Manulife Real Estate has announced the development of a 27-storey office tower in downtown Calgary.
The tower – 707 Fifth St. – will be a 564,000 sq. ft., “AAA”, LEED gold certified building. Designed by architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, it will include a fitness centre, conference facility and a landscaped winter garden.
Manulife currently owns and manages eight properties in Calgary. With the development of 707 Fifth St, which has a targeted completion date of March 2017, Manulife will boost its presence in the city to about 1.3 million sq. ft.
“Manulife has a long-standing presence in the Calgary real estate market dating back to the early 1960’s,” said Kevin Adolphe, president and CEO of Manulife Real Estate. “We look forward to carrying on that proud tradition with 707 Fifth St., which will become a best-in-class office tower in Calgary.”
Brion Energy, a 270-person company that operates two leases in the bitumen-rich oil sands near Fort McMurray, Alta., will be the lead tenant of the building.
“Brion Energy is excited to have a long-term solution to our office space requirements and a place to call ‘home,” said Zhiming Li, Brion’s president and CEO. “As a growing company, we have been challenged to find a large block of vacant office space in Calgary’s core that meets our needs.”
