Downtown Bank of Montreal building sold
Unnamed new owner to take possession next month, but it’s unclear how it will be used
The former Bank of Montreal building on Simcoe Street downtown, which closed for good in early August, has been sold.
The 1960 building — which has a heritage designation — has been sold with a closing date of Nov. 14, said real estate broker Sam Taggart.
Taggart works for Allcom Realty Service Ltd. in Toronto and sold the building for BMO.
He said Wednesday that since the sale hasn’t closed, he cannot say who the buyer is or discuss any potential reuse plans for the building.
He also didn’t disclose the sale price, although the property was listed for $1,750,000.
The buyer isn’t Lett Architects, Inc., the firm next door: architect Bill Lett stated on Wednesday his firm did not purchase the building.
When the bank closed on Aug. 9, the bank machines were expected to remain open there until the end of September and then move to the Nesbitt Burns building at 311 George St. N.
But this week, the ATMs were still located in vestibule of the closed branch at 130 Simcoe St.; a sign at Nesbitt Burns said the ATMs will remain on Simcoe Street until further notice.
Meanwhile, clients of the Simcoe Street branch were directed to the BMO branch at Portage Place, on Chemong Road in the city’s north end, where an expanded branch has now opened in the former LCBO location.
City council approved the plan to place the heritage designation on the Simcoe Street BMO building in July, which means it cannot be demolished or altered without permission from city council.
In June, the Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee deemed the building
worthy of designation. The building is an “excellent and unique example of mid-century modern commercial architecture,” states a staff report.
The building was designed by German-born Eberhard Zeidler, the city’s most prominent modernist architect of the 1950s and 1960s, states the report. Zeidler also designed other Peterborough buildings, such as Grace United Church and Beth Israel Synagogue.
After he moved to Toronto, he designed buildings such as the Eaton Centre and Ontario Place.