O&Y REIT, Asper Family Buying 450,000-SF Office Building

WINNEPEG, MANITOBA-O&Y Real Estate Investment Trust and the Asper family are acquiring the 449,768-sf, 32-story TD Centre, Winnipeg’s premier CBD office tower. The sale, which includes surrounding vacant land, is expected to close in June.

Toronto-based O&Y is Canada’s only pure play office REIT. It owns a national portfolio of 19 multi-tenant and government office buildings across Canada totaling 4.7 million sf. The Asper family owns Winnipeg-based CanWest Global Communications Corp. Its Global Television network reaches 94% of Canadians.

With regard to the surrounding vacant land, O&Y REIT and the Asper family have submitted a proposal to Manitoba Hydro, in response to that company’s request for proposals with regard to its search for a Downtown parcel on which to develop a 400,000-sf headquarters building. O&Y’s proposal is one of 11 being considered by Manitoba Hydro, which will select a site sometime this summer.