Algonquin Power is moving its head office from Oakville to Chicago

The six-storey glass building beside the Oakville GO station, the one with the Algonquin and Liberty signs near the roofline, is losing its headline tenant. Algonquin Power & Utilities is moving its head office from 354 Davis Road to Chicago.

The reason is where the company's business now sits. After selling its renewable energy division, Algonquin runs mainly as a regulated utility, with more than 80 per cent of its operations in the United States and under five per cent in Canada. Putting the head office next to that base, the company says, simplifies its corporate structure, cuts cross-border tax inefficiencies and improves access to U.S. capital markets.

What happens to the Oakville building is the open question. Algonquin has not said how much of the roughly 150,000 square feet it occupies, how many people work there, or whether any of them are relocating. It owns the property indirectly through subsidiaries and has said nothing about a sale, a redevelopment, or leasing the space to someone else. It has not named its future Chicago address either. The company says it will keep a significant Canadian presence.

The timing matters for the rest of Midtown Oakville, an area the town has planned for transit-oriented growth. CBRE put Oakville's office vacancy rate at 13.2 per cent in the second quarter, with 480,500 square feet already available. How much space Algonquin gives back, and when it lands on the market, will decide whether the move affects anything past the building itself.