Manulife announces $100 million redevelopment of Manulife Centre

Yorkville landmark will include the Eataly marketplace

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TORONTO, Sept. 20, 2016 /CNW/ - Manulife Real Estate today announced plans for a $100 million redevelopment of Manulife Centre, its premier mixed use complex in the heart of Toronto's Yorkville.  The project will add 35,000 square feet of new retail space with construction beginning early next year and an anticipated completion date of early 2019.

The Manulife Centre redevelopment will include a complete overhaul of the exterior of the Centre adding a glass façade and expanding the retail area.  There will be a reconfiguration of the interior space as well as the renovation of several of its key tenant spaces.

Manulife Centre will be home of Eataly: its first location in Canada.  The Centre currently has more than 40 shops, services and eateries including Cineplex, Bloor Street Market, Indigo, William Ashley, BMO, Bay Bloor Radio and Birks.  The retail hub is connected underground to the east-west Bloor subway line and the north-south Yonge subway line, providing year-round weather protected access.

"The transformation of this landmark property and the modernization at the corner of Bloor and Bay will build on the tremendous changes that are taking place in Yorkville," said Kevin Adolphe, President & Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Real Estate. "Manulife Centre will feature a premier shopping experience and offer some of the most exciting dining in the city. We're looking forward to bringing this to Toronto."

About Manulife Real Estate

Manulife has been investing in and managing direct core and core-plus real estate for more than 80 years. Operating as John Hancock Real Estate in the U.S. and Manulife Real Estate elsewhere, we proudly invest, own, develop and asset manage commercial real estate in major metropolitan cities across the globe. We leverage our fully integrated in-house capabilities to best serve our customers and investors while generating value for our stakeholders. Manulife Real Estate manages the space requirements and own use facilities for Manulife and John Hancock operations around the world. Manulife Real Estate is the global real estate arm of Manulife and is a unit of Manulife Asset Management Private Markets where we extend our unique asset management capabilities for the benefit of institutional investors. As at June 30, 2016, the Manulife Real Estate portfolio totaled more than 62 million square feet with an AUM market value of C$19.8 billion (US$15.2 billion). To find out how you can benefit from our unique approach to real estate please visit us at www.manuliferealestate.com.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group providing forward-thinking solutions to help people with their big financial decisions. We operate as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife elsewhere. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2015, we had approximately 34,000 employees, 63,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving 20 million customers. At the end of June 2016, we had $934 billion (US$718 billion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made more than $25.4 billion in benefits, interest and other payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 100 years. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong. Follow Manulife on Twitter @ManulifeNews or visit www.manulife.com or www.johnhancock.com.

SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation

Image with caption: "Manulife Centre Redevelopment Bloor Bay South East View (CNW Group/Manulife Financial Corporation)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160920_C6113_PHOTO_EN_777311.jpg

Image with caption: "Manulife Centre Redevelopment Bloor Balmuto South West View (CNW Group/Manulife Financial Corporation)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160920_C6113_PHOTO_EN_777313.jpg

Canadian Media Contact: Bev MacLean, Manulife Financial, 416-852-8501, [email protected], @ManulifeNews; U.S. Media Contact: Brian Carmichael, John Hancock Financial, 617-663-4748, [email protected]