Lululemon to open 120,000-sq-ft new office in downtown Vancouver

Lululemon to open new 120,000-sq-ft office in downtown Vancouver

The Offices at Burrard Place in downtown Vancouver nearing completion in July 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Lululemon has leased about 120,000 sq ft of office space within the newly built Burrard Place office building, making it one of the largest office lease deals in downtown Vancouver since the pandemic began.

The announcement was made today by local developer Reliance Properties. Lululemon will occupy nine of the 10 office floors in the 2021-completed The Offices at Burrard Place building at 1280 Burrard Street — located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Drake Street and Burrard Street.

“This transaction signals that large firms are committed to office space, which changes the pervasive pandemic narrative that cast into doubt the need for office space,” said Blair Quinn, vice chairman of CBRE, the company that brokered the transaction.

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The premium AAA-calibre office building has enough space to accommodate up to roughly 1,000 workers.

Office workers will also have access to 30,000 sq ft of shared luxury amenities — including a full-length swimming pool, fitness gym, and lounge areas — at the base of the adjacent new One Burrard Place, a 54-storey condominium tower that is part of the multi-building Burrard Place complex. To access the amenities, Lululemon employees can walk across a fully enclosed glass pedestrian bridge over the complex’s laneway. One Burrard Place is the third tallest building downtown.

The building’s lower levels will also entail a new replacement Jim Pattison Toyota dealership within 35,000 sq ft, and a minor restaurant unit of about 1,500 sq ft. The remaining office floor is leased to Harrison Healthcare.

the offices at burrard place 1280 burrard street vancouver

The Offices at Burrard Place in downtown Vancouver. (Reliance Properties)

Construction on the building first began in 2018, when there was an immense office space shortage for large companies. It was one of the last building designs influenced by late architect Bing Thom.

“In our 60-year history, this is our first office development from the ground up, so to sign a global homegrown brand like Lululemon is a real win,” said Jon Stovell, president and CEO of Reliance Properties.

Lululemon has four office locations in Vancouver that together form its locally based global headquarters, including a smaller office at the 1980s-built Anchor Point complex immediately to the south of Burrard Place, and the main headquarters office building at 1818 Cornwall Street near the south end of the Burrard Street Bridge in Kitsilano.

In January 2020, Vancouver City Council approved Lululemon’s rezoning application to build a new purpose-designed headquarters building at 1980 Foley Street (on Great Northern Way) in the False Creek Flats. The 13-storey office building on a 2.7-acre lot would contain nearly 600,000 sq ft of space, serving to consolidate the 2,000 office workers at all existing Vancouver office locations into a single hub. There would also be enough space to eventually grow to up to 4,000 office workers as the company expands its operations.

lululemon headquarters 1980 foley street vancouver january 2020

January 2020 artistic rendering of the new Lululemon headquarters office building at 1980 Foley Street, Vancouver. (Morphosis Architects/Francl Architecture/Brook Pooni & Associates/Lululemon)

1980 Foley Street vancouver lululemon headquarters

Site plan of the new Lululemon headquarters office at 1980 Foley Street, Vancouver. (Morphosis Architects/Francl Architecture/Brook Pooni & Associates/Llululemon)

It is not immediately clear whether the new Burrard Place office location affects Lululemon’s existing office locations or its plans to build the new False Creek Flats office building. The company has yet to submit a development permit application for the project.

Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to Lululemon for comment.

The existing Lululemon Atheltica headquarters office location at 1818 Cornwall Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

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