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Oxford puts Ottawa Constitution Square up for sale

One of downtown Ottawa’s most significant office properties, Constitution Square, is up for sale...

One of downtown Ottawa’s most significant office properties, Constitution Square, is up for sale according to a Colliers International report.

Constitution Square's three towers line a block of Albert St. in downtown Ottawa.

Constitution Square’s three towers line a block of Albert St. in downtown Ottawa. (Google Street View)

The property came on the market late in the second quarter, and includes three Class A office towers linked by a retail podium, Colliers Q2 2017 Office Report states. The buildings are owned by Oxford Properties.

If a sale proceeds, it will be the largest transaction in the Ottawa market in 2017 and, in fact, the city’s “largest single transaction of recent record,” according to Colliers.

The largest sale so far in 2017 was the purchase of a 50 per cent interest in Minto Place by Investors Group’s Real Property Fund. Minto Capital Management had previously owned 100 per cent of the three towers and interconnected retail podium, which is also in downtown Ottawa. Most of the 945,030 square feet of leasable space in those buildings is dedicated to office, though there is a retail component.

No financial details about that purchase were released.

Constitution Square contains just over 1 million square feet of space at 340, 350 and 360 Albert Street, along the city’s downtown transitway, a block from the future Confederation light rail line and in the heart of its financial and business district. It is just a short walk from Parliament Hill and many other major federal properties.

Constitution Square I is 18 storeys and was opened in 1986. Constitution Square II has 21 storeys and was built in 1991, followed by the 19-storey Constitution III in 2007.

Among the amenities are underground parking, a fitness centre, private outdoor terrace, conference centre, daycare facilities and secure, interior bicycle parking.

Spokespersons for both Oxford Properties and Colliers could not immediately be contacted by RENX for comment.

Buildings certified BOMA Best

The property has achieved a LEED platinum rating, and is certified BOMA Best. Constitution Square won the Canadian BOMA Office Building of the Year Award for properties over one million square feet in 2009.

The buildings contain a cross-section of government and private tenants, including branches of Public Services and Procurements Canada, TD Wealth, Scotia Capital, Rogers Communications, PAL Aerospace and the International Development Research Centre.

Oxford is an owner, developer, investor and manager of real estate with a portfolio of approximately 57 million square feet of office, retail, hotel, industrial and multi-residential properties across North America. The company is headquartered in Toronto and employs about 2,000 people worldwide. It is the real estate arm of OMERS (the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) Worldwide Group of Companies.


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