A prominent general retail deal handled by TD Securities and CBRE and an industrial disposition arranged by Cushman & Wakefield are among the top first-quarter property sales recognized by CoStar for greater Toronto.
As big-ticket items involving sizable investments, commercial property transactions often have a wider impact within the local community.
Here are the property sales in the region selected as the first-quarter 2025 winners of the CoStar Power Broker Quarterly Deal Awards:
Sale Price:Ā $375,000,000
Sale Date:Ā January 31, 2025
Size:Ā 1,215,200 SF
Buyer:Ā Primaris REIT, Toronto, ON
Seller: Ivanhoé Cambridge, Montréal, QC
Brokers Involved:Ā Elliot Medoff, Ashley Martis, Jason Murison and Martha McIvor of TD Securities represented the seller. Hillel Abergel and Peter Senst of CBRE represented the buyer.
Deal Commentary:Ā Primaris, a Toronto-based real estate investment trust, kicked off the new year with a $585 million deal for two shopping malls, a move that comes after the landlord signaled it will continue its aggressive acquisition pace from last year. In the two-property transaction, Primaris REIT acquired a 50% stake in Southgate Centre in Edmonton for an allocated price of $210 million and a 100% interest in Oshawa Centre just east of Toronto for an allocated price of $375 million for a total valuation of $585 million consisting of a combination of cash and equity. The seller was Montreal-based IvanhoĆ© Cambridge, the real estate arm of the Caisse de dĆ©pĆ“t et placement du QuĆ©bec. “Southgate and Oshawa Centre are two market-leading regional enclosed shopping centres with all of the property characteristics Primaris is targeting with its growth strategy,” Patrick Sullivan, president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Both are located in large and growing markets, with access to mass transit, and with very strong sales volumes.
Sale Price:Ā $253,000,000
Sale Date:Ā March 27, 2025
Size:Ā 745,263 SF
Buyer:Ā Crestpoint Real Estate Investments, Toronto, ON
Seller:Ā Unilever, Toronto, ON
Brokers Involved:Ā Amir Nourbakhsh, Jesse Roth and Matthew Rakhit of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.
Deal Commentary:Ā In a significant sale-leaseback deal in the first quarter, Unilever sold its Brampton warehouse to Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. and an undisclosed institutional investor. Built in 2014 and fully leased to Unilever, the LEED Gold-certified property features a clear height of 36 feet, 105 truck-level doors, two drive-in doors, and ample parking for employees and trailers. The property is located near major highways, Toronto Pearson Airport, CN Railās Brampton Intermodal, and the rest of the Greater Toronto Area.
Sale Price:Ā $105,600,000
Sale Date:Ā February 24, 2025
Size:Ā 322,835 SF
Buyer:Ā Ministry of Infrastructure, Toronto, ON
Seller:Ā Dream Unlimited, Toronto, ON
Brokers Involved:Ā Ashley Martis, Elliot Medoff and Massimo Lorusso of TD Securities and Jaysen Smalley and Kai Tai Li of CBRE represented the seller.
Deal Commentary:Ā Major downtown Toronto landlord Dream Office REIT struck a deal in the first quarter to sell one of its key assets in Canada’s largest city to one of the building’s major tenants and use the sale proceeds to pay down debt. The Ministry of Infrastructure paid $105.6 million or $327.10 per square foot for the 22-storey tower. Dream said it secured agreements to relocate tenants occupying approximately 17,000 square feet in the building to other downtown Toronto buildings in its portfolio as part of the deal. Dream will also continue to manage the property.
Sale Price:Ā $100,000,000
Sale Date:Ā January 20, 2025
Size:Ā 399,992 SF
Buyer:Ā Groupe Montoni, Laval, QC
Seller:Ā Flynn, Mississauga, ON
Brokers Involved:Ā Scott Speirs of CBRE represented the seller.
Deal Commentary:Ā Flynn, one of the largest commercial roofing, glazing and cladding contractors in North America, sold a pair of industrial buildings to Groupe Montoni for approximately $252 per square foot in another notable sale-leaseback in the first quarter. Flynn will remain a tenant in the property.
Sale Price:Ā $91,000,000
Sale Date:Ā March 3, 2025
Size:Ā 470,000 SF
Buyer:Ā Sunray Group, Toronto, ON
Seller:Ā Lifetime Developments and INK Entertainment Group, Toronto, ON
Brokers Involved:Ā The Colliers Hotels Team of Alam Pirani, Robin McLuskie, Jessi Carrier, Hamir Bansal, Russell Beaudry and Fraser MacDonald represented both sides of the deal.
Deal Commentary:Ā Lifetime Developments and INK Entertainment Group sold this posh 96-room hotel located between King Street W and Wellington Street W, just two blocks north of Rogers Centre, to Sunray Group for approximately $947,917 per room in a top first-quarter deal. The price of furniture, fixtures and equipment was included, with the real estate value at $62,608,000. The Bisha hotel, which was previously operating under Loews Hotels, will be rebranded to join Marriottās exclusive Luxury Collection. INK Entertainment will continue to operate the food and beverage businesses at Bisha.
Source CoStar. Click here for the full story.