RioCan to make gain on Calgary, Toronto developments

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust will make a sizeable gain from selling a piece of two retail developments — one in Calgary and one in Toronto — to the CPP Investment Board, RioCan's senior vice-president and chief financial officer said Wednesday.

The trust owns 60 per cent of both developments, and privately held Trinity Development Group has the rest. Under the terms of the deal announced Wednesday by Rags Davloor, CPPIB will become half-owner, and RioCan and Trinity will each hold a quarter.

RioCan has not calculated the exact gain, but the stakes in the developments were sold at market value, Davloor said. The gain will be reported in the second quarter.

As well as the gain, Riocan gets a partner to help develop the projects, estimated to cost $440 million together. It will also get management fees for the developments.

One is the Jacksonport development in Calgary, and the other an urban retail centre at St. Clair Avenue and Weston Road in Toronto

Jacksonport, to be finished by 2011, will have about 1.1 million square feet of retail space. The Toronto development will open in 2010 with about 570,000 square feet of retail space.