For nearly two years people have been driving past a building under construction at the eastern edge of Elora on County Road 18 and wondering what it was.
They will have their questions answered and can even come and tour the Old Quarry Commons on Nov. 26 at 2pm when Jim Keating Construction and partners cut the ribbon to open up to 40,000 square feet of commercial retail space for the area.
While it is several blocks away from Station Square that Keating built several years ago along Colborne Street, the land is part of the same project because it is part of an old railway line.
“This was a spur line down to the quarry,” Jim Keating said in an interview.
Tom Keating said the building will offer leases and condo style options to people who want to take some ownership of the project. The building has four lengthy corridors, and eight units for each. The Keatings are being flexible with the space, and can prepare units large and small to accommodate everything from large businesses to smaller spaces.
They wrote the original rules for the condo owners, but Tom Keating said the condominium board of directors will have the authority to change what it wants.
He said the project became feasible when Mallot Creek Strategies Inc., which was in Fergus, needed to expand. The company wanted at least 10,000 square feet for its own business, which has grown in ten years from two employees to 35. It also wanted another 10,000 square feet for rentals, with the option for more company growth.
“They came to us,” said Tom Keating. “We looked at the site and said 20,000 square feet was not a good use of the site.”
So, the Keatings increased the building size to a total of 44,000 square feet, with 40,000 of that space for lease or sale.
Tom said sales rather than rentals have been driving most of the units taken to date. The Precept Group moved from Geddes Street in Elora to the building, so has family dentist Dr. Radka Novak, as is the Waterloo-Wellington Futures Development Corporation.
Tom Keating said the company has its main focus on home building, but housing sales dried up last fall when the recession hit. So, he said, it was a bit of a gamble to keep building the Old Quarry Commons, but he believes it will pay off in the long run. And, at the same time, the company was hoping to keep its workers employed. Tom said thousands of hours went into the construction, and there is more work there, even though housing sales are again picking up.
The Keatings are aware the rules for development are changing, too. Developers now have to provide employments lands as well as homes, and Tom Keating said there will be far more people per square foot working in the building than there might be in a factory of a similar size.
Plus, “We knew that this was an opportunity for us to show what can be done,” he said. “Everybody loves the building. We’re really happy with the way it turned out.”
The Keatings used the architectural services of Jim Fryett, of Elora, and Jim Keating said it is company policy to purchase goods and services locally if possible. They are both pleased with the resulting design, which they feel represents Elora’s architectural heritage and the stone quarry.
The company has left a number suites in a rough-in condition. Tom explained some people might want a large space, but others might need less. Consequently those who buy or rent can have options with such things as shared washrooms and kitchenettes, or have those all to themselves in larger offices.
Jim Keating said, “We can adjust the room sizes.”
That means a 2,400 square foot room can be designed to accommodate three users instead of one if that is what is wanted. There is even provision for an “execu-share” setup, where three business could share a secretary, Mallot Creek’s plotter, and even copying equipment.
“I think we’ve encompassed every possibility,” said Tom. He and his father agreed that the intent of the building was not particularly to attract tenants from Centre Wellington, but rather to aim at Guelph, Waterloo, and even Toronto.
“The best thing for the township was a professional office building,” said Tom Keating. “A lot of people in this township drive to Waterloo, Guelph, and Toronto. Companies that come here will attract people, with the area’s well known quality of life.”
The building is completely modern and offers everything for the E-business world, including fibre optic computer connections for every office.
Tom noted once the building is open, it will be up to Centre Wellington’s Economic Development Officer Dave Rushton to encourage outsiders to move in. Rushton has been working on attracting “green” businesses to the community, and buildings like the one Keating has built are what he wants in order to do that.
“I always felt with a building like this we would attract people from Waterloo, Guelph and Kitchener,” Jim Keating said.
Tom said once Mallot Creek approached them about space, he knew the project was ready to go. And the Keatings have taken every contingency into account. There is a huge common entry with access for the disabled, push button doors for handicapped access, and an elevator.
Some companies there may be working late, or seeing clients at night, and the Keatings have accommodated those needs with electronic entrances for those seeing clients late or who are working late themselves, while ensuring total security for the offices.
“It’s a different kind of construction,” said Tom Keating of moving from residential to commercial building. He noted the building has a flat roof, and there are power doors on all the washrooms. There is different steel that goes into commercial buildings, too.
Given the land at east Mill Street, Tom Keating said there was rock in some places, and dirt in the other. He added it makes no sense to build partly on either type of surface. So, the company removed the rocks at a large part of the property and built on one foot of soil for the entire building. It did not waste the rocks, either.
There is a 200 foot retaining wall between the Elora Public School and the property, and more rock wall at the front of the building.
Jim Keating firmly believes the building will be a success. “We should be able to fill every office,” he said, adding that could be a large company from a city, or a number of smaller operations where a home business needs some room and small office in which to operate.
Everyone is invited to the grand opening on Nov. 26.
