Edmonton Research Park tenants calling for pause of sale of two buildings

Tenants of the Edmonton Research Park are calling for the pause of the sale of two buildings to give the city time to reflect on the vision it has for innovation and engage with the business community.

“There are 55 companies in the park. There’s over $200 million plus in revenue. I think they need to reflect,” Ahmad Jawad, the CEO of Intellimedia, said. “That’s all we’ve (been) saying — let’s have a discussion.”

Jawad’s company has been located in the the Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) building for about 15 years.

Some of the tenants have formed a business consortium, hoping to have their voices heard.

“For us the concern is about long-term vision. If this building is going to be sold and the other building is sold, what’s next?,” Jawad said.

“The sale is not the end of the world, but we need vision.”

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The City of Edmonton listed the ATC building for $4,000,000 and the Research Centre 1 (RC1) for $2,795,000.

Jawad said the city has told him the approved purchasers for both properties have expressed interest in retaining tenants and lease agreements.

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“For me this is not about real estate. This is about people and people beyond my company.”

The Edmonton Research Park has been around for more than 40 years as a place for advanced research in medicine, biotechnology, software, research, engineering, nanotechnology, business incubation and clean energy.

Innovative companies are able to connect and collaborate.

“We want to promote the talent to work for companies in Edmonton and in Alberta and we want to promote that. The Park is part of that strategy, in my belief, but we need to discuss it more with the city,” Jawad said. “We want to keep companies growing and be able to learn from each other and that’s key. That’s why we’re here.”

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Mehadi Sayed, president and CEO of Clinisys, has been working in the ATC building for about a decade. He said the building has been critical for growth.

“We have collaborated with like-minded companies which are local, which were our neighbours. We were able to collaborate and create new projects, new products,” Sayed said.

The previous city council directed the city to sell the buildings, and last month the current executive committee authorized administration to proceed.

“We need to understand… ownership of these buildings, how does that impact innovation in the park and how does that impact the surge in the park? We have heard those concerns but this is a decision that administration is moving forward with,” Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said on Wednesday.

“The key is, many of us in this community could partner with others to buy this building. But… we’re not a real estate company as companies of innovation. What we want is a building that reflects basically attracting talent, attracting startups. They can learn from us. We can learn from them,” Jawad said.