The struggling department store retailer said it closed a transaction with landlord Cadillac Fairview to return its 240,000 square feet in the Rideau Centre, as well as space in Vancouver and Calgary, for $170 million.
Sears announced in early March that it planned to vacate the three locations by October.
A call Friday to Rideau Centre general manager Cindy VanBuskirk was returned by a Cadillac Fairview spokesperson who declined to comment on what stores might fill the soon-to-be vacant location downtown Ottawa or whether the space would be subdivided for various tenants.
Instead, Janine Ojah-Maharaj sent a previously released statement to OBJ saying, "Cadillac Fairview is always looking for opportunities to update the merchandising mix at our shopping centres (and) to create a fresh and enticing shopping environment for our customers."
Speaking at last fall's Ottawa Real Estate Forum, Ms. VanBuskirk said there are several retailers who should have Ottawa on their radar, such as Crate & Barrel, Victoria's Secret, J.Crew, Anthropolgie and H&M. She named several other retailers that she'd like to see come to Ottawa, including Juicy Couture, Brooks Brothers, Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn.
The city's regional malls and large power centres - representing almost seven million square feet of shopping space - ended 2011 with a vacancy rate of 0.6 per cent, according to statistics from Cushman & Wakefield Ottawa.
Sears Canada is a multi-channel retailer with 196 corporate stores, 285 hometown dealer stores and 30 home services showrooms across the country.
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