Details Are In The Retail

The battle for retail investment in the downtown core goes on unabated, if this latest transaction is any indication. (The only casualties of this battle are sweaters and restaurant concepts.)

Cushman & Wakefield reached out to share details on the sale of 318-360 Queen St. W, a four-building portfolio with retail tenants that include FCUK, Brandy Melville, and Crocs. It’s a deal that comes in just north of $28M. ProWinko, a privately owned real estate investment firm, is the seller. Phil Traikos, Cushman & Wakefield’s VP, investment sales, capital markets, and Arlin Markowitz, AVP, investment sales, capital markets, represented the seller. The buyer is Northam Realty Advisors. It’s a prime block of space between Spadina Avenue and Soho, says C&W managing director, capital markets, Nick Yanovski (image), and is a real indication of the level of competition going on for prime space.

“We’re seeing investors look first to the core—what can they get on a high foot traffic street with a solid covenant,” he tells Bisnow. There isn’t much urban product out there right now, “so aggressive pricing continues.” (So next time you agonize over the purchase of new shoes, think about the agony that went into selecting the room in which you are agonizing.) Sales of retail properties in the downtown core have seen cap rates low at 5.6%. Currently retail rents on Queen Street are averaging $100/SF to $1.20/SF, and are trending higher based on strong demand.

This particular deal took a little time to do, Nick says, not from a lack of interest, but “simply in terms of finding the right buyer for a unique portfolio of non-contiguous properties.” At the end of the day, Nick says, they were able to match the right buyer with the seller “and from there it came together quickly.”