- What Heartland Mutual Insurance acquired 590 Riverbend Drive in Kitchener, Ont.
- Why Cushman & Wakefield led the deal, which closed in late May
- What next Definity Financial will lease back one floor for a year
An office complex in Kitchener, Ont., has traded for $22.6m in the region’s second-largest office deal in a year, Green Street News can reveal.
Heartland Mutual Insurance acquired 590 Riverbend Drive from Definity Financial. Cushman & Wakefield led the deal, which closed in late May.
The valuation for the 105,000 sq ft complex, which comprises a five-storey office building and a six-storey parking garage, is $216/sq ft. It was listed unpriced in 2024, but guidance landed in the mid-$20m range.
The sale of 590 Riverbend Drive is the second-largest office transaction in the Kitchener-Waterloo region in a year. It’s surpassed only by Northfield Park Office Campus, which traded for $76.7m in February, according to Green Street’s Sales Comps Database.
Smaller office assets have continued to trade in the meantime, with 209 Frobisher Drive changing hands for $10.1m earlier this month, and 630 Weber Street North selling for $11.7m in October.
Definity has entered into a one-year lease-back agreement for one floor of the office building. Short-term, Heartland will occupy 50% of the property and lease out the remainder, with long-term plans to grow into the full space.
The office space was purpose-built for Economical Insurance, a subsidiary of Definity, in 2000. The parking garage was completed in 2014. Capital improvements since 2017 include renovations of the cafeteria and washrooms and the replacement of the roof.
The complex has a gym, locker room and bike storage. There are 537 parking stalls.
On over 3 acres, the building is 220m from Conestoga Parkway, 3km from Kitchener GO Station and 4km from Conestoga Mall. Highway 401 is 12km from the complex.
The office vacancy rate in Kitchener was 25.2% in Q1, Cushman & Wakefield said in a recent report, slightly above the Waterloo Region average of 22.7%.
Definity is the parent company of several Canadian insurance providers, including Economical Insurance and Sonnet Insurance. Rowan Saunders is president and chief executive of the firm, headquartered in Waterloo.
Heartland Mutual Insurance is a Waterloo-based insurance company. Louis Durocher is president and chief executive.
