Mid-sized retail a prized investment for developers, owners (en anglais)

Needs-based anchor tenants such as grocers, pharmacies, banks etc. provide excellent value and returns

... Montreal-based developer Forum also has a focus on this segment, which fits neatly into its mantra.

“For us: it’s keep it simple. They’re typically in secondary and tertiary markets, where the cities might be a little bit easier to deal with and where — because of the simplicity of the project — they don’t add too many potential obstacles,” said Dean Mendel, president at Forum, who also spoke to RENX.

This is in contrast to potential headaches that may arise when proposing more sizable projects. 

“Whereas a large redevelopment, they want it to be a showcase for the city, and most of them don’t have zoning that lines up, so there are normally a lot of different things that are at play at the same time. It’s just a much, much longer and larger process,” he said.

Forum recently celebrated a groundbreaking at Phase II of its Marché Buckingham project, located in Gatineau, Que. (across the Ottawa River from Ottawa). 

“Your typical strip mall is needed by every community for essential services and typically, cities will see it as somewhat of a non-threatening project that will add value and prevent people from going to a neighbour community,” Mendel noted.

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Read the full article that was published in Renx