Home Depot pulls out of RioCan's Queen Street project
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The Canadian Press
January 22, 2009 at 10:00 AM EST
TORONTO — — Home Depot Canada [HD-N] is paying an unspecified amount in cash to terminate its lease on a site along Queen Street West in Toronto being developed by RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust [REI.UN-T].
RioCan said Thursday it intends to continue with the Queen and Portland development project, which has caused discomfort among artists and others in the trendy district uneasy about a big-box store.
Canada's largest REIT said it is “reviewing the possibility of repositioning the retail portion of the development to reflect a new retail footprint.”
It added that there is no change in plans for the five-storey residential portion of the project, where construction has not yet begun on a one-acre site which now is a parking lot.
Original plans called for 91,000 square feet of retail space on three floors, of which 75,000 square feet was to be occupied by a single retail anchor.
“As a result of this change, we have an opportunity to reposition the retail portion of this project to reflect a more ‘traditional' retail model, and are currently in discussions with several potential replacement tenants,” stated RioCan CEO Edward Sonshine.
“We are optimistic that we will re-lease this part of the retail component and do not expect construction of the project to be delayed.”
RioCan said 55 of the 90 residential condominium units have been sold.