On Tuesday, Toronto-based Oxford Properties announced that it had acquired full ownership of seven high-profile office buildings in Vancouver and Calgary, buying out the stakes of CPP Investments in all seven buildings.
The seven trophy office buildings are the Marine Building, MNP Tower, Guinness Tower, and The Stack in Vancouver, plus 400 Third, Centennial Place, and Eau Claire Tower in Calgary.
Oxford Properties — the real estate subsidiary of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) — says CPP Investments — which oversees investments on behalf of the Canada Pension Plan — owned a 50% stake in all of the buildings and that Oxford has closed on a transaction to buy out CPP's interests for a grand total of approximately $730 million.
Based on publicly-available property assessment data, the portfolio of properties has a value of just over $1.66 billion, while Oxford says the valuation of the portfolio was approximately $1.5 billion. The portfolio and details of each property are as follows.
Marine Building
Address: 355 Burrard Street, Vancouver
Constructed: 1930 (renovated in 2014)
Size: 177,000 sq. ft
BC Assessment Value: $103,614,000
The Marine Building is a designated heritage building that was originally constructed in 1930, characterized by its art deco design and masonry cladding. It rises 21 storeys and sits along Burrard Street between W Hastings Street and W Cordova Street, one block away from the Vancouver Convention Centre. Anchor tenants include Slalom Consulting ULC, ZGF Architects, and Chandler Associates Architecture Inc. Last month, Vancouver City Council approved a $4 million grant through the Heritage Incentive Program that will go towards envelope rehabilitation and seismic upgrades.
MNP Tower
Address: 1021 W Hastings Street, Vancouver
Constructed: 2014
Size: 277,000 sq. ft
BC Assessment Value: $402,709,000 (together with Guinness Tower)
The MNP Tower is directly to the west of the Marine Building and was constructed in 2014. It rises 35 storeys and anchor tenants include the namesake MNP, LGM Financial, CBRE, and Wheaton Precious Metals. The office tower was designed by New York-based Kohn Pederson Fox alongside Vancouver-based MCMP Architects and has won multiple awards. It belongs to the same legal parcel — 1055 W Hastings — as the adjacent Guinness Tower.
Guinness Tower
Address: 1055 W Hastings Street, Vancouver
Constructed: 1969 (renovated in 2014)
Size: 262,000 sq. ft
BC Assessment Value: $402,709,000 (together with MNP Tower)
The Guinness Tower is directly west of the MNP Tower, which together form one legal parcel. The building rises 23 storeys and tenants include Ledcor, GYLSA International Trading, Vayeghan Litigation, and Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel. The Guinness Tower was designed by Charles Paine and features ocean-green rectangular enamel panels alternating with a sleek glass facade. The Marine Building, MNP Tower, and the Guinness Tower are three of the four office towers in the area that together make up the network of office buildings that Oxford Properties refers to as Oxford Place. The fourth tower, which remains co-owned by Oxford and CPP, is Oceanic Plaza, located right across the street from the Guinness Tower.
Oxford Place, comprised of the Oceanic Plaza, Guinness Tower, MNP Tower, and Marine Building in Vancouver. / Oxford Properties
The Stack
Address: 1133 Melville Street, Vancouver
Constructed: 2023
Size: 558,0000 sq. ft
BC Assessment Value: $423,388,000
The newest of all the buildings involved in the transaction, The Stack is a 36-storey office tower that was completed post-pandemic. Designed by architect James Cheng, the building has a unique form that has the appearance of boxes stacked atop one another. Anchor tenants include Ernst & Young, Blakes, and DLA Piper, among others.
400 Third
Address: 400 3rd Avenue SW, Calgary
Constructed: 1988
Size: 820,000 sq. ft
Calgary Assessment Value: $130,220,000
Constructed in 1988, this 45-storey office tower was originally known as the Canterra Tower before being renamed the Devon Tower, although Oxford now refers to it as 400 Third. The building is a landmark within Calgary's skyline and has achieved various sustainability certifications. Notable tenants include law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, Werklund Ventures, and Richmond Equity Management Ltd., among others.
Centennial Place
Address: 250 5 Street SW (West Tower) + 520 3rd Avenue SW (East Tower) = 555 2 Avenue SW
Constructed: 2010
Size: 1,300,000 sq. ft
Calgary Assessment Value: $409,200,000
Located immediately west of the Devon Tower and connected via the Plus 15 network of skybridges, Centennial Place is comprised of the 25-storey West Tower and the 41-storey East Tower, which together make up one legal parcel. Anchor tenants of the West Tower include the Alberta Energy Regulator, Alberta Securities Commission, Crew Energy, and Arcis Corporation, while anchor tenants of the East Tower include Vermillion Energy, Baytex Energy, and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Eau Claire Tower
Address: 600 3rd Avenue SW, Calgary
Constructed: 2016
Size: 611,000 sq. ft
Calgary Assessment Value: $193,860,000
Immediately west of Centennial Place and also connected to the Plus 15 network, the 25-storey Eau Claire Tower was completed in 2016 and includes an array of modern amenities and sustainability certifications. The building's anchor tenants include MEG Energy, Birchcliff Energy, and Peyto Exploration, among others.
400 Third, Centennial Place, and Eau Claire Tower in Calgary. / Oxford Properties
Oxford Properties and CPP Investments
With the transaction, Oxford Properties is signalling its confidence in top-tier office assets while CPP Investments continues to divest from such assets.
"Oxford has been a net seller of office for over a decade to achieve portfolio diversification," said Oxford Properties EVP Tyler Seaman. "We believe now is an opportune time to rotate capital back into this asset class, and this portfolio ticks all the right boxes."
"This transaction reaffirms our deep conviction in the outperformance of high-quality, well-located office properties and, more broadly, our conviction to invest in Canada," added Executive Chair Daniel Fournier. "We have deep admiration for our partners at CPP Investments, with whom we will continue to own a sizeable portfolio, and are proud to build on our successful, 20-year track record of doing business together, all in service of generating returns for Canadians and our respective pensioners."
For CPP Investments, the transaction announced signals the opposite, as it continues to divest from office assets across the country. In late-2024, CPP (and with AIMCo) sold its stake in the 2 Queen Street East in Toronto to Brookfield, as previously reported by STOREYS. In March, CPP then put 1 Queen Street East, which serves as its global HQ, on the market.
It is worth noting that last year, both Oxford and CPP sold their stakes in the office buildings at 401 W Georgia and 402 Dunsmuir Street in Vancouver to Germany-based Deka Immobilien for a reported $300 million.
In their joint press release today about the current sale, CPP's Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Sophie van Oosterom described the transaction as "a continuation of our Real Estate strategy to secure strong business plan execution and redeploy capital into new opportunities, supporting the continued growth and performance optimization of our global real estate portfolio."
Following the transaction, CPP Investments' portfolio of office assets in Canada will include only the Oceanic Plaza in Vancouver and five office buildings in Toronto, according to a list of its real estate holdings dated March 31, 2025.
