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LEFT: Fraser Milner
Casgrain (FMC) LLP’s
elevator banks on the
second-floor of the
firm’s new downtown
Toronto office.
FMC occupies floors 2 through 7 of the Royal Trust Tower, which stands 46 floors tall.
BELOW: A boardroom
in FMC’s new Toronto
office, which is located
near the subway line
and Union Station for
those who commute.
OFFICE SPACE
Big firms still opt to be downtown
MICHAEL BENEDICT
When a major national law firm recently
approached the end of its Toronto lease, it
faced a choice familiar to many home-owners—do we move, or do we stay and
renovate? Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC)
LLP decided to move, to renovated facilities
across the street. “We wanted a fresh feel,”
says Mike Kaplan, the firm’s Toronto managing partner.
FMC had for several decades enjoyed
panoramic views from mid-level offices in
First Canadian Place, one of the city’s toniest
skyscrapers that still houses several of the
country’s top firms. But since November,
FMC is closer to the ground, renting modern
offices in the equally prestigious Royal Trust
Tower. FMC believes that its new space on
the second through seventh floors better
reflects the firm’s corporate culture. “It’s cool
to be so low down with the sounds and views
of the street,” says Kaplan. “We feel much
more connected to the city.”
The move came at a time when there is
sufficient overall vacant urban office space
across the country to keep a lid on rents. The
Canadian market’s national 9. 9 per cent
vacancy rate is balanced between landlord
and tenant interests, a stability that is
expected to continue in the near future.
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