Intercity Shopping Centre in Thunder Bay has been purchased by Leyad for an undisclosed sum. (Courtesy Leyad) Leyad has expanded its mall collection by acquiring the 456,430-square-foot Intercity Shopping Centre in Thunder Bay, Ont. from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) at an undisclosed price. Leyad president Henry Zavriyev mentioned to RENX that HOOPP viewed the mall as a non-core asset that it wanted to offload. Avison Young presented this acquisition opportunity to selected investor groups. This led to a bidding process and eventually resulted in Leyad making its second purchase from the pension plan. “It’s the dominant retail centre in northwestern Ontario,” said Zavriyev of Intercity. “Thunder Bay has all the demographics that we look for, which is good population growth, good economic prospects and a pretty consistent community.” The original strip mall was built at 1000 Fort William Rd. in 1982 but was demolished to make way for the current shopping centre in the 1990s.
Location and Features of Intercity
Intercity is bordered by the Harbour Expressway to the north, Fort William Road to the east, Isabel Street to the south and Memorial Avenue to the west. It offers over 2,000 parking spaces. The main entrance is accessible via several Thunder Bay Transit buses and is just a few blocks from Lake Superior shipping terminals. “It’s an essential piece of retail infrastructure for the community in a very high traffic commercial node in Thunder Bay,” said Zavriyev. “We’re very excited to reinvest in the mall and continue its legacy as the core retailer for that market.” The centre features 88 tenants, with major ones including Sport Chek, Marshalls, Fit4Less, Dollarama, Sephora and Bath & Body Works. The second floor hosts commercial space occupied by dental offices and insurance companies along with other service providers. “We like to have service offerings at our malls because we want them to be all-encompassing places where you can shop, find entertainment and get your needs met,” said Zavriyev.Leasing Plans and Future Growth
A large box space once used by Sears Canada has remained mostly vacant since it shut down ten years ago. Marshalls now occupies 26,000 square feet of this area while Leyad works on agreements with various new national and international retailers to redevelop and fill up what’s left. If we exclude this big box space, Intercity’s occupancy rate for commercial retail units stands at 94 percent. The average lease term is about 5.6 years. Leyad also plans on building a new Sport Chek location at this site expected to be completed by late summer. While there’s already a Sport Chek present at Intercity, Zavriyev noted that this new store will be larger with plans set for new tenants once it takes over that space. The company JD Sports will soon open its doors as another major tenant at Intercity according to Zavriyev. Additions like quick-service restaurant pads are set for development on an adjacent lot included in HOOPP’s acquisition deal. This redevelopment initiative aims not only to create jobs but also inject significant investment into Thunder Bay. Leyad will take over management responsibilities from Morguard for Intercity moving forward.Leyad’s Ongoing Growth Strategy
Basing its operations out of Montreal, Leyad is a privately owned real estate investment firm focused primarily on retail properties but also holds a substantial number of multi-residential assets along with seven industrial sites and two hotels across Canada. The company has been actively adding shopping centres throughout Canada over recent years; thus far this year they’ve enhanced their retail portfolio through purchases such as: a 387,000-square-foot portfolio consisting of seven single-tenant grocery stores leased to Loblaw Companies Ltd. located across British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Yukon Territory; Winnipeg’s extensive St. Vital Centre covering more than 900,000 square feet with 160 stores; and Lloyd Mall which spans more than 200,000 square feet containing 37 stores located in Lloydminster, Alta. Leyad continues searching for acquisitions similar to Intercity expecting another purchase announcement within weeks ahead. “We’re continuing our focus on necessity-based retail with stable cash flows,” explained Zavriyev. “That’s been our priority for three years.” “It wasn’t seen as appealing back in 2023 but I believe it’s now become one of today’s most sought-after asset classes among commercial real estate investors.” Necessity-driven real estate has shown remarkable resilience even amidst economic challenges.”Source link
