Mall could be that special gift

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This article was published 06/12/2010 (5607 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Looking for something different for that someone on your Christmas list who already has everything? How about a shopping centre?

The Northgate Shopping Centre on McPhillips Street is available for a mere $19.25 million. And it comes with an eight-screen movie-theatre complex (Cinema City Northgate). How cool is that?

Or if you really want to splurge, how about a portfolio of three commercial properties that’s on the market for $29.2 million. It includes a movie theatre complex (Cinema City McGillivray) and a 375-stall, downtown parkade that’s within shouting distance of Portage and Main.

These are just two notable examples of investment properties that are for sale right now in Winnipeg. Local brokers say there continues to be a strong demand for investment properties, with the demand often outstripping the supply.

“There seems to be an abundance of buyers out there,” said Ken Yee, senior executive vice-president of the Winnipeg office of Cushman & Wakefield, and one of the listing agents for the Northgate Shopping Centre.

Yee said demand is coming from both local and out-of-town investors, and it’s showing no signs of abating. He said he attended a national real estate forum in Toronto last week and encountered a lot of people who wanted to know more about investment opportunities in Winnipeg.

Don White, an investment broker with Colliers Pratt McGarry in Winnipeg and chairman of the Commercial Division of the WinnipegREALTORS, agreed it’s a good time to be selling good-quality investment properties.

He said he’s also fielding inquiries from both local and out-of-province investors.

Here are a few more details about these two investment opportunities, as well as a third property that’s for sale in one of the city’s hottest retail hubs — the Polo Park area:

 

Northgate Shopping Centre:

This 230,314-square-foot enclosed mall was built in 1962 on a 16-acre site on the southeast corner of McPhillips Street and Dafoe Boulevard.

The mall boasts an occupancy rate of 98 per cent, with a well-balanced mix of national, regional and local retailers. The anchor tenants are a 118,260-square-foot, recently renovated Zellers store and a 27,212-square-foot Cinema City which specializes in second-run movies.

The shopping centre is owned on a 50-50 basis by Cineplex Entertainment, which acquired the theatre and a half share in the shopping centre from the Edmonton-based Cinema City discount theatre chain in 2007, and Huntingdon Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), which acquired its share of the mall in 2005. Besides the tenants in the mall, there are two stand-alone retail tenants on the property — a gas station and a car wash.

Asked why the owners are selling, Yee said, “Each party has a different motivation. But ultimately they just think there is a window of opportunity now… to get a good sale price.”

He said the property has been on the market for less than a month, and he’s fielded inquiries from a number of prospective buyers.

“We’ve got a nice range of potential buyers. I think we’re going to get some (sales) activity on it right away.”

 

The Investment Portfolio:

White said the portfolio includes the 375-stall Garry Street Parkade, the 12-screen Cinema City theatre near Kenaston and McGillivray boulevards, and a single-tenant, 50,000-square-foot industrial building in St. Boniface Industrial Park.

White said the portfolio is owned by a partnership of local investors — he wouldn’t say how many — who also see this as a good time to sell.

He said they’ve made improvements to the parkade in recent years.

The parkade also has a small, street-level, lunch-counter restaurant which earlier this year became a Caribbean restaurant (Famena’s Famous Roti/Curry). Prior to that, it was a Bavarian diner — Kraut King.

White said the portfolio has also been on the market for about a month, and “the marketing is progressing very well.”

 

Mark’s Work Warehouse, 616 St. James St.:

Ken Yee and fellow Cushman and Wakefield agent Michelle Constant are also the listing agents for this property, which is listed at just under $3.78 million.

It is owned by a local developer and leased to the Mark’s Work Warehouse retail chain.

Yee said it’s the same story here as with the other two: “The owner thinks it’s a good time to sell.”

He said the 12,500-square-foot building, which is located across the street from the Polo Park Shopping Centre, was built in 1998. The lot is 0.8 acres in size and includes 40 parking stalls.

Mark’s Work Warehouse has been the sole tenant from the outset, and its lease contains options for renewal. Yee said even if the clothing retailer were to leave, “there will be somebody else right in line for it. Location, visibility, access — it has everything.”

 

Know of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local office, retail, or industrial real estate sectors? Let real estate reporter Murray McNeill know at the email address below, or at 697-7254.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca