Nothing draws attention away from flood damage better than declaring a major new architectural landmark development, as it was announced that Calgary will be the proud new recipient of a TELUS tower.
The telecommunications giant, in joint venture with Allied Properties REIT and Westbank, will develop TELUS Sky on the northeast corner of 7th Avenue SW and Centre Street SW. Designed to a LEED Platinum standard, the development will be comprised of approximately 430,000 square feet of office space, 275,000 square feet of rental apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail space and 285 underground parking spaces. TELUS is expected to lease approximately 155,000 square feet of space in the office component of the development.
Allied will contribute its property at 100 – 7th Avenue SW to the joint venture, and TELUS will contribute its adjacent property at 114 – 7th Avenue SW. This is expected to occur in June of 2014. Each of TELUS, Westbank and Allied will have an undivided one-third interest in the joint venture.
Westbank will act as development manager. Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and DIALOG have been retained as architects for the development. Westbank and the architects are working toward obtaining the necessary municipal approvals. The joint venture expects to commence construction in July of 2014 and to complete the development in 2017.
Westbank and Allied will provide property management and asset management services, respectively, to the joint venture. They may, with a view to optimizing efficiency for the joint venture, reallocate services amongst themselves with corresponding reallocation of fees. “This is yet another example of how value-creation opportunities arise from owning underutilized sites in the urban areas of major Canadian cities,” said Michael Emory, Allied president and CEO.
TELUS Sky builds upon an impressive track record of developing LEED Platinum and Gold buildings across Canada, joining: TELUS Garden, which is currently under construction in downtown Vancouver (LEED Platinum); TELUS House Toronto (LEED Gold certification in Core and Shell and LEED Platinum in Building Operations & Maintenance); TELUS House Ottawa (LEED Gold); and Place TELUS Québec in Quebec City (LEED Silver for retrofitted buildings).
It also makes TELUS the largest current lease holder of LEED Platinum space in North America. When complete, TELUS Sky will use 35 per cent less energy than similar size developments, setting a leading example in sustainability. Plans are underway to improve upon that energy efficiency, with the goal to have the final development use 80 per cent less energy than similar developments.