Just prior to the end of the year, Toronto-based Allied Properties REIT (TSX: AP.UN) sold its last two properties in Ottawa, exiting the market there for the time being.
The two properties are located at 40-46 Elgin Street, directly across the street from the National War Memorial and Confederation Square. The properties are also around the corner from the Office of the Prime Minister and Parliament Hill.
In November 2011, Allied Properties REIT announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire three properties in Calgary and Ottawa for a total of $112 million, one of which was 40-46 Elgin Street — also known as The Chambers. It's annual report from that year stated that the purchase price for The Chambers was $96 million. The vendor was Woodcliffe.
In a press release on December 2, 2024, Allied said that it was scheduled to close on the disposition of The Chambers by the end of the year, with an annual report published last week indicating that 40-46 Elgin Street was sold for gross proceeds of $86,511,000 on December 18.
The Chambers is comprised of four contiguous buildings including a 14-storey office building and three heritage office and retail buildings. According to Allied's Q3 2024 report, 40 Elgin Street is comprised of 195,994 sq. ft of office space while 46 Elgin Street is comprised of 27,203 sq. ft, for a total of 223,197 sq. ft, which means the price translates to approximately $388 per sq. ft.
According to Cushman & Wakefield, the purchaser was the Government of Canada (as "His Majesty the King in Right of Canada").
In addition to the office space, The Chambers also includes 7,222 sq. ft of retail space and the whole complex was 98.2% leased as of September 30, most notably to the National Capital Commission, the Crown corporation that manages the federal government's properties in the Capital Region.
The 40 Elgin Street property was originally known as The Central Chambers while 46 Elgin Street was originally known as The Bell Block, and both were designated as heritage properties in 1990, according to the Government of Canada's Directory of Federal Heritage Designations.
40-46 Elgin Street in Ottawa, also known as The Central Chambers or The Chambers. / Woodcliffe
The two buildings were constructed in the early 1890s, and were designed by architect J.J. Browne.
"Central Chambers was designated a national historic site of Canada because it is a particularly good example of the Queen Anne Revival Style, as expressed in commercial architecture," the Directory notes. "The heritage value of the site resides in its splendid architectural design, in which the principles of the Queen Anne Revival style have been applied to commercial purposes and in the physical properties of the structure that illustrate that design. The building was constructed in 1890-93 to the designs of Ottawa architect J.J. Browne. It has always enjoyed a high profile location and is an important contributing element in the Confederation Square National Historic Site of Canada."
The Central Chambers and Bell Block buildings were then renovated in the early 1990s alongside the addition of a new 14-storey office tower behind the two buildings.
