The Union Station office node is seeing the same average asking rents for Class-A space as King and Bay ($65/SF), according to a new map from CBRE, the first of its kind in Canada. “The rent spread has narrowed,” managing director Werner Dietl tells us, noting the same map five years ago would have looked vastly different. “The reliance on Union as a hub hadn’t yet materialized.” The emergence of South Core and its array of new office product played a big role in driving up asking rents, he points out. “It'll be interesting to see what it might look like next year and beyond.”
The transit map, inspired by similar maps for residential properties in Berlin and London, was developed in response to CBRE client inquiries, Werner explains. “They’re looking at how to attract talent in an urban context, and what it’s going to cost to seek new premises adjacent to a subway or streetcar stop.” The map shows average asking rents for renovated-converted offices (aka brick-and-beam) on King East ($37) are higher than on King West ($35), both nodes along a streetcar line. “That's largely because of a blossoming of supply in the east end,” Werner says.
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