Shopify leaving Elgin Street HQ, search for new tenants underway

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“The broker has contacted us to let us know it’s in the market,” Hamilton said of the Shopify office at 150 Elgin.

A Shopify spokesperson later confirmed that the company is subleasing the space.

Hamilton says the broker has just begun the process of compiling a list of potential tenants to take over the Shopify lease, which expires in 2026.

“As a huge block of space in the heart of our city center,” Hamilton said, the federal government or Crown Corporation would naturally fit the office. But it could also attract other companies, particularly in the high-tech sector, that are looking to move into downtown Ottawa either from other parts of the city or from other markets, possibly outside of Canada, he said.

“It’s an esoteric space and by that I mean it’s really designed to be kind of avant-garde, unconventional, and appealing to this dynamic, young, tech crowd,” Hamilton said. Leaving Shopify “creates an opportunity with market space for people who are caught up by tight inventory to be able to come here and explore and expand into Ottawa.”

Shopify also maintains office space at 234 Laurier Ave. W.

A company spokesperson said the office would be “reimagining our digital mentality by default.”