Two of Canada's largest pension funds have opened Vancouver's tallest and greenest office tower, even as they try to scale back their office footprint in the British Columbia city.

Oxford Properties and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board this month opened the 37-floor building called The Stack at a time when many businesses are looking to lease the highest quality and best-located space to convince employees to return to offices. It could prove to be an important test of the going value of offices across Canada.

The 530-foot-tall Stack tower surpassed 3 Civic Plaza's 517 feet to become greater Vancouver's tallest office building. The building, designed by Vancouver-based architect James K.M. Cheng, is the first office building in Canada to achieve the Green Building Council's Zero Carbon Design certification, Oxford said in a statement.

The official opening of the 550,000-square-foot building at 1133 Melville St. comes as the pension funds are in the process of selling two other downtown Vancouver buildings that could be among the first big office deals since early last year in Canada's struggling office market.

Oxford Properties and CPPlB are looking to raise $350 million through the sale of 402 Dunsmuir St., a 152,290-square-foot building fully occupied by Amazon, and the 264,000-square-foot 401 W. Georgia St. Bloomberg News reported the plans to sell the buildings in June, citing people familiar with the matter.

The sale listing is part of a plan by the pension funds to manage their exposure to older and established buildings in Vancouver and focus on launching the Stack development, according to the news account.

Rising interest rates and higher borrowing costs, along with layoffs and a shift to remote work since the pandemic, have cut into office investment activity across North America.

"It’s a hugely important transaction, if it occurs," Ross Moore, senior vice president and managing broker at Cresa, who has followed the Vancouver office market for over 30 years, said in an interview. "The value of every other downtown building will be benchmarked against the possible sale price of those buildings."

Moore said it's not surprising that Oxford and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board would be looking to sell 401 W. Georgia St. and 402 Dunmuir to recycle capital as the Stack project opens.

"Almost every pension fund is looking at its portfolio and considering whether it should reduce its office exposure," Moore said. "They’ve obviously spent a considerable amount of money developing and building The Stack."

The buildings will eventually sell because almost every type of investor, from pension funds and other big institutional investors to foreign buyers from China, has looked to buy properties in Vancouver, Moore added.

"Downtown Vancouver is the most liquid real estate market in Canada and I would go so far as to say it’s one of the most liquid real estate markets in the world," he said. "It’s always been that way, even in the worst of times," he added.

Real estate professionals close to the bidding process told CoStar News that the pension funds have received unspecified bids for one or both of the properties.

Oxford Properties and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board did not respond to requests from CoStar News to comment on the sale listing.

The 530-foot-tall Stack tower was over 70% leased as it officially opened this month, CoStar data shows.

Investment bank Canaccord Genuity in August moved into 84,927 square feet on five floors, following Fluor Engineering’s move into 82,600 square feet across three floors in June.

Three other large tenants are moving into the building in the coming weeks, including Blake, Cassels & Graydon, one of Canada’s largest business law firms that leased about 80,630 square feet; global law firm DLA Piper, which leased 67,500 square feet and accounting giant Ernst & Young, which is taking just under 58,000 square feet.

Oxford Properties Vice President of Office Leasing and Operations Ted Mildon said the positive tenant response to the tower is evidence of the company's belief that "high-quality, highly sustainable office buildings in the best locations that are focused on the employee experience and wellness will continue to outperform."

"We have enjoyed enormous recent leasing success with The Stack," Mildon said in a statement. "We're seeing in cities across the globe that providing employees with a high-quality workplace experience has been an integral part of successful return-to-office programs for firms looking to unlock the benefits of in-person collaboration."

CoStar News Chief Canada Correspondent Garry Marr contributed.