The Bank of Nova Scotia, more commonly known as Scotiabank (TSX: BNS), recently sold one of its office buildings in Toronto, according to commercial real estate brokerage Avison Young.
The building sits at 90 Wynford Drive in North York, near Don Valley Parkway and directly across the street from the Aga Khan Museum.
Scotiabank sold 90 Wynford Drive for $40,500,000, according to Avison Young. Factoring in the size of the five-storey building, the sale price translates to approximately $224 per sq. ft.
The sale was brokered by Graeme White, Robin White, Richard Chilcott, and Jonathan Yuan of Avison Young, and was completed sometime in Q4 2024.
The purchaser was Access Self Storage Inc., a self storage company that appears to have already begun offering storage space for vehicles.
90 Wynford Drive
90 Wynford Drive was originally constructed in 1968 for Texaco Canada Ltd. and was formerly known as the Imperial Oil Building.
Scotiabank acquired the property in 2015 and subsequently invested $31 million into the building, out of which 1,300 employees worked, as of 2018.
The building rises five storeys and houses 180,624 sq. ft of office space. Its location provides convenient transit connections via buses along Wynford Drive, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, and the future Ontario Line.
The building is also next door to the 444,898-sq. ft office building at 100 Wynford Drive that is occupied by Bell. 100 Wynford Drive was previously owned by H&R REIT (TSX: HR.UN), who sold the building in August 2022 as part of an $167.8 million disposition of four properties. According to H&R REIT's press release at the time, it has an option to repurchase 100 Wynford Drive for approximately $159.6 million in or before 2036.
Some years ago, both 100 Wynford Drive and 90 Wynford Drive were nominated for the City of Toronto's heritage register, the latter of which was nominated for its modernist design, among other qualities. The architect of the building was John B. Parkin Associates. The building also played a key role in establishing the area.
"The property at 90 Wynford Drive was established within the Flemingdon Park Industrial Estate, which was conceived as an extension of the Don Mills-related industrial area," a City of Toronto document notes. "The new industrial area was intended to provide employment to the Flemingdon Park residential area to the south. As a result of this plan, the area developed into a cluster of corporate headquarters and cultural institutions."
The City of Toronto's heritage register indicates that 90 Wynford Drive was registered in January 2020.
