The Bay Centre in Victoria has been sold to a Toronto-based Standard Life Assurance Company real estate fund in what Avison Young said will “likely be one of the largest commercial real estate transactions in the province in 2015.”
The off-market sale of the 407,000-square-foot centre, a four-level enclosed regional mall on approximately three acres of land in the heart of the B.C.’s capital city commercial core, closed on February 11, 2015. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but local agents estimate the price in the $100 million to $105 million range.
In January of this year, Standard Life sold its Canadian business to Manulife for $2.2 billion. Technically, the Bay Centre is now owned by Manulife, explained Steve Smith, managing director, western region for Manulife Real Estate. “The Bay Centre deal would have been in the works for sometime,” Smith said.
The property was purchased by LaSalle Investment Management from Cadillac Fairview in May of 2010 for $90 million and has a current assessed value of $97.5 million, according to BC Assessments.
“This transaction is an indication of the faith placed in the future revitalization and long-term sustainability of Victoria’s downtown retail and commercial core,” said Avison Young principal Michael Gill who, along with Avison Young principal Bob Levine, represented the vendor in the transaction. “There are a lot of new highrise residential developments on the books for the area, and the new owners have a long-term view for the property involving improvements to the asset on several fronts.”
The vendors were LaSalle Investment Management and a member of the Westcliff Group of Companies.
The mall is anchored by The Bay on a long-term tenancy and includes such other notable tenants as Sport Chek, Coast Capital Savings, Goodlife Fitness and Earls Restaurants.
This transaction marks the second significant investment in Victoria’s downtown core following Bosa Development Corp.’s acquisition of the Fairmont Empress hotel in June 2014 for $40 million.
“There remains considerable interest in acquiring premium retail assets in irreplaceable locations,” said Gill. “There are virtually no opportunities to acquire three acres in the heart of a downtown in one of Canada’s top cities. This was one of those rare opportunities.”
