Optimum Financial Group has spent $35.2 million to acquire 2200 McGill College Ave. in downtown Montreal from iA Financial Group for its new global headquarters.

Completed in 1990, the six-storey building has 126,612 square feet of space, about 100,000 square feet of which is office, and is LEED Gold certified. 

It’s at the corner of McGill College and Sherbrooke St., across the street from McGill University’s Roddick Gates and overlooking Mount Royal.

Optimum currently occupies rented quarters at 425 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W. in downtown Montreal for its head office and Quebec employees. The company also has smaller offices throughout Canada.

The building’s strategic location figured prominently in Optimum’s decision to buy, says Paul Tremblay, executive vice-president of Optimum.

“It’s very well situated and offers really good views of Mount Royal. It’s also linked - and this was part of our criteria - to the metro and REM.”

Optimum sought office to accommodate growth

The building has direct underground access to Place Montreal Trust, the McGill metro station and the McGill REM station, which is scheduled to open next month as the region's light-rail system expands its network.

“All the transport is there directly below the building, and we also have parking” to the tune of 125 underground parking spots. 

Optimum was looking for a building that could accommodate its growth for the coming years “and a building that was essentially our own,” says Benoît Lapointe, Optimum’s senior vice-president, legal and corporate affairs and general secretary.

A building of its size “is at a human scale for our employees and we thought that was best for us,” he says. “A six-storey building was perfect for us.”

“We didn’t want a 200,000-square-foot building and have to manage rentals of office space,” Tremblay adds.

The transaction with iA

The transaction with iA was six months in the making and was handled directly by the two firms. “We know each other and have had longtime business dealings,” Tremblay says.

Quebec City-based iA had offices in the building but most of the office space is now vacant. The building has ground floor commercial space including longtime tenant Paragraphe Books.

About 500 Optimum employees will work in 2200 McGill College and the company will likely occupy all the office space, Tremblay says.

The company has yet to decide when it will move into the building. A layout redesign is necessary before the move can be made, but otherwise the building is in very good shape, he says.

2200 McGill College is much smaller than other office buildings on the street. However, Tremblay strongly doubts it would be possible to expand the building given restrictions on building heights due its proximity to the mountain. 

Tremblay says plans by the City of Montreal to build Place Oscar Peterson on McGill College between Ste. Catherine St. and de Maisonneuve are a plus but did not figure in the company’s decision to buy the building. “The criteria were really the quality of the building, its location, and its size.”

Construction of the public square named for the late jazz great will begin next year. 

About Optimum Financial Group

Founded in 1969, privately-owned Optimum Financial Group is active in actuarial consulting, global asset management, general insurance, information technology, life insurance, life reinsurance and real estate. 

The Group has over 700 employees within diverse subsidiaries operating in 20 business places in Canada, the United States and in France. Its revenues are just under $1.4 billion, with assets under management of $8.4 billion and total assets exceeding $6 billion.

Optimum’s real estate division has assets in Canada, the U.S., France and the Caribbean.

In the U.S., the company manages a building in Texas, where the head office of Optimum Re Insurance Company is located, as well as a property and land in Florida.

In France, Optifranc S.A.S. mainly owns a building in the 8th district of Paris where Optimum’s offices are located. 

Subsidiary Norbec S.A.S. owns the Domaine du Tremblay in Normandie and another subsidiary, Optimum Caraïbes S.A.S., owns seven luxury villas on the island of Saint-Martin available for rent.