Bentall Kennedy and Sun Life Financial add to their Montreal-based Real Estate Portfolio

They acquired 7250 and 7450 rue du Mile-End Office Buildings

MONTREAL, March 27, 2018 /CNW/ - Bentall Kennedy has announced the acquisition of two best-in-class office buildings from Mile-End Investments Inc. in Montreal's dynamic Mile End district, located at 7250 and 7450 rue du Mile End. This acquisition, made on behalf of Sun Life Financial, is well-positioned to serve a growing technology and innovation sector in the city, and the addition of both properties adds almost 400,000 square feet of office space to Sun Life Financial's portfolio in Quebec.

"This new acquisition is a testament to Sun Life Financial's continuing belief in Montreal's strong economy as a growing, desirable hub for innovation. It's well aligned with our strategy to acquire best-in-class assets with a long-term outlook" said Robert Dumas, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sun Life Financial Quebec. "The Mile End district specifically has a unique creative, out-of-the-box vibe. That's why we opened a new office for our employees on De Gaspé Avenue – where our IT innovation center is located – and deployed numerous initiatives to be part of this great community."

The Properties occupy a prime location at the border of the Mile Ex and Mile End neighborhoods in midtown Montreal and sit directly adjacent to the train station Parc providing a direct connection to downtown Montreal, and within walking distance of two Metro subway stations. Following extensive re-development, 7250 Mile End achieved LEED Silver certification in 2016 and BOMA Best Silver certification in 2017.

"Both properties boast outstanding location in a vibrant part of Montreal, and a tenant base that exemplifies the new economic opportunities for the technology sector in Montreal," said Phillip Gillin, Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager for Bentall Kennedy (Canada) Limited Partnership and Sun Life Investment Management. "This investment, combined with our acquisition of the L'Avenue retail office project adjacent to the Bell Centre, reflects our confidence in the growth and diversification of the Montreal economy."

About Bentall Kennedy
Bentall Kennedy, a Sun Life Investment Management company, is one of the largest global real estate investment advisors and one of North America's foremost providers of real estate services. Bentall Kennedy serves the interests of more than 550 institutional clients with expertise in office, retail, industrial and multi-residential assets throughout Canada and the U.S. Bentall Kennedy's Investment Management group has approximately $47 billion (CAD)/$37 billion (USD) of assets under management (as of December 31, 2017). Bentall Kennedy is one of the largest real estate services providers in Canada, managing 60 million square feet on behalf of third-party and investment management clients (as of December 31, 2017). Bentall Kennedy is a member of UN PRI and a recognized Responsible Property Investing leader ranked among the top firms around the globe in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) for the seventh consecutive year since GRESB was launched.

Bentall Kennedy includes Bentall Kennedy (Canada) Limited Partnership, Bentall Kennedy (U.S.) Limited Partnership and the real estate and commercial mortgage investment groups of certain of their affiliates, all of which comprise a team of real estate professionals spanning multiple legal entities. The assets under management shown above include real estate equity and mortgage investments of the companies within Bentall Kennedy.

For more information, visit www.bentallkennedy.com.

About Sun Life Financial
Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2017, Sun Life Financial had total assets under management ("AUM") of $975 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

Note to editors: All figures in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. 

Media Relations Contact:

Rahim Ladha
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Bentall Kennedy Group
Tel.: 416-986-9027
rladha@bentallkennedy.com

SOURCE Sun Life Financial Canada