Lululemon, the popular athletic apparel company founded in Vancouver in 1998, signed one of the city's biggest office leases in years to expand its corporate headquarters, making it one of the top transactions recognized in the latest CoStar Power Broker quarterly deals awards.
The retailer leased 291,500 square feet at Cadillac Fairview's Pacific Centre office building in downtown Vancouver, which had recently been vacated by tech giant Microsoft, a Lululemon spokesperson told CoStar News.
The deal, Canada's largest office lease of the third quarter and the biggest office deal of the past four years in greater Vancouver, fills what would have been a huge hole in Vancouver's office market, CoStar data shows.
Microsoft has vacated millions of square feet of office space in North America and shed thousands of employees as it consolidates operations at its refreshed headquarters campus in Redmond, Washington, being completed in phases.
Lululemon occupies several buildings in and around downtown Vancouver for its headquarters and other corporate operations, including about 120,000 square feet across nine floors at The Offices at Burrard Place. The company owns a 115,000-square-foot building at 1818 Cornwall Ave. in the Broadway corridor.
The company has also been in expansion mode in the United States, signing a deal last spring that doubled its office space at a downtown Seattle office tower.
Blair Quinn and Kevin Nelson of CBRE represented Lululemon. Lou Ficocelli, Carson Pennock and Carmen Zimmer handle leasing at Pacific Centre for landlord Cadillac Fairview.
Here is a look at other top deals completed in the three months ending Sept. 30.
Top sale
Logistics giant sells Toronto-area warehouse
Real estate investment firm Veyron's purchase of a warehouse north of Toronto for $300.5 million was Canada's largest commercial real estate sale transaction during the third quarter.
Veyron, based in New York City, bought the distribution centre in the southwest Ontario town of Innisfil in a sale-leaseback deal from Denmark-based DSV, one of the world’s largest transportation and logistics companies.
The sale unlocks capital for DSV while allowing the logistics giant to keep operating at one of its most advanced Canadian hubs under a long-term lease that reaffirms its commitment to the region, Veyron said in a statement.
The nearly 1.3 million-square-foot facility at 3575 Innisfil Beach Road finished construction this year and "represents the scale and infrastructure required for today’s global logistics leaders," Veyron said in the statement.
Veyron, a private real estate investment firm focused on buying, financing and developing single-tenant properties, has more than 10 million square feet in North America, including 2.5 million square feet in Canada.
Gord Cook, Victor Cotic, Stewart Metcalfe, Bill Pavlopoulos, Patrick Duffy and Max Brenzel of Colliers represented the buyer. Matt Picken, Bryce Gibson, Jared Cowley and Vienna Loo of JLL were the listing brokers.
Top retail lease
JD Sports launches flagship store in downtown Montreal
British retail chain JD Sports signed one of the biggest retail leases in Montreal, with plans to open a downtown flagship store next year at 777 Saint-Catherine St West.
JD Sports, which is expanding across Canada, signed a deal in August to take 26,463 square feet across three levels at the building owned by Pontegadea, the global real estate business of Amancio Ortega, founder and main shareholder of the Inditex fashion group.
The sports fashion chain opened its first Canadian flagship store in Vancouver last June on Robson Street, with plans to establish 17 stores across Canada by the end of 2026, according to a company announcement.
JD Sports operated about 4,850 stores in 49 countries under various brands, franchises and joint ventures as of Feb. 1, with a strong presence in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. The company said last year that it was acquiring Alabama-based Hibbett, which has nearly 1,200 U.S. stores, for $1.1 billion as it looks to expand in the United States.
The landmark 777 Saint-Catherine building that fronts McGill College Avenue, a corridor sometimes touted as "Montreal's Champs-Élysées," opened in 1931.
Ryan Morein and Jordan Karp of Savills and Monon Parisien of Montreal-based Aurora Realty Consultants were the brokers in the transaction.
Top industrial lease
Logistics signs deal for new warehouse in British Columbia
A South Korea-based logistics firm leased more than three-quarters of a large warehouse nearing completion in Delta, south of Vancouver.
LX Pantos, formerly Patos Logistics, signed a deal for 360,297 square feet at 4449 Salish Sea Way, a 485,675-square-foot industrial property being built by real estate developer Beedie. The Burnaby-based firm built the project on speculation, without signed tenants. The warehouse is one of several projects underway near Deltaport, Canada's busiest container terminal.
The deal comes as brokers and developers expect industrial leasing to pick up in the final months of 2024 after builders paused many projects late last year, according to a CoStar analytics report.
Cushman & Wakefield's Sean Ungemach, Blake Gozda and Nathan Kewin are the leasing brokers for 4449 Salish Sea.