Scotiabank is renewing its lease for up to 1.1 million square feet of space in two buildings, including the iconic Scotia Plaza, located in the heart of downtown Toronto, which is owned and operated by the Alberta Investment Management Corp. and KingSett Capital Inc.
The bank has renewed 560,000 square feet of space in Scotia Plaza at 40 King Street and at its 100 Yonge Street building, following a year of planning and discussions; however, it’ll vacate space at the top of Scotia Plaza, making this the first time since the building’s construction that it’ll be available for lease in 2023, noted the release.
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“This extension is a testament to the outstanding efforts of our operating and tenant partners. Scotia Plaza’s Zero Carbon certification fully aligns to AIMCo’s sustainability commitments and the property continues to be a great investment for our clients,” said Tony Vadacchino, director of real estate for the AIMCo, in the release.
The move comes as the coronavirus pandemic has seen employers re-evaluating how much office space they need as many white-collar employees have been working remotely since last March. Several companies, including Facebook Inc., Shopify Inc. and Twitter Inc., have announced permanent remote-working plans, while other organizations have embraced flexible-work arrangements or are planning to shift to a hybrid-work model in the years to come.
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Institutional investors, including those at pension plans, are now grappling with the long-term implications of the pandemic on demand for various real-estate sectors. How things will ultimately shake out for office real-estate investing remains to be seen. While some employers have been quite bullish on remote work, and thus need less office space, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board recently announced its investing in a new 17-storey mixed-use office building in Boston. The building’s main tenant is Amazon.com Inc., which will occupy 630,000 square feet of office space, according to a press release. The building, part of the 33-acre Boston Seaport project, is expected to be completed in 2024 and is Amazon’s second full-building lease within the development.
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