First Movers Q2 2024 – 10 Notable Office Lease Transactions

Floorspace is proud to present our Q2 2024 update on notable office leasing activity in Vancouver, British Columbia.

We have highlighted First Movers over the past quarter – companies who have made a commitment to move, sublease, expand their footprint or renew their leases.

Notable Office Leases in Downtown Vancouver

1. Industrial Light & Magic at 1133 Melville 

• New lease for 40,000 square feet
• Industrial Light & Magic, a visual effects company founded by George Lucas, became a subsidiary of Disney in 2012 following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm.
• 1133 Melville, also known as the Stack, is owned by Oxford Properties.

2. Boomi at 1055 Dunsmuir St

• New lease for approximately 50,000 square feet
• Boomi, a software company originally from Pennsylvania, is expanding its footprint to Vancouver. As a cloud-based data management firm, Boomi’s first Canadian office is part of its global expansion efforts.
• Boomi will temporarily occupy Hudson Pacific owned 595 Burrard before moving into 1055 Dunsmuir St, both known as Bentall 3 and Bentall 4 respectively.

3. Asana at 601 West Hastings

• New lease for approximately 25,000 square feet
• Asana, a software company that offers a project management tool similar to Monday or Trello, was founded by Dustin Moskovitz, an entrepreneur who also co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg.
• 601 West Hastings, also known as the Waterfront Hub, is owned by the PCI group.

4. Seaspan at 200 Granville Street

• Renewal of approximately 25,000 square feet on the 26 and 27^th floor
• Seaspan is a marine services company with three main categories: marine transportation, marine, and ferries. In March 2024, Seaspan Shipyards received $490 million to build vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard.
• 200 Granville St, also known as Granville square, is owned by Cadillac Fairview.

5. BC Ministry of Transportation at 411 Dunsmuir

• New sublease for approximately 25,000 square feet
• The BC Ministry of Transportation just contributed $120 million towards highway infrastructure upgrades as of July 19, 2024.
• 411 Dunsmuir Street is owned by a Private Investor.

6. Aon at 1067 West Cordova

• New lease for approximately 24,000 square feet
• Aon, headquartered in London, UK, offers expert advice and solutions in risk management, retirement planning, and health benefits.
• 1067 West Cordova, also known as Rogers Tower (previously Shaw Tower), is managed by Westbank.

Notable Office Leases in Vancouver Periphery

7. VodaSafe at 114 East 4^th Ave

• New lease for approximately 6,000 square feet
• VodaSafe, a female-founded tech startup, developed AquaEye, a handheld sonar device that utilizes AI to search for humans in water.
• 114 East 4^th, also known as M2 at Main Alley, is owned by Westbank.

8. ICBC at 2150 Keith Drive

• New lease for approximately 164,000 square feet
• ICBC is relocating its headquarters from 151 West Esplanade Avenue at Lonsdale Quay, which is set to be redeveloped into affordable housing. 
• The company is downsizing by almost half, from approximately 300,000 square feet to 164,000 square feet.
• 2150 Keith Drive, also known as the Hive, is expected to be complete sometime in 2025.

9. adMare BioInnovations at 110 East 5th Avenue

• New lease for approximately 29,000 square feet
• adMare BioInnovations is a Canadian incubator that provides lab space for new life science startups. It has supported the creation of 36 companies, which collectively have a combined value of $5.7 billion.
• 110 East 5^th Avenue, also known as M4 at Main Alley, is owned by Westbank.

10. Beedie at 6051 Silver Drive

• New lease for 38,000 square feet
• Beedie is an award-winning development firm specializing in a range of buildings from industrial to residential. One of their major projects currently is the Fraser Mills development.
• 6051 Silver Drive, also known as Station Square, is owned by Anthem Properties.

As per CBRE’s most recent report, Metro Vancouver’s overall office vacancy rate experienced an increase of 20 basis points, settling at 9.7% (compared to 9.5% in Q1 2024). During the last quarter, approximately 30,038 square feet of space in Downtown Vancouver was absorbed on a net basis, with no new supply introduced to the Downtown market. However, ~280,000 square feet of new supply (~180,000 square feet at 3700 Gilmore way) was introduced in the suburban areas. Notably, there continues to be no major construction commencements with a growing interest in office conversions to other uses.

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The information above was obtained from sources deemed reliable (including quarterly reports from CBRE, Colliers, Cushman Wakefield & NAI), however, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All figures, including square footage are approximate.