BCG relocates Canadian headquarters to downtown Toronto
Global consultancy The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is to relocate its Canadian headquarters to Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines' CIBC Square development in downtown Toronto. The deal for the new location was finalised in July, while following a four year development period, the firm expects a move-in date of summer 2021.
BCG, a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, has initiated efforts to establish its Canadian corporate offices in a 85,000-square-foot block, at 81 Bay Street, a 49-story, 1,577 million-square-foot tower. The building, which broke ground in June as Phase I of the venture's 2.9 million square-foot Bay Park Centre development in Toronto's south core, will become home to BCG employees in four years’ time. Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines commenced construction on 81 Bay St. after reaching a lease agreement with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX: CM) ("CIBC") to anchor the project.
Following a lengthy period of waiting for the building’s completion, BCG now anticipates to relocate over 300 employees into the block by summer 2021.
“We are confident that this new development will serve our sizable firm presence in Toronto and support our growing office of the future," said Cliff Grevler, senior partner and the managing partner for BCG in Canada for the Toronto, Montreal and Calgary offices. "The opportunity to design our workspace in a setting that bridges the gap between the Financial District and the South Core, with amenities like convenient transit, sweeping water views and sizable outdoor space, is truly an opportunity we couldn’t pass up."
“Hines is thrilled to now have BCG as an anchor tenant in Toronto at CIBC Square. With BCG leases at five other properties over the past decade, we have had a long-standing relationship with BCG and are looking forward to working with them to create best-in-class office premises that will support their global business and brand,” commented Tom D’Arcy, senior managing director at Hines.
Canada’s consulting market has shown signs of growing competition recently. Firms have shown intent to aggressively expand their market share, with the notable example of Canadian company SNC-Lavalin’s £2.1 billion acquisition of British consultancy Atkins, earlier in 2017. The eventual takeover by the Canadian engineering consultancy saw terms include a £20.80-a-share cash buyout, around 35% above the closing share price on the 31st of March, when talks first began.
South of the border, in the US meanwhile, BCG were recently contracted by American grocery group Whole Foods following their take-over by Amazon, which was finalised this summer. The firm will work with Whole Foods to help the company save $300 million in baseline costs, as the store bids to bring in new customers, and change its reputation for being overpriced.
