Partners Real Estate Investment Trust has completed the acquisitions of two newly-constructed, necessity-based, open-air retail centres in the Greater Montreal region totalling approximately 93,735 square feet of gross leasable area.
The Sorel Shopping Centre is a newly-constructed, 31,136 square foot open-air property, anchored by a SAQ liquor store and a Tim Hortons coffee shop. Sorel is located 45 minutes northeast of downtown Montreal. The property is strongly-positioned and is located adjacent to the busy Highway 30.
The Saint Remi Shopping Centre is a newly-constructed, 62,300 square foot open-air retail property, anchored by an IGA grocery store, Uniprix, the SAQ and Tim Hortons. The centre is well-situated in a primarily residential neighbourhood in a prime retail node for St. Remi, Quebec, located 30 minutes south of downtown Montreal. An additional approximately 25,000 square feet of the centre is to be completed with leases pending, including Dollarama as an anchor tenant, and is available for future acquisition by the REIT.
The REIT paid approximately USD26.2m for the properties, using cash on hand from the REIT's recently completed bought-deal equity and debenture offerings. The properties are expected to be refinanced with new mortgages totalling USD15.2m at an average effective interest rate of approximately 3.4 per cent. The properties are expected to generate annualised net operating income of approximately USD1.7m and annualised funds from operations of USD1.2m.
"We are pleased to add these two high-quality retail properties to our growing portfolio," says Patrick Miniutti, president. "With the closing of these properties, Partners REIT now has the benefit of another developer ‘partner’ who we look forward to continuing to create new shopping centres in the future that will be potential additions to the portfolio."