iQ Offices Announce New Premium Workspace in Iconic Toronto Heritage Building

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2024--

iQ Offices, Canada’s largest independent Canadian-owned coworking operator, is set to debut their newest location in one of Toronto’s most impressive heritage buildings. This fall, the company will redefine what ‘workspace’ means - and most importantly, how it feels - when they open the doors to an immaculately reimagined 302 Bay Street.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240507564470/en/

King of Bay

Nestled in the heart of Toronto’s financial district at the intersection of King and Bay is this 14-storey heritage landmark. The storied office building debuted in 1917 and secured its Heritage designation in 1976. To this day, the building is revered for its exemplary “temple” style architecture, Art Deco motifs and majestic ground floor reception. 302 Bay is also loved for its expansive south, west, and east-facing windows, its direct connection to First Canadian Place and the PATH network, and its proximity to King and Union transit stations.

“For more than a century, 302 Bay has featured prominently in the core of Toronto’s global business hub - it has housed generations of teams, talent and ideas that effect change,” says Kane Willmott, Co-Founder & CEO, iQ Offices. “iQ’s reimagination of the full building will mark the next evolution of its iconography, and will uphold its identity as the premier destination for professionals to connect, create, and succeed in the modern workspace era - answering the call for what Canada’s top talent is looking for in their next office,” he adds.

iQ Offices’ renovation efforts, currently underway, are fusing technology and functional design, in partnership with leading architectural design firm Arcadis and heritage building preservation experts ERA Architects.

Coming Soon to 302 Bay

iQ Offices is refining all 14 floors, with thoughtfully-designed workspaces, including a rooftop terrace with exceptional city views. 302 Bay will also feature a host of modern amenities such as a games room, wellness rooms, and a hotel inspired ground floor lobby bar and lounge area. Versatile meeting rooms with video conferencing technology are available in both large and small formats, and personal phone booths are available throughout. Private offices are available on floors four through 14.

Style is part of the blueprint: contemporary design elements touch every fit and finish in this Heritage building’s 14 stories. iQ Offices is restoring the building's famed Grand Banking Hall, complete with a highly decorated plaster ceiling, tavernelle marble wall cladding, and an ornate spiral staircase leading to a mezzanine.

A New Era of Office Culture

iQ Offices counters the misconception that the office is dead; the coworking operator knows first-hand that outstanding spaces compel incredible work and innovation. “Today’s professional expects and deserves more from their workspace. Employers must curate workspaces that earn the commute of their teams, and that provide strong returns on office spend,” says Mr. Willmott.

“Our philosophy is that the modern office doesn’t need to be renovated, it must be revolutionized. With this outlook, we’re setting a new standard for what office culture can be.” Modern design, boutique-level service, and trusted privacy set iQ Offices apart from traditional coworking.

Secure Your Space

302 Bay will feature workspaces for teams of any size, ranging from 1 to 90 professionals. For a limited time, full-floor workspaces are available, which offer members the opportunity to customize their space.

Interested parties are encouraged to visit 302bay.com or contact Daragh Gregg at dgregg@iqoffices.com to learn more about reserving an office suite.

Renderings and exterior images of the building are available here.

About iQ Offices

Founded in 2012, iQ Offices designs and manages elevated private workspaces that enhance productivity, creativity, and collaboration. iQ Offices’ workspace solutions offer security, privacy, and technical and hospitable amenities, complete with on-site staff. They currently operate more than 3,200 desks across seven Canadian locations, in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, and will add their eighth location with the opening of 302 Bay Street in fall 2024.

Historic 302 Bay Street Home to All-New Flexible Workspace from iQ Offices (Photo: Business Wire)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without immediately elaborating.

Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Traveling with Raisi were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province and other officials, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.

Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition.

Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA called the area a "forest."

Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River. The visit came despite chilly relations between the two nations, including over a gun attack on Azerbaijan's Embassy in Tehran in 2023, and Azerbaijan's diplomatic relations with Israel, which Iran's Shiite theocracy views as its main enemy in the region.

Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Raisi, 63, is a hard-liner who formerly led the country’s judiciary. He is viewed as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some analysts have suggested he could replace the 85-year-old leader after his death or resignation from the role.

Raisi won Iran's 2021 presidential election, a vote that saw the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Raisi is sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Under Raisi, Iran now enriches uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels and hampers international inspections. Iran has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, as well as launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It also has continued arming proxy groups in the Mideast, like Yemen's Houthi rebels and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

FILE- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi places his hands on his heart as a gesture of respect to the crowd during the funeral ceremony of the victims of Wednesday's bomb explosion in the city of Kerman about 510 miles (820 kms) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Jan. 5, 2024. A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, May 19, 2024, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)