Allied is increasing its ownership of 19 Duncan to 95% by buying out all but a residual 5% ownership from Westbank. From today's (March 11, 2024) press release:

Allied to Acquire OwnershipInterest in 400 West Georgia and Increase Ownership Interest in 19 Duncan

19 Duncan is comprised of 154,074 square feet of office GLA, 15,411 square feet of retail GLA, 464 rentalresidential units, related common areas and facilities, 25 underground commercial parking stalls and 106underground residential parking stalls. The property was designed to a LEED Gold standard. The officecomponent is fully leased to Thomson Reuters with a weighted-average lease term of 9.4 years. The rentalresidential component is expected to be leased over the remainder of 2024. Allied and Westbank currently ownthe property in equal shares. The property is subject to construction financing of up to $295 million.

Allied will increase its ownership in 19 Duncan to a 95% undivided interest by converting the remaining $67.5million of the Mezzanine Loan to equity and making a cash payment to Westbank of $36.3 million. The amount payable in cash will be funded in part with the proceeds from the TELUS Sky reorganization and in part through the sale of less-strategic assets in Montréal (primarily in response to unsolicited offers to purchase). The transaction will be based on a total property value of $525.7 million.
 
Allied is increasing its ownership of 19 Duncan to 95% by buying out all but a residual 5% ownership from Westbank. From today's (March 11, 2024) press release:

Allied to Acquire OwnershipInterest in 400 West Georgia and Increase Ownership Interest in 19 Duncan

19 Duncan is comprised of 154,074 square feet of office GLA, 15,411 square feet of retail GLA, 464 rentalresidential units, related common areas and facilities, 25 underground commercial parking stalls and 106underground residential parking stalls. The property was designed to a LEED Gold standard. The officecomponent is fully leased to Thomson Reuters with a weighted-average lease term of 9.4 years. The rentalresidential component is expected to be leased over the remainder of 2024. Allied and Westbank currently ownthe property in equal shares. The property is subject to construction financing of up to $295 million.

Allied will increase its ownership in 19 Duncan to a 95% undivided interest by converting the remaining $67.5million of the Mezzanine Loan to equity and making a cash payment to Westbank of $36.3 million. The amount payable in cash will be funded in part with the proceeds from the TELUS Sky reorganization and in part through the sale of less-strategic assets in Montréal (primarily in response to unsolicited offers to purchase). The transaction will be based on a total property value of $525.7 million.

Sounds win-win to me. Westbank is clearly strapped for cash, and Allied gets some diversification with substantial ownership of the residential rental component of the building.
 
19 Duncan had so much more of a refined ring to it. Fixing what wasn't broken... /sigh
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Sounds win-win to me. Westbank is clearly strapped for cash, and Allied gets some diversification with substantial ownership of the residential rental component of the building.
Sounds ridiculous to me. A hilarious over-valuation 400WG (so as to not write down that debt(?)) and making a cash payment to WB of $36M? Why don't they just call WB on their loans, take them into bankruptcy, and get the building (and other WB assets) for free? As of September 2023, WB owes Allied just over $472M...soo...like...?? Allied also has no experience as a residential landlord, so they're going to sink money into the creation of a new department, or pay 3rd party asset and property management companies to do this for them? Mystifying...
 
Sounds ridiculous to me. A hilarious over-valuation 400WG (so as to not write down that debt(?)) and making a cash payment to WB of $36M? Why don't they just call WB on their loans, take them into bankruptcy, and get the building (and other WB assets) for free? As of September 2023, WB owes Allied just over $472M...soo...like...?? Allied also has no experience as a residential landlord, so they're going to sink money into the creation of a new department, or pay 3rd party asset and property management companies to do this for them? Mystifying...
I see where you're coming from, but still believe it makes sense for Allied, from a certain perspective. I assumed the 5% continued ownership by Westbank in Toronto House meant that Westbank would still run the residential (probably with a fee as well), thus obviating your final concern.

In terms of rendering Westbank bankrupt - given that Allied and Westbank do have a relationship on other projects, I think this was a decision that it was better to keep them solvent as an ongoing partner than to take that much harsher step, which involves greater uncertainty and legal costs as you work through the bankruptcy.

In terms of the over-valuation - that is way out of my depth, so I will take you at face value on that.
 
TEYCC in its last sitting adopted the public art plan as per the below; the artist will be Omer Arbel, and the doc linked below includes some examples of his work, including a very cool installation at the V&A. Arbel will develop three concepts for presentation to a 3-person jury, which will select one of the concepts for use on the building.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2018/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-113160.pdf

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Omer Arbel 44

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It is a repurposed version of this piece. (Source)

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Thanks for sharing this news as I hadn’t heard of him! Here are a few links to his wide-ranging works. The image of what may inspire the project at Toronto House is from an installation at The Barbican in London.


He also has great architecture.

And the link to his company:

 

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