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LONDON, ON-RioCan is continuing its development push with a 185,000-sf open air development here called Summerside Shopping Centre. The Toronto-based retail REIT recently acquired 31 acres for the $30-million development and expects to break ground next spring. Completion is slate for next fall.

The development site is located at the intersection of Commissioners Road and Highbury Avenue in the southeast quadrant of London. Without naming names, RioCan says the center will be anchored by a 100,000-sf national home improvement retailer, a 45,000-sf tenant-owned national brand supermarket and approximately 40,000 sf of ancillary retail space.

Elsewhere in Ontario, RioCan and its long-time JV partner Trinity Development Group are in the process of developing four other shopping centers in Ontario. The projects are part of a $253-million, 2.1-million-sf development effort that also includes a project in Alberta.

The largest of the Ontario projects already under construction is a 346,000-sf center in Ottawa at the intersection of Innes Road and Lanthier Drive. It will be anchored by a retailer-owned 150,000-sf Loblaws and is 90% preleased. Tenants include Winners, Linens 'n Things, LCBO, Michaels, Montana's Cookhouse and Swiss Chalet. Completion is scheduled for next summer.

In Hamilton, ON, site work is under way for a 260,000-sf center at the southeast corner of Highways 5 and 6. The unenclosed shopping center will be anchored by a tenant-owned Loblaws and Rona, along with 35,000 sf to 40,000 sf of shop space. Rona is expected to open by the end of 2006 and the remaining buildings by spring 2007.

At the southwest corner of Main and Thompson in Milton, ON, the JV is preparing to develop a 246,000-sf unenclosed center. The project is 85% preleased. A tenant-owned Loblaw's will anchor the project. Other national tenants include LCBO, Blockbuster, Bulk Barn, Wendy's and TD Canada Trust. Closing of the purchase contract and commencement of construction will take place in spring 2006, and will be completed later that year.

In Richmond Hill, ON, the JV has preleased about 80% of a planned 495,000-sf retail center at the northeast corner of Highway 404 and Elgin Mills. A retailer-owner Home Depot will anchor the project. Other signed tenants include Winners, HomeSense, Linens 'n Things, Staples/Business Depot and Michaels. Closing on the site is expected to take place by the end of this year. Construction is expected to begin in 2006 and to be complete by the spring of 2007.

RioCan's joint venture relationship with Trinity has been in effect for almost 10 years and has resulted in some of RioCan's best performing properties, including RioCan Signal Hill Centre in Calgary, Alberta and RioCan Colossus Centre in Vaughan, Ontario. Including the 790,000-sf RioCan Beacon Hill development in northwest Calgary, RioCan estimates these JV developments in the aggregate will produce an unleveraged return of approximately 9.8%.

RioCan has ownership interests in 198 retail properties totaling 46.5 million sf. Trinity Development develops and leases retail projects across Canada; its current portfolio of operating properties totals about 10 million sf. RioCan chief executive Ed Sonshine declined to return a phone call seeking comment and a request for other executive comment went unfulfilled.

Instant Insights /

RioCan Acquires Land for Ontario Retail Development

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