Office Space: $64 per square foot for Victorian grandeur in the historic Flatiron Building
ADDRESS: 49 Wellington Street East
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Church-Yonge Corridor
AGENT: Cushman and Wakefield
PRICE: $64 gross rent per square foot
THE PLACE: Stained glass windows, sumptuous hardwood floors, ominous vaults and the city’s first manually operated Otis elevator: the nearby bank towers seem so vanilla next to this historic red-brick building. Every space is rich with architectural detail, but each floor is somewhat unique: the first level, for example, offers fireplaces in nearly every office, while the fifth floor has gorgeous exposed rafters and a stunning view of St. Lawrence Market.
THE STORY: George Gooderham put up the wedge-shaped, David Roberts Jr.–designed building in 1892 to house the headquarters of his booming distillery business, Gooderham and Worts. The Flatiron cost $18,000 to construct, making it the most expensive office building in Toronto at the time, and was finished in 1892, a full 10 years before that other, more famous Flatiron building in New York City. Theirs might be showier, but hey, we got there first.
THE IDEAL TENANT: Lawyers and accountants have both come knocking, but the late Victorian architecture is really more suitable for someone who wears a top hat and carries a cane to work. So basically, Scrooge McDuck or Rich Uncle Pennybags.
THE DETAILS: • 16,000 square feet • 120 years of history • $64 per square foot • 12-foot ceilings • 5 floors • 1 original Otis elevator • 1 elevator operator/concierge named Henry
