A Quebec company has paid $131.5 million in a blockbuster purchase for three Victoria office properties, each holding long-term leases with B.C. government tenants.
The buildings are Sussex Place, at 1001 Douglas St. and 720 Broughton St. in downtown Victoria, and 2975 and 2995 Jutland Rd. at the Selkirk Waterfront. They total 300,000 square feet.
Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. bought the buildings. The firm, founded in 1892, is among the largest insurance and wealth-management companies in the country.
The buildings were sold by HOOPP Realty, part of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
Michael Miller, senior vice-president in the Victoria office of Colliers International, was part of the listing team. He said “it’s certainly the largest sale ever in our office” and believes it could be the largest office transaction in Victoria’s history.
Sussex Place consists of the art-deco style Sussex Apartment Hotel, a three-storey brick facade, that was saved in the 1990s to become part of a new development. The facade is on the City of Victoria’s heritage register.
The project includes an interior courtyard and an 11-storey office building, where B.C.’s Ministry of the Attorney General is located.
Tenants in the Selkirk properties include B.C. Pension Corp. and two provincial ministries.
“Victoria is really on everyone’s radar screen, not just locally, but regionally, nationally and to some lesser degree internationally,” Miller said. “I think Victoria has come of age.”
Relatively speaking, Victoria is still a bargain on the world stage, he said.
