Intercity Shopping Centre has been sold, and it is now in the hands of Montreal-based Leyad, a privately owned real estate investment and development firm with its key focus on retail, multi-residential, industrial properties and hotel properties across Canada.
Leyad will also become Intercity’s property manager, taking over the reins from Morguard.
Leyad company president Henry Zavriyev told RENX Real Estate News that the shopping centre in Thunder Bay was purchased from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) for an undisclosed price, making it Leyad’s second acquisition from the pension plan.
Zavriyev called the shopping centre an essential piece of retail infrastructure for the community and the dominant retail centre in Northwestern Ontario. He said they are excited to reinvest in the mall and to continue its legacy as the core retailer for that market.
Zavriyev says 26,000 square feet of the large space formerly occupied by Sears Canada is now occupied by Marshalls. The rest of the space, which has been empty since the retailer ceased operations a decade ago, is part of agreements being finalized with several new national and international retailers for redevelopment. The rest of the former Sears space will be backfilled.
“Thunder Bay has all the demographics that we look for, which is good population growth, good economic prospects and a pretty consistent community,” he said.
Meanwhile, the construction of the new SportChek location will continue and is expected to be completed by late summer. Zavriyev said this newly built store will be larger, and plans are in place for new tenants to take over the chain’s former space once it’s vacated.
He added that JD Sports will also open soon and become another of Intercity’s largest tenants. Part of the acquisition from HOOPP included an adjacent lot that Zavriyev says will be developed into quick-service restaurant pads, which are part of Leyad’s overall redevelopment plans aimed at creating new jobs and bringing substantial new investment into Thunder Bay.
