Menkes Breaks Ground on Waterfront Innovation Centre on Toronto Waterfront

TORONTO – September 20, 2018 – Menkes Developments Ltd. (“Menkes”), in partnership with Alcion Ventures, today broke ground on the Waterfront Innovation Centre – a new landmark office building on the Toronto waterfront.

The groundbreaking marks the first construction milestone of a 400,000 square foot complex designed by world-renowned architects Sweeny & Co, which will be comprised of two buildings, with three distinct but interconnected components: The Exchange, The Hive, and The Nexus, a space that will serve as a public square and directly connect the two buildings.

Located in East Bayfront, adjacent to Canada’s Sugar Beach, the Waterfront Innovation Centre anchors Toronto’s surging innovation cluster on the eastern waterfront, representing the next evolution in workplace design that helps reinvent how today’s workforce collaborates in the city’s burgeoning creative and technology sectors.

Today’s milestone represents another step in the revitalization of Toronto’s Waterfront. The complex will not only drive economic development with the creation of nearly 3,000 jobs, but also help to shape East Bayfront into a beautiful new neighbourhood where people can live, work and play.

“This state-of-the-art office building will establish East Bayfront as the City’s newest innovation corridor,” said Peter Menkes, President of the Commercial / Industrial Division of Menkes. “We’re proud to offer a building that is purpose-built to foster innovation and collaboration, and also meet the growing demand for more adaptable work spaces. We are so pleased to have WPP, a global leader in communications as the building’s anchor tenant, and we’re confident that this world-class complex will continue to attract a multitude of innovative, forward-thinking companies.”

The project builds on design excellence of Menkes’ recent notable office towers including another waterfront office building, One York Street in Toronto’s South Core.

The Waterfront Innovation Centre will include: cutting-edge building automation controls, under-floor air distribution, direct/indirect LED lighting, a high-performance curtain-wall system, and occupancy/daylight sensors. Floor-to-ceiling glass will allow for maximum natural light penetration as well as spectacular views. The building will also generate power via a rooftop photovoltaic solar array.

The building has been conceived with the objective of achieving the highest standards in environmental sustainability by striving for LEED Gold (v4) certification. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) is an internationally-accepted rating system that recognizes excellence in the design, construction and operation of green buildings.

“The Waterfront Innovation Centre is the workplace of the future, supporting Waterfront Toronto’s mandate to make Toronto’s waterfront synonymous with innovation,” said Helen Burstyn, Chair of the Board, Waterfront Toronto. “We’re thrilled to celebrate this milestone occasion with Menkes, as it demonstrates how we’re providing the enabling conditions and infrastructure to attract private sector development that catalyzes the business and job growth necessary to make our Toronto and Ontario more competitive on a global scale.”

Expected occupancy is 2021.