[URBAN NOTE] "Masonic Temple in Toronto sold to IT firm for $12.5M"

[rfmcdonald]

I don't have photos of Toronto's Masonic Temple anywhere in my Flickr account, but that lack shouldn't be taken to signify a lack of concern on my part as to what happens to the building. If, as the CBC suggests, the property is to be sold to a company that will keep the handsome building at Yonge and Davenport intact, well done. (I do have some concerns about the fate of MTV Canada, the company that used to own the building, but since I don't watch TV this is purely intellectual.)

Toronto's storied Masonic Temple has found a new owner in an Ontario-based technology consulting firm after Bell Media (TSX:BCE) decided to sell the former concert hall earlier this year.

Info-Tech Research Group says it has paid $12.5-million for the historic building, which was most recently home to MTV Canada and previously hosted famous rock bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

Info-Tech, which is headquartered in London, Ont., will renovate the downtown building to accommodate its Toronto satellite office.

Joel McLean, the company's president and CEO, says Info-Tech wanted a space that could house its employees, but also impress visitors from outside the country.

"We're consistently inviting company after company into Toronto (and) we wanted something that was spectacular to come see," he says.

[. . .]

McLean says he will maintain the spirit of the entertainment era with meeting rooms named after some of the more famous musicians that played the Temple. He also plans to decorate the space with memorabilia that harkens back to the building's rock star days.

The firm says it will also keep the main concert hall's design so that it can move out office desks for its annual black-tie charity rock concert. In 2014, it plans to host, with its clients, an unofficial opening night party for the Toronto International Film Festival.