TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – July 7, 2017) – Smart Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:SRU.UN) and Mitchell Goldhar announced today that they have signed a 13 year (plus two 5 year extensions) lease transaction with FM Global in the KPMG Tower at SmartCentres Place in Vaughan. FM Global is one of the world’s largest commercial and industrial property insurers.
The 360,000 square foot KMPG Tower is connected underground to the new subway station which provides a direct subway connection to downtown Toronto. The subway is scheduled to be operational in December 2017. FM Global will occupy approximately 48,000 square feet and is expected to open in the first quarter of 2018. Construction on the PwC – YMCA Tower is underway while construction on the Transit City Condos, the first residential component, will begin later in 2017.
“We are pleased to have FM Global join KPMG, Miller Thomson, Harley Davidson, GFL, TD Bank, BMO Wealth Management, PwC, the YMCA, and Vaughan Libraries at SmartCentres Place,” said Mitchell Goldhar, Chairman of the Board of SmartREIT. “With expansive open spaces, proximity to transit and civic facilities, SmartCentres Place is planned as a people-first, pedestrian urban city centre,” added Mr. Goldhar.
About FM Global
Established nearly 200 years ago, FM Global is a mutual insurance company whose capital, scientific research capability and engineering expertise are solely dedicated to property risk management and the resilience of its client-owners. These owners, who share the belief that the majority of property loss is preventable, represent many of the world’s largest organizations, including one of every three Fortune 1000 companies. They work with FM Global to better understand the hazards that can impact their business continuity in order to make cost-effective risk management decisions, combining property loss prevention with insurance protection. For more information on FM Global, visit www.fmglobal.com.
About SmartCentres Place
SmartCentres Place is a 100-acre, 17 million square foot master planned city centre development, to be connected to downtown Toronto by subway, as part of the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (“VMC”). VMC, at Highway 400 and Highway 7, is a planning area envisioning 40 million square feet of density around the confluence of various mass transit, including the TTC University subway line’s expansion, the new VIVA rapidway and York Regional Transit central bus station. Together these will form the critical elements of the transportation infrastructure serving this budding new centre of commerce, culture, recreation, open spaces and urban life. VMC is unique in that it is centrally located, serviced by the aforementioned subway and bus transit infrastructure and by Highways 400, 407, and 7. It is also unique in that it is currently surrounded substantially by green field, enabling a planned area embodying all the urban characteristics and amenities that modern city visionaries strive for, but generally have difficulty achieving because of physical, legal and ownership constraints. SmartCentres Place at VMC is distinctly positioned to expeditiously accomplish a European style urban centre.
SmartCentres Place in the VMC, which contains the completed KPMG Tower and the 220,000 square foot PWC – YMCA Tower presently under construction, includes 53 acres of land around the new subway station in a 50/50 joint venture between SmartREIT and Mr. Goldhar. The joint venture plans to develop approximately 8.0 million to 10.0 million square feet of commercial, residential and retail space on its land as part of a 100-acre master planned development, with the remainder of the land owned by Mr. Goldhar in partnership with others.
About SmartREIT
SmartREIT is one of Canada’s largest real estate investment trusts with total assets of approximately $8.9 billion. It owns and manages 32 million square feet in value-oriented, principally Walmart-anchored retail centres, having the strongest national and regional retailers as well as strong neighbourhood merchants. In addition, SmartREIT is a joint-venture partner in the Premium Outlets locations in Toronto and Montreal with Simon Property Group. SmartREIT is now expanding the breadth of its portfolio to include residential (condominium and rental), office, and self-storage, either on its large urban properties such as the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre or as an adjunct to its existing shopping centres. SmartREIT’s core vision is to provide a value-oriented shopping experience in all forms to Canadian consumers and to create high quality mixed use developments in urban settings.
With SmartREIT’s 2015 acquisition of SmartCentres, SmartREIT has transformed into a fully integrated real estate provider. SmartREIT and SmartCentres have had a long and successful alliance, helping to provide Canadians with value-focused retail shopping centres across the country. Now, the alliance has grown even stronger, the result is a fully integrated real estate provider with expertise in planning, development, leasing, operations and construction – all under one roof. For more information on SmartREIT, visit www.smartreit.com.
About Mitchell Goldhar
Mitchell Goldhar is Chairman of the Board of SmartREIT and its largest unitholder. Mr. Goldhar, founder of SmartCentres has developed 56 million square feet in 265 shopping centres in all provinces across Canada.
In addition, Penguin Properties Inc., Mr. Goldhar’s private company is at various stages of development of many properties across the country, including his interest in the VMC 100-acre master planned development and as a partner with Walmart in 14 development properties. Mr. Goldhar has also developed an emerging network of Penguin Pick-Up locations offering free, convenient pick-up locations for online purchases, and Penguin Fresh, an on-line food marketplace. Penguin Pick-up now has 68 locations.
Certain statements in this Press Release are “forward-looking statements” that reflect SmartREIT’s expectations regarding future growth and business prospects. More specifically, certain statements in this Press Release including statements related to the development of the VMC and statements that contain words such as “expect”, “will”, and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts and constitute “forward-looking statements”. Such forward looking statements reflect SmartREIT’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to SmartREIT. However, such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this Press Release are based on what SmartREIT believes to be reasonable assumptions, SmartREIT cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this Press Release and SmartREIT assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances unless otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.
Huw Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
(905) 326-6400 ext. 7649
hthomas@smartreit.com
Smart Real Estate Investment Trust
Peter Sweeney
Chief Financial Officer
(905) 326-6400 ext. 7865
psweeney@smartreit.com
Smart Real Estate Investment Trust
Mitchell Goldhar
Chairman of the Board
(905) 760-6200 ext. 7674
mgoldhar@smartcentres.com