Loblaw, Choice and the Gardens
Loblaw had acquired ownership of the then-Maple Leaf Gardens for $12 million in 2004, according to reports at the time. After years of delays and planning, it open the redesigned retail portion of the building in 2011, including its flagship Loblaws retail store which retains a number of features from the former arena.
The Mattamy Athletic Centre, which now hosts the university’s sports teams as well as other events, was developed at the same time above the retail portion of the building.
The project was valued at about $60 million.
Loblaw spun out its real estate holdings into Choice Properties REIT in 2018.
Portfolio fully occupied
The three-building portfolio is 100 per cent leased for 15-plus years and is backed by Loblaw’s and Shoppers’ investment-grade credit parent company, Loblaw Companies Limited.
Crestpoint, on behalf of the Crestpoint Core Plus Real Estate Strategy (its open-end fund), entered into this joint venture transaction with Choice Properties (CHP.UN-T), Canada’s largest REIT with over 700 properties valued at $16.7 billion and a market cap of ~$10.6 billion.
The closing of this acquisition brings Crestpoint’s total assets under management to $10.4 billion and 38.3 million square feet.
Crestpoint is a commercial real estate investment manager dedicated to providing investors with direct access to a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate assets. It is part of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, a multi-boutique asset management company that provides investment management products and services to institutional and high net-worth clients.
With offices in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and India, Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group and its affiliates collectively manage approximately $133 billion in assets.
Source Renx.ca. Click here for the full story.
