Crown Realty Partners and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments have acquired Allstate Corporate Centre (11, 15, 19, 27 Allstate Pkwy and 80 Frontenac Dr) from British Columbia Investment Management Corp (bcIMC) for $148.6M in a 50/50 JV. Crown will oversee the portfolio’s property management and the leasing and day-to-day operations at the 575k SF campus, on the north side of Highway 7 just east of Highway 404. Tenants include Allstate Insurance, Huawei, Oracle and Grant Thornton. The property, featuring a distinctive central square, boasts walking trails, underground executive parking, and perhaps most important, an on-site Tim Hortons.

Crown managing partner Les Miller says the transaction signals a “strong level of confidence” in the Markham office node. The acquisition is Crown’s latest in that city; last year it bought a 465k SF office building portfolio (575, 600 and 675 Cochrane Dr) for $126.7M, the GTA’s biggest Q2 office deal. Crown and Crestpoint own or manage over 1.5M SF of office space in Markham, whose mayor, Frank Scarpitti, in a release touted the city’s low industrial/commercial property tax rate as an investment incentive. The JV plans upgrades to Allstate Corporate Centre’s lobbies and public spaces, plus sustainability initiatives.