/EINPresswire.com/ -- TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Sep 21, 2017) - Allied Properties REIT (TSX:AP.UN) and Westbank today announced plans to proceed with the development of 19 Duncan Street in Toronto (the "Property"). Allied and Westbank have pre-leased the office space in the development, but will not lease the rental-residential space until construction is completed, which is scheduled for early 2021.

19 Duncan Street, Toronto

The development site for the Property includes 24,803 square feet of land with 111 feet of frontage on Duncan and 250 feet of frontage on Adelaide West. It includes a heritage structure that is comprised of 62,000 square feet of GLA.

Allied and Westbank plan to construct a new structure on the Property and integrate it with the heritage structure. The integrated structures will be comprised of approximately 146,000 square feet of office GLA, 21,000 square feet of retail GLA and 462 rental-residential units. The integrated structure has been designed to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) CS (Core & Shell) Gold standard. Construction is expected to commence this year.

Each of Allied and Westbank owns an undivided 50% interest in the Property. On completion, which is scheduled for early 2021, Allied will manage the office and retail components of the Property and Westbank will manage the residential component.

"This development will integrate a heritage building with a new, high-rise structure, a format that has proven to be an economically and socially successful form of city building," said Michael Emory, President & CEO of Allied. "We're particularly delighted to be working with Westbank in providing distinctive urban workspace and high quality rental-residential accommodation in the heart of Downtown Toronto."

Cautionary Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements with respect to Allied, its operations, strategy, financial performance and condition. These statements generally can be identified by use of forward looking words such as "may", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intends", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The actual results and performance of Allied discussed herein could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations, including that the transactions contemplated herein are completed. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among other things, general economic and market factors, competition, changes in government regulations and the factors described under "Risk Factors" in Allied's Annual Information Form, which is available at www.sedar.com. These cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to Allied and persons acting on Allied's behalf. Unless otherwise stated, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and the parties have no obligation to update such statements.

About Allied

Allied is a leading owner, manager and developer of distinctive urban workspace in Canada's major cities. Its objectives are to provide stable and growing cash distributions to unitholders and to maximize unitholder value through effective management and accretive portfolio growth.

About Westbank

Established in 1992, with over $25 billion of projects completed or under development, Westbank is active across Canada and the United States with luxury residential, rental apartments, affordable housing, office, retail, and hotels. The main focus of the practice is large mixed-use projects with particular emphasis on architectural and design excellence and sustainability. Westbank has over six million square feet of LEED Platinum projects under development. The goal of the firm is to create a body of work that is improving the communities it practices in while incorporating a high degree of artistry.