Re-Thinking Shopping Centres
There's a unique ownership concept at Aberdeen Square in Richmond. Owner-developer Fairchild Group offered tenants the chance to buy their space, a fusion of purchased retail space next to big-box tenants. Colliers International SVP Cecilia Tse tells Bisnow that investors from mainland China purchased the majority of the retail condo units; they are 100% sold out (over 300 units, most averaging around 400 SF). Aberdeen Square is a new 160K SF, multi-level retail and office extension of the Aberdeen Centre.
"It's the only commercial building in Richmond connected to the Canada Line," Cecilia says. "This adds value [to the purchase]." Aberdeen is six levels: half retail, half office. We're told it sold out quickly, averaging around $400k per unit. "Most of the owners bought more than one unit," Cecilia says. (You try going to the mall and coming back with one bag.) Like with residential condos, owners set up a corporation and pay management fees used for maintenance of the building. Cecilia, who specializes in investment properties brokerage, worked with the developer.
