Amancio Ortega, the billionaire founder of global clothing chain, Zara is set to purchase Toronto’s Royal Bank Plaza sky scrapper from two Canadian pension funds for the sum of $1.2 billion.
The current owners of the building, Oxford properties group and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board in September last year had hired RBC Capital Market to explore a potential sale.
The sale seemed to have been prompted by the issues that arose on the value of office properties since the Covid-19 pandemic, which made remote work the preferred working situation not just in the country but all over the world.
However, this purchase has shown that the billionaire’s faith hasn’t shaken in commercial real estate.
Ortega whose net worth stands at about $66.7 billion and is currently the 17th richest person in the world in addition to his ongoing purchase of the Royal Bank Plaza is already engaged in a buying spree of North American Assets, which includes a Hotel in Chicago and office buildings in Seattle that was being leased by Amazon.
About the Royal Bank Plaza
Royal Bank Plaza ranks as one of the most high-profile office buildings in Canada. It is a landmark in Toronto’s financial district, built as an office complex in the late 1970s and is home to leading banks including the Royal Bank of Canada.
It is also home to law firms and technology companies and covers some 1.5 million square feet across two towers. Its two triangular towers boast layers of 24-carat gold on their 14,000 windows, a sight that’s rarely missed by visitors to the city thanks to its location at the foot of Bay Street. It is Indeed Canada’s answer to Wall Street.
