351 King Street East Awarded LEED® Gold

October 19, 2019

First Gulf and OPTrust are proud to announce that 351 King Street East, officially known as The Globe and Mail Centre, has been distinguished as LEED® Gold by the Canada Green Building Council. The award recognizes First Gulf and OPTrust’s commitment to sustainability and the environment both in the construction and the ongoing management of the base building.

The 500,000 sf landmark office building, a partnership between First Gulf and OPTrust – with support from Ecovert Sustainability Consultants – sits within a vibrant hub that is growing in the east end of Toronto’s downtown core. The Coca-Cola Canada headquarters at 333 King Street East was also developed by First Gulf, while construction is underway at The Shift – a 466,000 sf LEED®-Gold office building at 25 Ontario Street.

Brian Harrison, Executive Vice President of First Gulf, said: “This award not only recognizes First Gulf’s continued commitment to sustainability, but is testament to the hard work we put in to each and every project. We would like to thank Ecovert Sustainability Consultants for their effort, support and professionalism. The entire team take every single detail seriously to ensure we produce a building we would be proud to call home.”

First Gulf places an emphasis during construction on “green building”, whereby as much waste as possible is diverted from landfills, while chemicals and pollutants are managed and controlled. Some of the factors involved in achieving this award at 351 King Street East include:

Construction Waste Management & Recycled Content
Low-Emitting Materials
Chemical & Pollutant Source Control
Innovation in Design
Optimized Energy Performance
Green Cleaning
Bicycle storage & changing rooms

“As a pension management organization, it is critical that we find income-generating assets that provide stability and security for our members,” said Rob Douglas, Managing Director of Real Estate Investments at OPTrust. “For OPTrust, responsible investing lies in the recognition that environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors can present both challenges and opportunities that span across generations, and we are thrilled that our commitment to sustainability has been recognized in this development.”

Upon completion of the structure, which lists The Globe and Mail, Loyalty One and CIBC as key tenants, the Property Management Team have maintained the emphasis on sustainability by introducing “Green Cleaning”, a policy whereby products and equipment used meets the sustainability requirements, reducing the exposure of occupants and maintenance personnel to chemicals.

Meanwhile, the overall design of the building – including floor-to-ceiling windows, SMART building technology and bicycle storage facilities – ensures employees enjoy a healthy work environment with fresh air circulation and natural light, with tenants also benefitting from high energy savings in comparison to non-LEED office buildings.

"We congratulate First Gulf and OPTrust on the successful LEED Gold certification of 351 King Street East," said Mark Hutchinson, Vice President, Green Building Programs at Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). "It's heartening when companies align their corporate philosophy with LEED, the globally recognized standard for sustainability in the building industry. By certifying to LEED Gold, First Gulf and OP Trust demonstrates their commitment to creating a healthy, productive, and environmentally responsible work space for their tenants."

About First Gulf

First Gulf is an award-winning leader in the development of office, industrial, mixed-use and retail properties with developed assets of over $4 billion completed since the company’s inception in 1987. First Gulf is a fully integrated development company and is involved in all aspects of real estate development, from land acquisition and planning approvals to design-build, construction, leasing, financing and property management. To date, First Gulf has developed and constructed over 30 million sf of office, retail, and industrial real estate. First Gulf is part of the Great Gulf Group, one of North America’s premier real estate organizations. Established in 1975, with major projects in Canada and the United States, the Group’s fully-integrated activities span the entire real estate spectrum.

About OPTrust

With net assets of almost $20 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada's largest pension funds and administers the OPSEU Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan with almost 95,000 members and retirees. OPTrust was established to give plan members and the Government of Ontario an equal voice in the administration of the Plan and the investment of its assets through joint trusteeship. OPTrust is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, five of whom are appointed by OPSEU and five by the Government of Ontario.

About Canada Green Building Council

The Canada Green Building Council is a not-for-profit, national organization that has been working since 2002 to advance green building and sustainable community development practices in Canada. The CaGBC is the licence holder for the LEED green building rating system in Canada and supports the WELL Building Standard and GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) in Canada.

Together with our membership of over 1,200 industry organizations and more than 2,500 individual Chapter members involved in designing, building and operating buildings, homes and communities, the Council has made excellent inroads toward achieving our mission of reducing the environmental impact of the built environment.

Since 2005, these LEED buildings have eliminated 2,490,000 CO2e tonnes of GHG emissions annually, diverted nearly 3 million tonnes of waste from landfill, and saved 24 billion litres of water per year, benefiting all Canadians.