US medical tech firm Masimo opening major research hub in Vancouver

Artistic rendering of the updated design for the office building at 220 Prior Street, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Keltic Development)

Construction is now officially underway on a new 10-storey medical office tower next to the future St. Paul’s Hospital campus in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats.

The groundbreaking ceremony for 220 Prior Street — the southeast corner of the intersection of Prior Street and Station Street, just south of Chinatown — occurred on Monday, replacing a former warehouse site.

The project is being developed by Keltic Canada Development, which acquired the property for CA$25 million for the development opportunity.

Masimo, a global medical tech company based in Irvine, California, has been announced as the tenant that will occupy all 100,000 sq ft of the office building. It will be used as a clinical research and product development hub, along with ground-level retail/restaurant uses.

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Upon opening in the first half of 2025, this building on Prior Street will be the home base for 170 high-paying jobs with Masimo.

The company is known in the industry for its innovations in pulse oximetry, a non-invasive device for monitoring oxygen levels in a patient, as well as other equipment for monitoring other health signs. It has 8,000 employees worldwide.

The NASDAQ-traded firm recorded US$565 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2022 and is projecting revenue of up to US$2 billion for the full 2022 fiscal year.

masimo vancouver 220 prior street construction august 29 2022

August 29, 2022 construction groundbreaking for the Masimo building at 220 Prior Street, Vancouver. (Keltic Canada Development)

“We feel fortunate to be working with the City of Vancouver and Keltic Canada Development for our new Masimo building in Vancouver. We admire the City’s focus on fostering innovation and the number of highly skilled engineers and scientists that reside and are studying in British Columbia,” said Joe Kiani, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Masimo, in a statement.

“Innovation is in our DNA. We believe the future of the hospital recovery room is in the home. We look forward to working with our talented Vancouver team to continue to introduce cutting-edge technology in remote monitoring.”

Keltic Canada Development previously marketed this AAA-calibre medical office building as “Nexus,” under a rare strata office ownership opportunity.

The site is within short walking distance to SkyTrain Main Street-Science World Station and major bus routes, but more importantly, it is adjacent to the future St. Paul’s Hospital.

“Our team is thrilled to finally be breaking ground. We are excited to work with Masimo and to be a part of such a positive project for the medical industry in Vancouver,” said Rachel Li Lei, managing director and CEO of Keltic Canada Development.

“We are committed to strengthening and providing Canadians with facilities that promote a healthy standard of living within their communities.”

Existing condition of the site at 220 Prior Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

220 prior street vancouver st pauls aerial

Previous artistic rendering of Keltic Canada Development’s office building at 220 Prior Street in relation to the surrounding future St. Paul’s Hospital campus by Providence Healthcare. (Keltic Canada Development)

In addition to the scheduled 2027 opening of Providence Healthcare’s new $2.2 billion provincial-level hospital, which will replace St. Paul’s existing facility in downtown Vancouver’s West End, future phases of the campus will turn it into a major clinical and research hub.

In late 2021, Providence Healthcare signalled it is moving forward with the second phase of its St. Paul’s campus master plan of building several office buildings with a combined total floor area of 800,000 sq ft of clinical and research office space. Future phases will also add a major hotel, rental housing for hospital workers, and retail/restaurant space serving the campus.

The St. Paul’s campus alone spurred by Providence Healthcare will employ 10,000 people on-site upon full buildout, not including employment from off-site buildings like Masimo.

The hospital campus, along with the City’s 2017-approved False Creek Flats Plan, is spurring significant office demand in the vicinity.

Earlier this year, construction also began on a 13-storey tower with 270,000 sq ft of AAA-calibre office space to the south at 1296 Station Street — immediately adjacent to the SkyTrain station and Pacific Central Station. Slight changes were made to the building’s design to allow for the potential of medical-related tenants.

And this past July, Vancouver City Council approved the rezoning application for 456-496 Prior Street — immediately east of the future Masimo building. This mixed-use project will have about 250,000 sq ft of office space, 262 market rental homes, and retail/restaurant space.

st pauls hospital campus false creek flats 2021

2021 artistic rendering of the St. Paul’s Hospital campus in the False Creek Flats. (Providence Healthcare)

1296 station street vancouver false creek station office tower

Artistic rendering of the False Creek Station office tower at 1296 Station Street, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/GWL Realty Advisors)

456-496 Prior Street Vancouver Strand Development

Artistic rendering of 456-496 Prior Street, Vancouver. (Francl Architecture/Strand Development)

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