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Anglican national office sold to developer

TORONTO, October 22 -- The Anglican Church will exchange its aging national
office building on Jarvis Street in Toronto for a modern building to be
constructed a block away, but nobody is packing yet.
The church has sold its property as part of a four-party real estate
development announced today. The developer, Philmor Construction, has
assembled a block of land which will permit it to proceed with two mixed
residential/commercial developments. In the first phase, a new office and
residential building will be constructed at the eastern end of Hayden
Street, a block west of the church's current location. When General Synod
staff move to the new building, their current offices will be demolished to
permit construction of residential and retail space on the site.

The Anglican Book Centre, which will move initially to the new building,
will return to a Jarvis Street storefront when the second development is
complete.

The General Synod will realize $550,000 on the exchange of property,
although the Treasurer, Jim Cullen, said there will be additional expenses
associated with moving. Most of the proceeds from the transaction will go
to St. Paul's Anglican Church, which owned both property and air rights
that form part of the development.

Specifically, Philmor will pay $9 million for 600 Jarvis Street and the St.
Paul's parking lot, of which St. Paul's will receive $5.35 million and
General Synod $3.65 million. Philmore will also acquire an adjacent piece
of property from Crown Life. General Synod will purchase a portion of the
new Hayden Street building for $3.1 million.

The move is expected to produce savings on annual maintenance, which has
been climbing steeply at the 600 Jarvis Street building. The venerable
facility has existed, in one form or another, since 1922. In recent years
it has suffered increasingly severe problems with its electrical and
mechanical systems, including poor ventilation, wildly fluctuating
temperatures, frequent water damage from corroding pipes, and a persistent
leak in the roof over the Church House library.

The sale of the building was approved conditionally in January, in
accordance with principles established by the church's national executive
council, but has only now been finalized. Timing of the moves depends
partly on the sale of residential units, but the agreement specifies that
the Hayden Street building must be completed no later than March 31, 2003

Link:
"A squat, brick building, ugly and inspiring" -- feature about 600 Jarvis
Street building in Faces & Ministries, a special issue of national church
magazine MinistryMatters
<http://www.anglican.ca/mm/1998/faces/mm07.html>

Contact:
Doug Tindal,
Director of Information Resources,
416-924-9199
ext. 286;
905-335-8349 (residence)
or
Sam Carriere
Editor, Print Resources
416-924-9199
ext. 256

                                           -30-
Leanne Larmondin
<leanne@pathcom.com>