Burnaby’s biggest shopping mall will be under new management this fall.
Metropolis at Metrotown is owned and managed by Ivanhoé Cambridge, but the company announced a new partnership to manage mall operations.
On Oct. 1, Ivanhoé Cambridge will transition the operations of its Canadian shopping centres over to JLL, the largest third-party retail property management company in North America, according to a news release.
“The vast majority of Ivanhoé Cambridge’s property team of retail employees are expected to join JLL Canada,” said the news release, but it’s unclear if there will be any layoffs. JLL’s management team will be headquartered in Montreal. JLL also plans to open an office in Québec City in the coming months.
“We are excited to bring a globally renowned company to deepen its footprint and investments in Quebec. To focus on our core business as a seasoned, clear-sighted real estate investor and to align and standardise our business model globally, we wanted to find a partner with the scale, track record and expertise to continue the optimization of our assets’ performance and lead the industry in defining the future of the retail sector, thus creating long-term value for our depositors,” said Nathalie Palladitcheff, president and CEO, Ivanhoé Cambridge, in a statement. “JLL’s global reputation and like-minded culture will continue to support us, while creating career opportunities for our retail teams joining the JLL family.”
Ivanhoé Cambridge and JLL will work together towards the goal of achieving net zero carbon by 2040, said the statement.
“Retail has been going through a transition period over the last decade plus, where the focus has become on creating sustainable and dynamic experiential settings that engage and excite the communities it serves – and the pandemic has acted as a major accelerant on those trends,” said Greg Maloney, CEO, JLL Americas Retail. “Retail is our division’s sole focus and we are thrilled to expand our expertise and footprint in Canada, and Quebec, establishing JLL as the largest third-party retail manager in Canada as well.”
JLL will also collaborate with Ivanhoé Cambridge to develop a Centre of Excellence for Sustainability (COES) in Quebec, and an accompanying team, to “accelerate the transition to sustainable and inclusive real estate through the development and implementation of current and near-future technologies.”
