New office building welcomes Gowling
KITCHENER — The local office of international law firm Gowling WLG will move into Perimeter Development Corp.’s planned new office building, the first new office development to be built in downtown Kitchener in more than 25 years.
Gowling, which employs 120 people in downtown Kitchener, will be the lead tenant in the new building at 345 King St. W., said Craig Beattie, a partner with Perimeter. “Having them signed on means we are full steam ahead on the project,” he said.
The development of a Class A building with a LEED Gold certification is yet another sign of the level of interest in Kitchener’s core, Beattie said, since high-quality buildings typically command higher rents.
“Buildings of this calibre only get built when there is the tenant or company interest in it,” Beattie said. “It’s a really great sign for downtown that we’re at a point where there’s that demand.”
“Tenants are looking for Class A LEED space,” said Brian Bennett, Kitchener’s manager of business development, adding that the new building will improve the mix of options for companies looking for office space downtown.
The development, on the site of a 43-spot parking lot that the city sold earlier this year to Perimeter for almost $2.4 million, will enhance the King Street streetscape between Water and Francis streets, Bennett added.
Perimeter has several downtown projects, including the Breithaupt Block housing Google, a 12-storey office tower at 305 King St. W. next to the new development and a $10million renovation of the Wal-
per Hotel.
But not all tenants are looking for repurposed space, Beattie said. “We view there being a lot of companies that are going to have a desire for brand new space with a big, efficient floor plate, lots of windows and natural light, and mechanical systems that are state-of-the-art.”
Location was also a key factor in its decision, Gowling said in a news release. The new building will be next to Kitchener’s burgeoning “Innovation District” where many tech firms are situated, steps from light rail transit and a short walk to the future transit hub, with GO Train — and eventual high-speed rail — service to Toronto.
The law firm’s Kitchener office currently is in a building at 50 Queen St. N.
The new six-storey, $43-million building will add about 120,000 square feet of office space, and should house about 700 employees when it’s done, Perimeter said.
Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2018, with occupancy in late 2019.
The last new office development in Kitchener’s core was the 12-storey graniteand-glass Canada Trust tower at King and Ontario streets, which opened in 1992.