AGF Management Limited (AGF-B-T) is the latest firm to announce it will relocate its Canadian headquarters to CIBC Square, a two-tower office complex under construction in downtown Toronto.

CIBC Square in Toronto. (Rendering courtesy Ivanhoe Cambridge)

AGF’s head office will occupy 97,000 square feet on the 38^th, 39^th and 40^th floors at 81 Bay St., the first tower of the project, which is co-owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines.

“We have spent the last two years researching our options in the downtown core to ensure our office continues to represent our legacy of innovation,” said Blake Goldring, chairman and chief executive officer of AGF, in a release Wednesday.

“Knowing that this move represents significant change, we sought a location that would meet the needs of our business and our employees both today and well into the future.”

AGF is currently based in the nearby Toronto Dominion Centre.

The CIBC Square development

Phase 1 of CIBC Square is scheduled for completion in 2020. Phase 2 at 141 Bay St. and a one-acre elevated park which spans a rail corridor and connects the buildings at the fourth level, will be completed in 2023.

When complete, CIBC Square will represent a 2.9 million-square-foot office campus (towers of 49 and 50 storeys), providing occupants with market-leading amenities strategically located at downtown Toronto’s major transit hub of Union Station.

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“AGF has an impressive 60-year history in downtown Toronto,” said Jonathan Pearce, executive vice-president of North American office and industrial leasing, Ivanhoé Cambridge, in the release.

“We’re absolutely honoured that they have chosen CIBC Square as their new home to thrive for many years to come. AGF joins a growing roster of leading companies that have chosen to make CIBC Square their location of choice.”

Founded in 1957, AGF is an independent and globally diverse asset management firm. The firm’s investments extend globally to a wide range of clients, from financial advisors and individual investors to institutional investors including pension plans, corporate plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations.

It has investment operations and client-servicing teams in North America, Europe and Asia. With nearly $39 billion in total assets under management, AGF serves more than one million investors.

Other major tenants at CIBC Square

AGF will have some high-power company in the complex. Microsoft recently announced it will move its Canadian head office into the 81 Bay St. tower, taking 132,000 square feet over four floors. Boston Consulting Group announced in 2017 it will move its 300-plus employees into 85,000 square feet of the same building, occupying just over two floors of space.

CIBC is the anchor tenant for both towers, taking 1.75 million square feet to accommodate about 15,000 employees.

Pearce told RENX in an interview following the Microsoft announcement that the 81 Bay St. tower is about 97 per cent leased. Although he was not able to identify the tenant at the time as AGF, he said this deal was included in that figure.

CIBC Square will feature state-of-the art systems and technology, and its builders are seeking LEED Platinum core and shell certification, WELL certification and WiredScore Platinum accreditation.

“AGF is thrilled to be joining other world-class firms and innovative organizations as the first tenants in this transformative project,” Goldring said.

“We believe the building’s WELL certification will contribute to the overall health of our employees alongside a continued consideration of reducing our organization’s environmental impact through the building’s LEED platinum core and shell certification.”