Life sciences addition
Perhaps the most innovative feature of the redevelopment will be a four-storey addition to the top of the existing building, called exploration labs, which will be dedicated to high-performance life sciences research space.
It will encompass 187,000 square feet, with floor plates averaging between 35,000 and 50,000 square feet and 15-foot ceilings. It will also include access to a penthouse event space, the roof, an eco-porch and an exterior walkway on the 21st floor.
Petch said KingSett knew it could add four additional storeys to the building without additional reinforcement work, which would have added to costs and affected existing tenant space. The original intention was to build offices, but high demand for life sciences space in the Discovery District led to a change in plans.
The Discovery District encompasses two square kilometres and includes the
University of Toronto, nine teaching hospitals and more than 30 specialized medical and related sciences research centres that employ more than 50,000 — with more than 22,000 jobs in medical care and research-related fields.
There’s plenty of interaction between professionals in the public and private research communities, so having large numbers of these facilities and workers in close proximity is important and attractive.
“We get a lot of calls for space in the building from labs and life sciences,” said Petch. “That’s mainly due to the proximity to
MaRS, the university and the hospitals.
“The existing building couldn’t handle that, mainly because it’s hard to retrofit an office building for purposes like labs because things like HVAC, loading and vibration in the structure are very difficult to accommodate in an existing office building.”
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Marketing process has begun
Colliers is working with Triovest in leading the search for tenants. Senior VP and sales representative Mike King told RENX it’s scheduling both on-site and virtual presentations and interest has been high from the brokerage and research communities.
“700 University is a fantastic building with an unusually large floor plate, located in the perfect location to tap into the intellectual capital of the University of Toronto and all of the teaching and research hospitals all around it. The vacancy in the area is low, which speaks to the demand for being in proximity to them.”
King said one tenant could take the entire space, but multi-tenant design is in place and Colliers envisions something in the neighbourhood of four tenants occupying a single floor.
“There are some interested parties right now. COVID has certainly slowed the decision-making process with any number of groups, whether it’s for traditional space or research space. But I think that given the scarcity of lab space in the area, we’re hopeful that we’ll have someone talking to us very soon.”
“The tenants for this building may or may not be in Toronto at this point,” said Petch. “It will be a global search because it is such a specific and special address to be adding this space.
“We’re hoping to hear some names that you probably haven’t heard in our market before looking at the space.”
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New residential rental tower
The site has room for further intensification and KingSett will build a 57-storey tower with approximately 480 rental apartment units in a range of sizes at the southwest corner, where a low-rise service and back-of-house area currently resides.
“There’s not a lot of residential rental in the neighbourhood,” said Petch.
“Our neighbours, the hospitals and the university were quite supportive of the application to build that because of its appeal to residents coming to work at the hospitals for a few years and professional people and students in the neighbourhood.
“They’ll have the ability to rent in a building right in the middle of the neighbourhood.”
The residential tower is expected to be completed in late 2026.
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