Manulife Place Renovations | 145.99m | 36s | AIMCo | MdeAS

[occidentalcapital]

While the old reno would have been nice, it was basically just adding glass and renderings were all night time views which makes it look fancier than it is. A fresh concept hopefully with really good architecture would not be a bad thing.

 

[Kosy123]

Honestly, if they're doing renos and allowing signage for CWB, I just hope they might add in some form of coloured lights or something similar to that. Would be nice to have the financial core have more colour at nighttime.

 

[cmd uw]

Usually, floor fit-up is paid for by the tenant. Common areas like the podium, elevator lobbies on each floor (unless this is what you meant) and building envelope are paid for by the landlord.

With most deals Landlords typically include a tenant improvement allowance as part of their inducement package. Dollar amounts range, however, recent office deals have seen allowances in the $50-75/SF range.

Anyways I think this is a great, great thing for Manulife and our downtown office market TBH.

 

[David A]

I heard a couple of weeks ago that the reno was dead. Given the new information about CWB, I am guessing that the previous reno is dead and this reno will be specific to and will likely include the CWB branch on the main floor that was intended to go into the ID.

I think the previous reno's anticipated upscale clothing retail, not a bank branch, so there probably will be changes/differences. However, I liked in general what was planned to update the exterior, I hope that is largely kept.

 

[quit]

With most deals Landlords typically include a tenant improvement allowance as part of their inducement package. Dollar amounts range, however, recent office deals have seen allowances in the $50-75/SF range.

Anyways I think this is a great, great thing for Manulife and our downtown office market TBH.

Seems high for a building like Manulife, but I don't know how they are doing relative to other space downtown - we're still down overall relative to other markets. APEGA moving out doesn't really help things either - CWB was mostly a given to stay downtown imo. Good for Manulife, but I'm not sure I share your enthusiasm for downtown right now.

 

[Greenspace]

Henry Singer's new location is 10k, so larger. That's probably fair chunk of Holt's old space, which was around 39k. My guess is two floors facing intersection of 101 st/102 ave.

 

[Gus Haynes]

Would they not be taking any of the old RBC space?

 

[Greenspace]

If I was CWB I wouldn't. I'd take the most prominent space unless Manulife has other plans.

 

[Romanov]

Henry Singer's new location is 10k, so larger. That's probably fair chunk of Holt's old space, which was around 39k. My guess is two floors facing intersection of 101 st/102 ave.

This makes the most sense. It will juxtapose the TD bank branch across the street at city centre/TD tower. Also, very visible from LRT.

Funny enough, the current coloring of Manulife place already somewhat matches CWB branding.

 

[Greenspace]

Not ideal to have only banks in such prominent locations but better than empty and hopefully attracts other retail or hospitality.

 

[scyeg]

Seems high for a building like Manulife, but I don't know how they are doing relative to other space downtown - we're still down overall relative to other markets. APEGA moving out doesn't really help things either - CWB was mostly a given to stay downtown imo. Good for Manulife, but I'm not sure I share your enthusiasm for downtown right now.

Isn't APEGA in Rice Howard Place? Are they leaving downtown? They put a lot of money into their offices not too many years ago.

 

[quit]

Isn't APEGA in Rice Howard Place? Are they leaving downtown? They put a lot of money into their offices not too many years ago.

Apparently, see this post and after in the Downtown Real Estate thread.

 

[David A]

Isn't APEGA in Rice Howard Place? Are they leaving downtown? They put a lot of money into their offices not too many years ago.

I am guessing that APEGA members are spread throughout the city and a lot are not downtown, so that might be part of their considerations too. I'm not an engineer, but I worked years ago for a firm that was downtown for many years, then they moved to a southside location for a while, now they are back downtown. They serve people throughout the city, so one of the advantages of being downtown is a central location. Is it is quite a hike from the northside to say Millwoods, if you are having clients or members come to your office.

Back to Manulife, I suppose this would be a net gain to downtown if CWB is taking more space than they currently have. I believe this is the case, but don't know for sure.

 

[ChazYEG]

I believe this is the case, but don't know for sure.

It is the case. As far as I know, their plan is still to consolidate all of their corporate ops in a single place, which means getting the folks out of the Oliver branch/office and into the same office space as the rest of the company.

 

[scyeg]

Apparently, see this post and after in the Downtown Real Estate thread.

Ugh, brutal. They took up three floors and the offices were gorgeous. I can't even imagine a preference to work in a nondescript suburban office building with a beautiful view of a parking lot.