With a serious offer on the table, Portage Place Shopping Centre could take on a very different look in the near future.
Starlight Investments, a Toronto-based real estate asset management company, has been named as the potential buyer of Portage Place Shopping Centre, according to The Forks North Portage Partnership, which owns the land and the parking garage while the shopping centre itself is owned by a private company.
The company is offering $69.9M for the downtown-Winnipeg mall.
The sale is expected to bring major change and have a positive impact on the downtown.
“This isn't something where someone's going to come in and do nothing, doing nothing for anyone who purchases this would get them nowhere, it would lose them money,” said Clare MacKay from The Forks North Portage Partnership.
MacKay says if the sale goes through, the redevelopment plan could include residential space and student housing. She says the building structure is built to support the addition of high-rise buildings.
"This is a significant reinvestment into our downtown with the potential of $300 million coming in, it looks like this a good deal for Winnipeg and fordDowntown and a real reinvestment into something that is, right now, not receiving any investment," said MacKay.
The sale, worth $69.9M, would include the land, shopping centre and associated parking.
The FNPP would receive $47M for its portion of the sale, which it says would be reinvested into The Forks.
The remaining $22.9M would go to Spruceland Mall Limited Partnership, which owns the building.
In order to move forward, the offer must be approved by all three shareholders; the City of Winnipeg, the provincial and federal governments.
City councillors were invited to a closed-door meeting Friday morning to discuss the details of the possible sale.
"I think it looks positive, the status quo for Portage Place is not really a viable option in my opinion, we need to see something happen there that will improve our downtown and I think this is a path to maybe let that happen," said Coun. Jeff Browaty.
"My concern is that I obviously want to see the health of the Forks North Portage Partnership maintained, I want to see reinvestment in our downtown and building a safer more vibrant downtown," said Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman.
The city’s executive policy committee is expected to review the offer next week.
The mall opened in 1987 to help revitalize the downtown area on and around Portage Avenue.
Tenants react
The sale of the shopping centre could also have a major impact on tenants.
Prairie Theatre Exchange occupies a large portion of the third floor and has for 30 years. It remains optimistic a sale would benefit them as well.
“We're left with a lot of questions and we're wondering if the sale will go through and if so what that means for the mall,” said Thomas Morgan from Prairie Theatre Exchange. “We're a major tenant and a big part of what the mall is now and this has always been a home to us, so I would imagine that whoever is going to be the new owners of the mall will know that this is a place that we occupy and hopefully that's a relationship we can continue.”
- With files from CTV’s Jeff Keele
