The Munich Re Centre at 390 Bay Street in Toronto. (Image courtesy Crown Property Management)

A major ongoing renovation will restore Toronto’s Munich Re Centre to class-A status and provide an image upgrade for its owner, Munich Reinsurance Company of Canada.

Crown Property Management was awarded the property management contract for the 46-year-old, 31-storey, 371,000-square-foot building at 390 Bay St. in 2015. Renovations began in May and are scheduled to finish in the fall.

Crown Realty Partners’ leasing and marketing partner Scott Watson said Munich Reinsurance is making a major reinvestment in the property, located in downtown Toronto’s financial core, because it plans to stay there for the next 50-plus years.

Munich Re Centre upgrades

“As a part of the main lobby upgrade, we have devised a new area for a JJ Bean café opening in 2019. The style of this café will incorporate Scandinavian design elements, which will be found throughout the new design of 390 Bay, and Scotiabank has also upgraded their bank branch to their future-forward branch standards,” Watson said.

“Future plans include a contemplated entire recladding of the exterior of the building, which is still in the planning phase.”

Munich Re Centre’s lobby upgrade, with a vestibule entrance at the corner of Bay and Richmond Streets, is being completed to Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act standards to improve functionality. It will also feature a custom LED feature wall.

The concourse level is being updated to continue the improvements made to the PATH underground walkway, which connects Munich Re Centre to the Queen Street subway station, that have already been completed nearby.

Munich Re Centre attributes

Munich Re Centre has 100 per cent ratings for its Walk Score, Transit Score and Bike Score. It features secure bicycle racks and valet service in its underground parking lot.

The BOMA BEST Gold-certified building uses green energy provider Bullfrog Power and has a variety of energy conservation and recycling programs as part of its sustainability initiatives.

Munich Re Centre is fully leased. Munich Reinsurance and its affiliated entities occupy more than 35 per cent of the building. Paradigm Quest and Thomson Rogers are other major tenants.

“Major changes such as this always cause disruption to a certain extent. However, we have done our best to limit tenant disruption with predominantly after-hours work and on-site project management from Gillam Group as well as Crown Property Management,” said Watson.

“Our goal as both third-party managers and owners of office buildings is to provide ‘More than Square Footage’ to our clients, tenants and visitors to our properties. Each year our capital plans are guided to ensure the highest quality user experience in our buildings and ensure we offer best-in-class amenities to our tenants so they can hire better, work better and retain their best and brightest employees.”

Other Crown renovation projects

Watson said Crown completes a minimum three lobby renovations within its portfolio each year. In addition to its work at Munich Re Centre, the company is:

* opening a new tenant lounge at 90 Sheppard Ave. E. in Toronto to go along with its recently renovated fitness centre and boardrooms;

* undergoing a major lobby and vestibule renovation at 5255 Yonge St. in Toronto;

* planning a revitalization of the 242,000-square-foot campus that was the former head office of GE Canada at 2300 Meadowvale Blvd. in Mississauga;

* and planning a new main lobby and exterior windows and cladding at the downtown Toronto Dundas-Edward Centre, which Crown and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. acquired in March.

Crown Realty Partners was founded in 2001. The integrated investment and management firm acquires, manages and develops commercial real estate assets in Canada and has millions of square feet and billions of dollars of assets under management.