New mall owner hopes to expand

Author: Bruce Hain

Date: Jun 26, 2008

The Cookstown Manufacturers Outlet Mall has a new owner.

A global private equity firm, Taurus Investments LLC, purchased the mall located at Hwy. 400 and County Rd. 89 on March 7, says Dennis Porter, managing partner for Taurus Canada.

And the company wants to double the 160,000 square foot discount shopping centre and turn it into a "destination" shopping experience, Porter says.

"We have a proposal in to the Town of Innisfil's planning department," he says. "We expect it will be about a year or a year-and-a-half to get approval."

Taurus would like to transform the Cookstown mall into more of what consumers find in the U.S.

"By creating the right product, we could put Innisfil on the map," Porter says. "In the U.S., they are true destinations for both shoppers and tourists."

The mall currently has approximately 60 tenants, ranging from clothing and apparel stores to hardware and even fine china.

Taurus Investments was founded in 1976 and operates in 30 markets around the world, as a real estate investment advisor, owner-operator and value-added developer of residential and commercial properties. The majority of its holdings are in the U.S., including its head office in Boston. There are also offices in Toronto, Munich, Istanbul and Buenos Aires.