Heritage Building (administration and preservation facility). These plans projected both the long term capital needs for facilities based on life-cycle renewal and the available funding (by revenue source). The analysis was used by senior management to prepare formal requests for capital and operating funding increases.
Master Plan for Bedford Institute of Oceanography (for Public Works Government Service Canada)
The BIO land mass, a 35 hectare site controlled by three federal owners (Public Works Government Services Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Canada Food Inspection Agency), was subject to several major pressures including the need: to rationalize occupancies and renovate the existing building stock; to create a comprehensive land use framework for the planning of future site development; to evaluate and select sites for two major building initiatives (a new laboratory facility and a new office building); to upgrade the road and piped services infrastructure to support land development; to meet land and waterfront needs arising from relocation of the maritime fleet of the Canadian Coast Guard; and to contemplate the possible emergence of a large-scale public/private sector research park focusing on marine and environmental sciences.
Mr. Nixey was the lead real property advisor on a project which evolved in various phases leading to the preparation of a master real property development plan for the BIO landmass - including the preparation of a highest/best use analysis to inform the land use plan, the identification, evaluation and selection of sites for the two major building projects through an opportunity and constraints analysis, the coordination of ancillary professional work (including transportation, parking, transit, conceptual design and risk assessment), and the preparation of concise planning reports to set the development plan within the context of municipal land use policy and departmental facility plans.
As an ancillary project, the team also created a decision support tool for accommodation planning to map the migration of occupant groups during a series of moves related to portfolio renewal of the BIO campus and the occupation of the new laboratory and proposed office building (construction projects arising from the campus planning study).