Primaris Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has inked a $270-million deal for Conestoga Mall, a 585,000-square-foot enclosed shopping centre in Waterloo, Ontario. Vendor, Ivanhoé Cambridge, is to receive $165 million in cash, $25 million in Primaris series A units and $80 million in exchangeable preferred units for a newly formed subsidiary limited partnership through the transaction, which is expected to close in July 2023.

Primaris will secure a regional mall on nearly 50 acres of land with convenient access to Kitchener-Waterloo’s light rail transit (LRT) system and in a growing urban area with a population of more than 500,000. The 45-year-old mall is currently 94 per cent occupied with HBC, Galaxy Cinema, Sport Chek, Indigo and H&M as large-format tenants. The mall’s 31 per cent site coverage also provides room for future infill development.

“Conestoga Mall is amongst the top 15 most productive malls in Canada and will be highly accretive to Primaris’ overall portfolio quality,” says Primaris REIT’s president and chief operating officer, Patrick Sullivan. “Our team is very excited to add Conestoga Mall to our property portfolio, with significant income growth potential consistent with the growth we see ahead for our existing assets.”

Primaris currently holds 10.9 million square feet of retail space valued at approximately $3.1 billion, and is unique among Canadian REITs for its sole focus on enclosed shopping centres. It’s now Canada’s third-largest mall owner-operator with stated intentions to expand its portfolio with additional “market leading” shopping centres.

“We are very pleased to have executed this transaction with Primaris REIT, given their commitment to continue to unlock the full potential of this established shopping mall in the Kitchener-Waterloo area,” says Annie Houle, Canadian head of Ivanhoé Cambridge.