Mile-Ex | Canderel is divesting its AI campus

Less than two years after having exposed to The Press its artificial intelligence (AI) campus project, Montreal promoter Canderel has sold two of its three buildings in the Mile-Ex district in recent months.

Andre Dubuc
The Press

Canderel sold 6600 Saint-Urbain for 26.5 million to a private investor on June 28.

Canderel had become the owner of the asset in August 2020. He had paid 18 million to acquire the 5-storey, 14,600 m building.² (157,000 sq.ft.²) built in 1965. The building is the neighbor of the O Mile-Ex complex, which houses a large concentration of AI researchers with the Quebec Institute of Artificial Intelligence (MILA) and the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO ).

The master of the premises had undertaken renovation work at 6600, rue Saint-Urbain worth more than 10 million: facade, entrance hall, corridors, toilets, elevators and mechanical systems. He had also fitted out turnkey offices called Pronto, offered on terms of 3, 6 or 12 months.

In an interview, its president Brett Miller denies having changed his mind about the neighborhood.

“We put the asset on the right track,” he says. We finished the renovations we had discussed together. We had good success with the Pronto all-inclusive desks. We managed to get good rental rates in this building. »

It was impossible to reach the buyer to obtain his version of the transaction.

Second disposal in 2022

6600 rue Saint-Urbain was Canderel’s third asset in the district, along with 6795 rue Marconi and 155 rue Beaubien Ouest.

In December 2020, Mr. Miller explained to The Press Canderel’s strategy of wanting to accompany its tenants step by step, at the rate of their growth: from the start-up stage, at 6600, rue Saint-Urbain, to the status of a large company for those opting for 6795, rue Marconi, there where Microsoft’s AI team is.

However, Canderel also sold 6795, rue Marconi for 51 million last March. He had owned it since March 2018 in partnership with Stephen Bronfman’s family’s Claridge company. The building paid $4.55 million, which has since been expanded to 100,000 sq.² and renovated from the ground up, hosts Microsoft’s AI team on 32,000 sq.² and workers at IVADO Labs. The acquirer is Netease Games, a Chinese video game developer, which occupies 30,000 sq.².

“We had almost 30,000 sq.² [2800 m²] For rent. We were in discussions with a potential tenant and the tenant decided to buy the building instead of renting the spaces. »

In July 2019, the company founded by Jonathan Weiner had bought, also from Olymbec, for 13.85 million 155, rue Beaubien Ouest, where Canderel has plans to develop up to 500,000 sq.ft.² of offices. The company still owns it.