Manulife Real Estate has announced it plans to build a 27-storey office tower in downtown Calgary.
The global real estate arm of Manulife Financial Corp. will develop the 564,000-square-foot building at 707 Fifth St. The new office tower will bring Manulife’s portfolio in the city to roughly 1.3 million square feet.
Expected to be complete in 2017, the building will have a distinct elliptical form, feature floor-to-ceiling glass and connect to the city’s Plus-15 network – the world’s second most extensive pedestrian skywalk system. Amenities will include a fitness centre, on-site conference facility and landscaped winter garden.
The lead tenant will be Brion Energy, a joint venture between Athabasca Oil Corp. and PetroChina Co. The 270-person company currently operates two leases in the bitumen-rich oil sands near Fort McMurray, Alta.
“Brion Energy is excited to have a long-term solution to our office space requirements and a place to call home,” says president and CEO, Zhiming Li. “As a growing company, we have been challenged to find a large block of vacant office space in Calgary’s core that meets our needs.”
Skidmore, Ownings and Merill has been selected to design the building, which will be built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold standards. Pivotal Projects will manage the project.
