The influx of big-name US retailers to Toronto continues to spur the acquisition of retail properties. So far this year, there have been $1.6B in retail property transactions in Toronto, making retail the most active asset category, representing 29% of the market, according to Avison Young. “Everyone is trying to solidify and take hold of good retail assets,” the firm’s research director Bill Argeropoulos tells us. “Retail is something that is hot and will be hot moving forward.”

The $505M sale of Bayview Village Shopping Centre by Orlando Corp to the British Columbia Investment Management Corp is the largest deal in Canada so far in 2014, Bill notes. In second place for Toronto retail transactions is the $263M acquisition by Cadillac Fairview of the Hudson’s Bay Queen Street flagship. This will be home to a new 150k SF multi-level Saks Fifth Avenue—the first in Canada—which will share space with Hudson’s Bay when it opens in 2015. Saks will provide luxury competition to the Nordstrom going into the Toronto Eaton Centre, replacing Sears. “The attraction of foreign retailers and brands coming to Canada continues to build,” Bill says.