CBRE Completes Sale of Two High-Profile Downtown Vancouver Office Buildings

CBRE brokers the most significant post-pandemic office transaction in a large Canadian city as Germany’s Deka Immobilien continues their global real estate expansion.

CBRE Canada has facilitated the sale of 401 West Georgia Street and 402 Dunsmuir Street, two high-profile office buildings in downtown Vancouver, in a landmark deal for the Canadian office market. The transaction provides a benchmark data point as, at the time of listing, global office markets were facing reduced activity and uncertainty due to high interest rates and sentiment around remote work.

401 West Georgia Street and 402 Dunsmuir Street were previously owned in a joint venture by Oxford Properties Group and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which CBRE represented at the time of listing. The buildings are situated in the thriving office and technology centre of Vancouver's financial core and create a campus environment that spans an entire city block.

“This transaction marks the beginning of the next cycle of office investment in Canada,” says CBRE Canada President and CEO Jon Ramscar. “It highlights the resilience of the Vancouver office market and provides a market-leading data point. While the office sector is evolving, office space will continue to play an important role for companies looking to innovate and attract top talent in an increasingly competitive business environment.”

The properties are fully leased, with Aon Canada Inc., Unbounce Marketing Solutions, Richards Buell Sutton, BuildDirect.com Technologies, and Amazon Web Services serving as the anchor tenants, providing synergies with Amazon’s The Post project located directly across the street. The two buildings offer substantial scale with a combined leasable area of approximately 415,000 sq. ft. and provide modern tenant amenities and LEED Gold and WELL sustainability certifications.

“This mandate represented a very rare opportunity to own significant stock in Vancouver’s office market,” says CBRE Canada Vice Chairman Tony Quattrin. Quattrin co-directs Vancouver’s National Investment Team, which brokered the deal. “You don’t see opportunities like this come on the market very often. As a result, we generated considerable interest from dozens of groups, including several international capital groups.”

Vancouver’s National Investment Team leveraged CBRE’s national and global platform to enhance distribution of its global marketing campaign, implementing a confidential and competitive marketing and bid process.

CBRE ultimately secured Germany’s Deka Immobilien as the purchaser, signaling a return of international interest to Vancouver’s real estate market. This acquisition will be incorporated into the portfolio of Deka’s open-ended real estate fund. With this transaction, the fund expands its global diversification and continues to focus on prime real estate in major cities worldwide.

“This was definitely a landmark transaction conducted in one of the most uncertain economic environments in recent history, and represents renewed investor interest in our office market,” says Quattrin. “The vision and courage by all parties to commit to such a high-profile market leading transaction in these turbulent times is a true testament to the confident leadership of the organizations on both sides of the transaction.

“It was an incredible experience to work alongside such committed individuals on both teams over many months. The dedication by all parties throughout this process was both admirable and inspiring.”