BGO has acquired the 23-storey 95 Wellington St. West office tower in downtown Toronto from Cadillac Fairview. The sale of the class-A property, which comprises approximately 330,000 feet of office space, is the latest sign the office market in the city’s core continues to rebound.

The acquisition also illustrates BGO's renewed confidence in the city’s downtown core and financial district. BGO notes the area’s “fundamentals are strengthening and demand is increasingly concentrated in high-quality, well-located assets,” in the announcement Wednesday morning.

95 Wellington provides direct connectivity to Toronto’s PATH network and immediate access to Union Station, placing its tenants and visitors in the city’s business district. Surrounded by institutional-grade office towers, 95 Wellington also benefits from proximity to financial services and retail offerings.

“The acquisition of 95 Wellington aligns with our strategy of investing in high-quality assets in top-tier markets at attractive points in the cycle,” Simon Holmes, managing partner and Canadian chief investment officer at BGO, said in the announcement. “The building’s irreplaceable location, connectivity to transit and the PATH network, and significant recent capital investment reinforce its appeal as an investment poised to deliver long-term value.”

An article published by Bloomberg news service reports the acquisition price is $198 million. That would represent a price of $600 per square foot.

BGO Properties takes over management

The transaction is particularly interesting in light of a comment by BGO co-president Amy Price in an interview a few days ago with RENX. She did not rule out acquiring office properties in certain situations, but it was not deemed a priority.

"What we've been focused on has been some residential, some industrial and actually retail, which we view as quite resilient and an active part of our investment strategy in Canada," Price told RENX's Steve McLean. "We're far more selective when it comes to office.

"I wouldn't rule it out, but there's more of a question mark."

This property, however, clearly ticked a lot of boxes for BGO.

BGO Properties, the firm’s in-house property management, operations and leasing platform, will take over management and leasing of the tower. BGO already has a page dedicated to the property on its website.

The listings contain a total of 11 spaces comprising just under 120,000 square feet of available space — and all but 4,000 square feet of that is office space..

Constructed in 1988, the building has been institutionally managed and has undergone extensive improvements in recent years including a lobby renovation, exterior recladding and curtain wall replacement, HVAC modernization and technology upgrades. 95 Wellington also holds WELL Core Platinum and Zero Carbon Building certifications.

The tower is anchored by tenants across several sectors including financial services, insurance, investment management and consulting firms. Its floor plates average approximately 17,000 square feet and, according to BGO, are “well suited to boutique and mid-sized organizations, positioning the asset to capture leasing demand in a market increasingly focused on high-quality, well-located space.”

Toronto's improving downtown office market

Toronto’s downtown office market continues to show signs of recovery, supported by return-to-office mandates, limited new supply to be delivered over the next few years and improving economic conditions. Availability for trophy assets across the GTA plummeted from almost 10 per cent in Q1 2025, to sub-five per cent in Q1 2026 according to Avison Young - or over 520 basis points.

The financial core remains one of the tightest and most sought-after submarkets, with 1.6 million square feet of leasing growth in Q1 - a quarter when no new space was delivered according to the AY data. This positions well-located and amenitized class-A buildings as options for tenants seeking premium workspace as vacancy drops in trophy and class-AAA properties.

The only major office project under construction in downtown Toronto is the 1.4-million-square foot tower two at CIBC Square, but it is almost fully leased. AY projects this means there will be no significant new office space coming to the core until at least 2030.

This has all also led to increased investment activity. During Q1, five significant office transactions closed in the GTA, including the Yonge Corporate Centre and North American Centre (each for approximately $140 million), and the "Crestpoint portfolio" which included 145 Wellington St. West and was sold by H&R REIT to Crestpoint for $63.4 million, according to the AY report. The latter sale was part of a major portfolio divestment by H&R.

About BGO

BGO is a global real estate investment management advisor and services provider, part of SLC Management, the institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business of Canadian financial firm Sun Life. 

BGO serves the interests of more than 750 institutional clients with approximately US$90 billion of assets under management (as of Dec. 31) and expertise in the asset management of office, industrial, multiresidential, retail and hospitality properties. BGO has offices in 25 cities across 12 countries.

The assets under management include real estate equity and mortgage investments managed by the BGO group of companies and their affiliates.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to include additional information, perspective and background.