TORONTO—Cadillac Fairview has entered into a binding agreement to sell a 30% non-managing interest in the iconic six-building Toronto Dominion Centre office and retail complex here to the Ontario Pension Board. In addition, OPB is buying a 30% interest in Cadillac Fairview's development site for an 850,000-square-foot office tower at 16 York St., also in Toronto.

Terms of the two sales were not disclosed. Cadillac Fairview, wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, paid $352.1 million, or $82 per square foot, to acquire the 4.3-million square-foot complex from TD Bank in 2000, according to Real Capital Analytics. More recent office trades, such as the December 2012 sale of the TD Canada Trust Tower, have ranged as far upward as $751 per square foot, suggesting that OPB's 30% stake could be worth far more than Cadillac Fairview originally paid for the entire property.

“As the TD Centre is a cornerstone asset within Cadillac Fairview's office portfolio, finding an appropriate co-investor was a critical consideration,” says John Sullivan, president and CEO of Cadillac Fairview. OPB and Cadillac Fairview partnered on the ownership of the RBC Centre in March '12, with OPB taking a 50% interest in a 1.2-million-square-foot office tower valued at $607 million. The two organizations also own a development parcel at 156 Front Street West.

TD Securities Inc. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Cadillac Fairview on these transactions, while Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is serving as Cadillac Fairview's legal advisor. CBRE Ltd. acted as Ontario Pension Board's financial advisor, while Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as OPB's legal advisor. Both deals are expected to close on Oct. 1.