TORONTO-Manulife Financial bought a 12-story office building in the downtown here for $81 million. The 266,000-square-foot property is at 100 University Ave., at the corner of University Avenue and King Street West, with the St. Andrew subway station door at the base of the building.

Kevin Adolphe, COO with Manulife, called the building, which was renovated in 1996, a suburb asset. “We are optimistic about the possibilities in Toronto and other key markets as we continue to look for core office and industrial property investments across Canada, the United States and Asia,” he said in a statement.

The name of the seller and the occupancy rate was not released. Tenants at the building include the German-language school Goethe-Institut Toronto, First National Financial LP and Computershare Trust Co. of Canada. Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group was the broker on the transaction.

The company has about $1.5 billion in holdings in Toronto, the largest amount it has in any city. These assets include 25 office and industrial properties throughout the Greater Toronto Area, such as the landmark Manulife Centre in the city’s Bloor-Yorkville district.

The purchase comes one month after Manulife bought Market Center, a 770,000-square-foot office complex in San Francisco. As of June 30, the firm’s real estate portfolio totals 29 million square feet with a value of $5.7 billion.