Ivanhoé Cambridge has sold Vancouver’s Oakridge Centre to QuadReal Property Group but terms of the deal are not being released, QuadReal announced January 25.
QuadReal has selected Vancouver developer Westbank to partner on a potential Oakridge redevelopment. Some of Westbank’s best-known local projects include the Woodwards redevelopment, the Fairmont Pacific Rim, Telus Garden and Vancouver House.
QuadReal is owned by Vancouver’s British Columbia Investment Management Corp. while Ivanhoé Cambridge is owned by Quebec’s Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
This is the second time that a major institutional investor has sold a stake in a Vancouver mall in as many weeks.
Cadillac Fairview, which is owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, announced January 20 that it is selling a 50 per cent stake in Pacific Centre to the Ontario Pension Board and Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. That transaction also involved 12 office properties.
“Ivanhoé Cambridge’s divesting of this property could be a smart move as there is considerable redevelopment potential for the site. QuadReal Property Group is buying one of Canada’s top malls,” said retail analyst and Retail Insider Media owner Craig Patterson.
Oakridge is B.C.’s 15th-largest shopping centre, boasting more than 580,000 square feet of retail lease space.
Oakridge has been subject to redevelopment talks for most of the past decade. Ivanhoé Cambridge most recently scaled back plans for a $1.5 billion redevelopment in January 2016.
“The opportunity to acquire a flagship retail property and development project of such quality is rare,” said Remco Daal, president of QuadReal’s Canadian real estate division.
“Retailers and their customers gravitate to the best locations, and Oakridge perfectly fits this profile,” he said.
