JLL Secures 811 KSF Office Lease for ExxonMobil Subsidiary in Calgary

 By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Imperial Oil, one of Calgary’s largest corporations and an ExxonMobil subsidiary, is moving its headquarters from downtown Calgary to a 20-acre site that will be developed in the Quarry Park submarket in the Canadian city’s southeast section.

Remington Development Corp., a privately-owned company in Alberta, will build the five-building campus for Imperial that will consist of 810,000 square feet of office space and support facilities.  The project will comply with LEED Gold building standards and will be developed in two phases beginning in 2014 and ending by 2016. The new space enables Imperial, a leader in Canada’s petroleum industry, to consolidate its operations at several downtown Calgary buildings.

“This move represents an opportunity for IOL to consolidate its offices in one location with additional space for expansion and create a great working environment for their people,” said Ronnie Deyo, executive vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle’s Office Tenant Representation Group from Houston, which secured the lease for the oil company.

Deyo headed the team, which also included Executive Vice President Garrold Parratt, Vice President Beau Bellow and Calgary-based Executive Vice President Andrew MacLachlan.

Paul Masschelin, senior vice president of finance and administration for Imperial, noted that the new space was important to the current and future needs of the firm which has “embarked on a decade-long period of substantial growth and expansion.”

“Remington Development’s plans include five new built-to-spec, state-of-the-art office properties as well as a hotel, fitness center, restaurants and other amenities that will be very attractive to employees and offer an opportunity to live, work and play in one location,” Deyo added.

The oil company’s plans were big news in Calgary, where Colliers International cited it as one of the most notable commercial real estate events in the downtown core during the third quarter.

“This move is significant in that it represents the first instance of a major energy company relocating outside of the downtown core,” researchers for Colliers International wrote in a third quarter market report for the downtown Calgary area.

“The rationale for this move is based on a number of objectives, such as Imperial Oil’s desire to mirror their suburban campus-style operations in the U.S., consolidate their staff into one location, reduce overall premises costs and own their own real estate, as they will in Quarry Park, as opposed to their current lease commitments downtown,” the Colliers International report stated.

Colliers International said the oil company’s move out of the central business district is good news for tenants that will be looking for large blocks of space in the next few years. The CRE firm also predicts it could “have a dampening effect on achievable rents” and may also spur other major energy companies to look outside the downtown core for some of their office needs.

Closer to home, the JLL Office Tenant Representation Group recently completed leases totaling more than 76,0000 square feet in Texas. JLL Managing Director Steve Thelen represented Pacific Union Financial, which leased 43,396 square feet of office space at 8900 Freeport in Irving, Texas. Hawkeye Communication renewed and expanded its lease at Quadrangle Office Tower at 2828 Routh St. in Dallas for a total of 33,000 square feet of space. Jones Lang LaSalle’s Executive VP Russell Cosby, Senior VP Brooke Armstrong and Associate Rachel Brown represented Hawkeye.