Caisse to build office tower in downtown Toronto

Bloomberg

Saturday, September 15, 2007 – Page B8

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada's biggest pension-fund manager, will build a 40- to 50-storey office tower in downtown Toronto to expand its real estate holdings in Canada's largest city. SITQ, the Caisse's office building unit, bought the land at 45 Bay St. in May, spokeswoman Amelie Plante said yesterday. She declined to say when the tower might be built or how much the project would cost. The proposed building, located across the street from the Air Canada Centre, would house about 1.2 million square feet of office space and fill a void in the Caisse's real estate portfolio. Only one of SITQ's four Toronto-area buildings is in the city's downtown core..

Thats the lot which used the rendering of the supertall to show what could be built there right?

Thats the lot which used the rendering of the supertall to show what could be built there right?

?

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f182/JackhammerTO/45b.jpg

Yup, that's the same lot. That rendering was just an idea for the future, not a proposal. This announcement is a serious proposal and I'm quite happy with it.

?

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f182/JackhammerTO/45b.jpg

Yep thats the one I was thinking of. Looks like the ACC is going to be surrounded now!

Things will look a lot different south of Union!

I tried counting out 50 floors but it hurt my eyes trying once I passed the mechanical floor. Heres a new idea of what can go there:

http://i7.************/67oxzs0.jpg

I tried counting out 50 floors but it hurt my eyes trying once I passed the mechanical floor. Heres a new idea of what can go there:

http://i7.************/67oxzs0.jpg

lol cute.

50 floors would be TD range. Not too shabby for that location.

Hope it is very stylish. Primo location for an office tower.

I hope its 50 storeys as opposed to 40.

Like others have said, that'll make it in the TD range. Not bad I guess.

Great news.
Plans sound very concrete (no double entendre meant!)

I hope they will connect via the PATH to the ACC and thus Union station and also clean up/spruce up the "tunnel" sidewalk under the railyard on Bay. That underpass area was pretty grungy last time I walked through there, with a homeless guy sleeping and the stench of urine on the sidewalk, and is part of the "divide" between downtown and the waterfront area. Maybe with the public "art" contribution money from this development, something can be done to make this a more inviting pedestrian friendly thoroughfare.

Great news.
Plans sound very concrete (no double entendre meant!)

I hope they will connect via the PATH to the ACC and thus Union station and also clean up/spruce up the "tunnel" sidewalk under the railyard on Bay. That underpass area was pretty grungy last time I walked through there, with a homeless guy sleeping and the stench of urine on the sidewalk, and is part of the "divide" between downtown and the waterfront area. Maybe with the public "art" contribution money from this development, something can be done to make this a more inviting pedestrian friendly thoroughfare.

According to today's Star, PATH is already planned to extend to 45 Bay and further east to 18 Yonge.

Quoted from UT:

Bloomberg - September 15, 2007

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada's biggest pension-fund manager, will build a 40- to 50-storey office tower in downtown Toronto to expand its real estate holdings in Canada's largest city. SITQ, the Caisse's office building unit, bought the land at 45 Bay St. in May, spokeswoman Amelie Plante said yesterday. She declined to say when the tower might be built or how much the project would cost. The proposed building, located across the street from the Air Canada Centre, would house about 1.2 million square feet of office space and fill a void in the Caisse's real estate portfolio. Only one of SITQ's four Toronto-area buildings is in the city's downtown core.

^^^^^ Welcome to 2 days ago.

finally!

Hey guys, I saw a proposal on skyscraperpage for a 800 ft tower on 45 bay. Its a sick looking tower! Has anyone heard anything about this project?

It was 1000 ft and just a fake proposal.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g240/jwill_01/45b.jpg


However the land is zoned for office and was purchased by a firm looking to build something around the 1,2000,000 sqft range. This news is over 2 years old now.

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada's biggest pension-fund manager, will build a 40- to 50-storey office tower in downtown Toronto to expand its real estate holdings in Canada's largest city. SITQ, the Caisse's office building unit, bought the land at 45 Bay St. in May, spokeswoman Amelie Plante said yesterday. She declined to say when the tower might be built or how much the project would cost. The proposed building, located across the street from the Air Canada Centre, would house about 1.2 million square feet of office space and fill a void in the Caisse's real estate portfolio. Only one of SITQ's four Toronto-area buildings is in the city's downtown core.

He means this one:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/mark3333/45bay.jpg

http://urbantoronto.ca/showthread.php?t=674&page=11

Don't think this will happen, it's way to drastic of a change for the city's main post card pic. That lot needs to be kept for ACC parking.

We do have the technology to put parking underground.

It's tall but is also surrounded by 500 to 600 footers. Shadowing may be a concern though. If not, 60 and 90 Harbour at the centre of the cone shape will be the prime spots for a staggered twin tower combo that could make Ice look stumpy.

A new building to house a repatriated Thomson-Reuters, or a Manulife Tower. Excellent!

A boy can dream, can't he?

The fake one posted by Andrew is a lot nicer than the real one.

I like the real one. Just wish it was a 200ft taller!
hey ya never know.

I like them both i wish they were actually being built :(

I like them both i wish they were actually being built :(

I like both of them as well. Just add 100 metres to the second one.

We do have the technology to put parking underground.

It's tall but is also surrounded by 500 to 600 footers. Shadowing may be a concern though. If not, 60 and 90 Harbour at the centre of the cone shape will be the prime spots for a staggered twin tower combo that could make Ice look stumpy.

I like the height on building as much as you do. It's the fact that the city is growing outwards and it makes more sense to have taller office towers in the north part of the city as well.

Guys, here's the actual thread for this project...
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=524368

Looking carefully over the PDF file, I have come to realize this is not your usual office proposal.

First, the architecture is definitely different than what we're used to getting. The floor height seems to be much higher indicating the tower at 50s is close to reaching 250-300m (can't really make out the numbers as they're low resolution). The tower incorporates design elements not seen in an office tower in Toronto for nearly 20 years. The last complex with such an attention to detail seems to have been Brookfield Place. This SITQ complex contains a 5 storey atrium lined with shops and restaurants and a winter garden (which I'm personally excited about).

This higher level of attention leads me to believe SITQ is after a HQ tenant. No company looking for 'additional' space would pay a psf premium on a tower of this caliber.

I think we may be in for a treat... And now to come back to Earth.. good luck renting this beast out unless we manage to poach back the HQs of Thomson-Reuters... fat chance.

Guys, here's the actual thread for this project...
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=524368
Thanks for the assistance in directing us to this thread.

Don't think this will happen, it's way to drastic of a change for the city's main post card pic. That lot needs to be kept for ACC parking.

I hope your wrong... this would look so awesome built at 47+ floors.

Someone has gone to some trouble and expense to create the drawing we see. It leads me to think they are building something for a major tennant and not just another office building.

Any possible/potential gossip or suggestions as to who a major tenant for this tower may be?

Someone has gone to some trouble and expense to have drawings prepared which would lead me to believe they are designing for a major tenant. Just another office building simply wouldn’t fly right now.

Okay, now trying saying it again another way.

http://www.sitq.com/documents/file/publications/Rapport2010_en.pdf

ACTIVITY REPORT
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT
2010

OFFICE CHALLENGES FOR 2011: LEASING, REPRIORITIZING AND SEEKING OUT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

A number of leasing-related challenges lie in store for SITQ in the year ahead, particularly in Toronto,
several U.S. cities, Paris, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. In addition, the Company will be readjusting its
investment portfolio to concentrate on high-quality properties in its key target markets. It will therefore
be on the lookout for business opportunities that enable it to sell certain properties to capitalize on their
appreciation in value and take advantage of select acquisition opportunities.

SITQ’s goal is to readjust its investment portfolio to concentrate on high-quality properties in key target markets.

From a development perspective, SITQ’s teams will focus on new, prime locations in its target markets where it can build high-quality properties in the coming years. There are four pending projects that are ready to be green-lighted in North America as soon as the circumstances are amenable: 45 Bay Street, in downtown Toronto, for which pre-leasing is slated to begin in 2011; 900 De Maisonneuve Ouest, in the heart of Montréal; Phase III of The Summit, in Seattle; and the second tower of Eighth Avenue Place, in Calgary, the preliminary design and infrastructure of which are already complete.

Surprised no one posted this one also:

http://www.moneyville.ca/article/973719--gta-office-market-to-tighten-this-year-say-analysts

GTA office market to tighten this year say analysts

By Tony Wong | Tue Apr 12 2011

Despite a significant amount of new supply over the last year, the Greater Toronto Area commercial office market continues to recover from the recession and vacancy rates are expected to tighten by the end of the year, says a report.

“Toronto’s skyline has changed dramatically. We went from a period where we had no building of office towers in 14 years to three major projects that all came on stream during the recession,” said John Arnoldi, managing director with Colliers International in Toronto.

The office market is seen as something of a leading indicator for the Canadian economy. Businesses are figuring out their space requirements for the future and it seems they have been largely optimistic with demand for space showing a rebound.

The current first quarter vacancy rate of 6.4 per cent for office towers is expected to drop to 6.1 per cent by the end of the year according to Colliers in a report released Tuesday. Asking net rents are projected to increase from $16.08 in the first quarter to $16.31.

This is all the more remarkable, given that there have been three new substantial office towers built in the downtown core, representing almost 3 million square feet of space. There is also another 650,000 square foot office project at 18 York St., still to be built. Colliers is also forecasting that at least two new downtown office developments may be announced this year.

The new supply has created more alternatives in the market, with some tenants moving out of existing buildings. As some tenants have moved, landlords are busy renovating existing stock.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, 2011 should see a further increase in confidence in the local market due to still favourable interest rates, a growth in gross domestic product and increasing employment. That bodes well for the GTA market, which explains why some developers are thinking of building commercial space.

“They are looking at four or five years down the road when the economy gets back up to speed,” said Arnoldi.

Building a major office tower is a lot like throwing a football. You have to throw it to where the receiver will be, not where he is. It takes years to plan and build an office building so these guys have to polish the old crystal ball and hope they can read what the economic and vacancy situation will be two or three years from now.

Stressful stuff given the enormous size of the investment.

100% agree with you, but this is also a perfect investment for the Caisse and any other pension fund really, and that is why many pension funds have large commercial real estate portfolios already, including every major office project in the recent office boom in Toronto. In fact, it is difficult to see how the Caisse could lose in this proposition. The location is great, right next to Union and at the foot of Bay Street, and the market is tight, with no major new office projects on the horizon. Besides, the Caisse is looking for steady returns to pay its pensioners over 25-50 years. They do not care where the office market will be in 3 years, but rather where it will be in 10-20 years, and whether the rent will pay the rising liabilities the pension fund will have on its balance sheet. The other thing is that pension funds can wait out downturns and sell at a good return on assets anyways, but the reason they like commercial real estate, REITs, infrastructure plays and dividend stocks is that they offer consistent returns which are inflation adjusted, just like their liabilities.

I was reading in the Financial Post today that HSBC is looking to ramp up their presence in Canada as they scale down in the U.S.

Cough cough, any other members care to share any info they may have on this building?

Possibly a new major bank for toronto, and a new bank headquarters?

It is hard for a foreign bank to have the same clout and presence as a Canadian bank, though... the rules are kind of stacked against them.

You're correct that the domestics have a strangle hold on our market, but HSBC has managed to eek out a small retail presence here. Regardless, we're not likely to see big bank towers erected by foreign players. The size of the bank towers of Citibank and Bank of America are testament to that.

Ugh! Seriously! Don't bump this thread again until we have some concrete info. Rumours have been swirlling around this site for nearly 4 years now.

You're correct that the domestics have a strangle hold on our market, but HSBC has managed to eek out a small retail presence here. Regardless, we're not likely to see big bank towers erected by foreign players. The size of the bank towers of Citibank and Bank of America are testament to that.

Huh; doesn't explain why HSBC has they're sign on the tallest twin towers in Regina ;)

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=304460

^^ Tallest of Regina would go unnoticed here.

Ya, I did say big bank towers. Trump's 282 m and not making a huge impact on the skyline.

Ya, I did say big bank towers. Trump's 282 m and not making a huge impact on the skyline.

Trump is irritating. The roof looks like it's capped at 230 meters. :ohno: I thought it was supposed to be 250 meters and the onion would reach about 280 meters not including spire.

Trump roof height is listed at 236.5 metres.

While I'm happy that Trump's going up, I agree that it will have little to contribute to the skyline.

Might I direct everyone to the Trump Forum?

interesting

;81978752']While I'm happy that Trump's going up, I agree that it will have little to contribute to the skyline.

And a Regina HSBC will have even less which was the original rebuttal. HSBC doesn't have a big enough presence in Canada to warrant construction of a bank tower large enough to make a significant impact on the Toronto skyline.

HSBC has been considering making Canada it's new international headquaters.

I think they already announced that they are moving their HQ from London back to Hong Kong. Canadian financial regulations mean that foreign banks are not likely to have massive operations here in Canada.

Everyone is ettin as far away from the States as of August 2nd anyways :lol:

Everyone is ettin as far away from the States as of August 2nd anyways :lol:

You can run, but you can't hide!

I will be very surprised if they don't get something done.