Strathallen Capital Becomes Salthill Capital

The company, founded in 2003, is undergoing an extensive rebranding process

Strathallen Capital has transformed its management team while expanding its services over the past three years and it takes its next step today by rebranding as Salthill Capital. The company was founded in 2003 and provides asset management, property management and strategic advisory services for its investment partners. It has more than 60 assets under management, encompassing 9.3 million square feet and valued at $2.2 billion.

Cathal O’Connor became Strathallen’s chief executive officer in 2020 after previous roles as executive vice-president and chief financial officer for Cadillac Fairview and as a partner with KPMG Canada. The other principals who have joined him to lead the revamped executive team are chief operating officer Terra Attard, formerly of Agellan Commercial REIT; director George Buckles and principal of master planning, and development Bruno Bartel, both formerly of 20 VIC Management Inc. and Cushman & Wakefield; chief investment officer Taylor Brown, principal of property management Donald Burton and principal of leasing Petr Kafka, who have risen up the ranks internally.

“We have been thinking about how we tell the market that we are different, we have evolved and we are expanding,” O’Connor said about the change to the new name, which Salthill shares with a town near Galway, Ireland where he has roots. “All of this gives us a reason to talk to the market and our existing investors and tell them the good things we have done and about our future ambitions to grow.”

Salthill is an employee-owned private company, which O’Connor said is important to the corporate culture and keeping people engaged. Investors also appreciate that it has “skin in the game,” he added. More than $300 million in equity was raised for a grocery-anchored retail fund, which has acquired largely suburban properties in the $30-million to $60-million range that can also offer Salthill geographic diversification. “Grocery has proven to be extremely resilient in the last couple of years and COVID just reinforced that,” O’Connor said. 

Salthill is looking at opportunities to create new funds and will likely launch one before the end of the year. In addition to its open and closed-ended funds, the company also has separate accounts with institutional and high-net-worth partners looking to invest in real estate. It is refocusing its attention on managing and investing in regional shopping centres, office buildings and mixed-use residential communities.  That includes partnering with CentreCourt for the massive redevelopment of Pickering Town Centre in Pickering, Ont., into a high-density, mixed-use community.

Heavy transaction activity

Salthill has been involved in about $1 billion worth of transactions over the past two years, primarily focused on retail properties, and still has capital to invest. It has also been selling properties to which it has added value through its leasing program and can make a profit on. Salthill property manages, but doesn’t own, the 632,700-square-foot Carlingwood Shopping Centre in Ottawa that’s now being marketed for sale by TD Securities and Cushman & Wakefield. It is the site of Canada's largest Canadian Tire store, which moved into a newly constructed 263,500-square-foot section of the west-end mall in 2022. The location had previously been home to a Sears store, but it was demolished and reconstructed for Canadian Tire after Sears vacated the site.

Salthill’s retail, industrial and office property management business is expected to grow by 20 per cent this year and next year, according to O’Connor. “We know what to do and what drives value and what makes our tenants happy,” said O’Connor. “As landlords, we want our tenants to survive.”