The ownership of Mayfair shopping centre is on the verge of changing.
After attempts to sell all of the mall or shares of it over the last three years, Montreal-based Ivanhoe Cambridge has agreed on terms to sell the recently renovated shopping centre.
Ivanhoe Cambridge spokeswoman Gabrielle Meloche confirmed a deal has been reached and is expected to close in a few weeks.
“We announced in 2019 the beginning of a major portfolio pivot and reiterated last February when announcing our 2020 returns that this pivot would be accelerated, in order to create value for our depositors and make the assets of Quebecers grow,” Meloche said. “This pivot consists of reducing our footprint in overweight asset classes, including shopping centres and more traditional office buildings, and increasing our investments and presence in the residential and logistics sectors.”
No terms of the Mayfair deal have been made public.
Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate wing of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), has had the Victoria mall as well as Lower Mainland shopping centres Tsawwassen Mills and Guildford Centre on the market in recent years.
Last fall, Ivanhoe Cambridge chief executive Nathalie Palladitcheff told the Chamber of Commerce of Montreal the company had too many shopping centres, an asset class which had been a driving force from its start.
The Mayfair property, anchored by the Hudson Bay Co., Toys R Us, Sport Chek and Indigo, finished a $72 million renovation and expansion in 2019, and now has 522,391 square feet of gross leasable space and 2,042 parking spaces.
The 114-store mall was assessed at $242.6 million by the B.C. Assessment Authority in 2020. According to Ivanhoe Cambridge, in a typical year the mall sees 4.6 million visitors and sales volume of $192 million.
