The upscale shopping mall in the Town of Mount Royal, Rockland Centre, has been sold for $1. The 67-year-old mall was sold in May by Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust, which purchased the mall in 2014 for $271.6 million from Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. The property, valued by the Town of Mount Royal (TMR) at $115 million, was sold to a numbered Quebec company linked to Jadco Real Estate Corporation, a major real estate developer with several condo developments in Montreal, Laval and Ottawa, among others. The property was valued at $139 million in 2021. According to Mitch Strohminger, director of Market Analytics for the CoStar Group, who is not connected to the sale or the parties involved, this type of transaction is called a share sale and is used for smoother transitions and tax purposes. Strohminger explained that a share sale involves a numbered company or special purpose vehicle that owns a real estate asset. Instead of buying the property directly, the buyer purchases all the shares of the company that owns it, changing its ownership while the company’s operations largely remain the same. In a statement, the Town of Mount Royal said it was in contact with the new owner of Rockland Centre but declined to comment further on the sale or the future of the property. Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust also declined to comment. “There’s probably a lot of tax reasons why you would want to do this. Usually, whenever you have sort of capital gains taxes and other types of tax considerations, some of those can be mitigated or reduced via a share sale depending on how it’s structured and how the party’s structured,” Strohminger noted. He added that this type of transaction can also be beneficial for a seller to avoid taking on liabilities associated with the property. Some shoppers at the mall shared that they would like to see new stores and restaurants, while others are worried the mall will be converted into real estate properties, as was the case with a 2020 proposal that included condos, townhouses and offices. “This is not right. TMR should hold onto Rockland - it’s an important part of the community,” said shopper Romana Rogoshewska. The proposal was ultimately put on hold after public pushback and a change in town administration. With files from CTV News’ Max Harrold
