Prince Albert: Gateway Mall

Services provided

	Real Estate Services by Bentall Retail Services

About the challenges

Gateway Mall was a tired, 320,000 square foot, enclosed community mall. It was acquired by Bentall and an institutional partner in the summer of 1998. At the time it had a 27% vacancy rate and an indifferent merchandising mix. Year over year sales had been in decline, and the mall had lost one of its department store anchors some years earlier.

Considerations

Offsetting the problems cited above, Gateway Mall has a downtown location with good access and visibility. The mall is the largest retail centre in the area, but it is a secondary retail market. The fundamental remaining anchors were performing well but the owners needed a strategy to revive interest in the centre, reverse the sales trend and fill the vacant space.

Bentall's solution

To enhance asset value through a four point program:

	Secure large format tenancies to replace the lost anchor
	Improve the merchandising mix to create retail draw
	Increase NRA through conversion of storage into leaseable space
	Revitalize the marketing program

Key successes

	Leasing to Sport Chek and Staples brought increased traffic and sales.
	New stores for Northern Reflections, Bentley Leather, and GNC improved the merchandise mix.
	Sales volume increased 14%.
	NOI was significantly increased; generating a 22% return from the capital required for upgrading.
	Value creation facilitated refinancing at a higher loan to value ratio.