WINNIPEG – Kildonan Place shopping centre is being sold.
Ivanhoe Cambridge and Sears Canada announced Wednesday morning that the north Winnipeg mall is being sold to H&R Real Estate Investment Trust.
The mall is being sold for $138.5 million. The sale is expected to close on Sept. 17, a news release said.
Ivanhoe Cambridge plans to use the money from the sale to strengthen its retail portfolio elsewhere, including investing in its Outlet Collection malls, one of which is scheduled to open near the Winnipeg Ikea in 2017.
READ MORE: Massive Outlet Collection retail development coming to Winnipeg
Sears will continue to operate as usual with the same staff at Kildonan Place, a Sears official said.
Retail experts are calling the sale rare.
“You look at a well managed mall…They don’t easily change hands,” said Fang Wan, a marketing professor at the University of Manitoba.
She said the new owner should try to make the mall stand out instead of trying to compete with destination shopping sites such as Polo Park.
“(They should) really rigorously try to find out a competitive niche so that the Kildonan mall can create something different,” said Wan.
While primarily an eastern Canada company, H&R Real Estate Investment Trust is no stranger to the retail market in Winnipeg.
The company already owns Garden City Square and Grant Park Shopping Centre.
Grant Park is in the middle of a massive facelift with new flooring, ceiling and seating being installed.
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