Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Pedestrian Tunnel
Forum Equity Partners
Toronto, Ontario
The Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Tunnel Project was a Design Build Finance Maintain (DBFM) project for a state-of-the-art pedestrian tunnel routed under the Western Gap connecting the mainland to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. The project was procured by the Toronto Port Authority as a public-private partnership.
The project, which began in March 2012, allows travelers to walk in an underwater tunnel that connects the mainland to the island airport. The tunnel has four moving sidewalks travelling at 2.3km/hr. Passengers use one of six elevators to go down 100 feet to access the tunnel and travel 800 feet underneath to the airport’s check-in area. The journey is estimated to take less than six minutes. The project was funded by the private sector and was partially paid for by departing passengers via the existing Airport Improvement Fee. The tunnel opened in July 2015.
Services: Financial Advisory, Risk Management, Strategic Consulting
Billy Bishop
Current Projects »verTerra is the proud founding sponsor (since 2010) of Ottawa’s Cracking Up the Capital Comedy Festival supporting mental health. The festival brings awareness and raises funds for the Royal Ottawa Hospital as well as numerous other mental organizations in the National Capital Region. For the 2015 Festival, “Team verTerra” participated in the Snowman Building Challenge that set a new Guinness World record. The team is preparing to do it all again in 2016! www.crackup.ca
verTerra team members also actively volunteer in our community and related industries.
James, is on the Board of Trustees of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.
Recognition & Awards
Forty under 40
The annual awards program, co-hosted by Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce recognizes industry leaders for business achievement expertise and community involvement who are under the age of 40. verTerra Partner Judy Klenik won this prestigious award in 2012.
BOMA Canada Pinnacle Awards – Above and Beyond
The BOMA Pinnacle Awards recognize companies that represent a standard of excellence to which all BOMA members and their employees should aspire. The Pinnacle Awards recognize innovation, teamwork, outstanding service and commitment to clients. In 2002, as PMGlobal, James and Judy received both the regional and national awards for their role as Owner’s Representative.
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Clients often require focused or specialized support, advice or analysis during the development of a real property initiative. verTerra provides client focused consultative services to address their unique needs whether strategic or tactical in nature. Our advisory expertise can apply to most sectors within the real estate industry and we are experienced in most delivery models such as public private partnership (PPP), design build, sale lease back, etc. Typical service areas include asset and accommodation planning, project delivery modeling, performance management, risk analysis, financial and value for money assessment and construction and development assessments for both private and public sectors.
Independent Certification (subsection of Finance)
As a solely independent organization, verTerra is uniquely qualified to provide unbiased compliance overview and audit services. Our senior staff is both technically and contractually highly-versed and has a deep comprehension of the construction process and cost management, based on direct experience. Our approach to independent certification is not a paper-work exercise but involves thorough evaluation and monitoring of contractual requirements.