The real estate arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan became the mall's sole owner last year, but only took over full management responsibilities at the start of this November.

A Cadillac Fairview executive said the company intends to move ahead with the mall's long-awaited expansion, but offered no specific timeline.

"The mall is very successful, very high sales performance. We expect to, as we develop and increase the size, see additional new tenants - but I don't expect we'll see (existing tenants) leave. You'll see change as we see additions," said Andrea Stephen, executive vice-president of investment for Cadillac Fairview.

While declining to name potential tenants with whom the firm is in discussions, she said the company is talking with several "who would be new to the market" in Ottawa.

"There's been a fair bit of new leasing that's been done over the past couple of years that increased the sales performance," Ms. Stephen said.

One example is the Apple store, which has brought a lot of new traffic and sales to the 30-year-old mall, she said.

Rideau Centre general manager Cindy VanBuskirk and several other senior managers will remain through the transition, Ms. Stephen added.

The acquisition completes Cadillac Fairview's long road to taking over the centre, which began in the late 1990s.

Cadillac Fairview first garnered a 31-per-cent interest in the shopping centre when Eaton's, the original co-developer, sold out its position, Ms. Stephen said.

In 2008, most of the other owners chose to exit the mall and Cadillac Fairview acquired an additional 38-per-cent interest, as well as control of leasing activity.

Then owned by Viking Rideau Corp., other investors in the shopping mall at the time included Ontrea Inc., 885510 Ontario Ltd. and three minority individual shareholders, according to global credit agency DBRS.

Cadillac Fairview eventually bought out Viking Rideau in 2010.

The Rideau Centre's urban location in a city with an "affluent demographic" attracted Cadillac Fairview, Ms. Stephen said.

"We love urban centres; that fits our strategy as well," she said of the company, which also owns the Toronto Eaton Centre, Vancouver's Pacific Centre and Calgary's Chinook Centre.

"It's centrally located, lots of transportation (and has) lots of attributes that are very appealing."

In an earlier interview, Ms. VanBuskirk said there are several U.S. retailers who should already be in Ottawa, including Crate & Barrel, Victoria's Secret, J.Crew, Anthropologie and H&M, but that are being held back by the city's tight retail market.

"The reason they are not here is either that they are just coming to Canada and just going into the Toronto market, and Ottawa is a year or two away, or - as in the case of H&M - they haven't been able to get the right real estate here. They can't find the right location, with the right size at the right time," she said.

"(H&M) will be in Ottawa sooner rather than later, but probably not at the Rideau Centre because we don't have the space for them.

Internet site reference: http://www.obj.ca/Real-Estate/Non-residential/2011-11-01/article-2792807/Rideau-Centre-handover-complete/1