German Fund Buys Apple's Montreal Flagship for $51.9 Million

Deka Immobilien acquired the restored Sainte-Catherine Street building from New York's Gindi family, ending 25 years of ownership.

By the Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk·Thursday, November 12, 2026·2 min read

Editorial summary of reporting byretail-insider.com Our editorial standards →

The answer · checked against retail-insider.com

Who bought the Apple Montreal flagship building and for how much?

Deka Immobilien, the real estate arm of Germany's Deka Group, acquired the heritage building housing Apple's Montreal flagship at 1255 Sainte-Catherine Street West for $51.93 million on November 5, 2026. The seller was ASG Equities, the Gindi family's real estate investment business, ending nearly 25 years of ownership that began with a reported $7.4 million purchase in December 2001. The property will be added to Deka's Deka-ImmobilienGlobal real estate fund.

Key facts

Deka Immobilien acquired 1255 Sainte-Catherine Street West in Montreal for $51.93 million on November 5, 2026, according to transaction reporting.
The seller was ASG Equities, the Gindi family's New York-based real estate investment business, which reportedly purchased the property for $7.4 million in December 2001.
Deka confirmed on November 6, 2026 that the property will be added to its Deka-ImmobilienGlobal real estate fund, which already holds Canadian investments in Edmonton and Vancouver.
Deka Immobilien's real estate division managed approximately €50 billion in assets at the end of 2025, according to Retail Insider.
The acquisition was reported to involve approximately $31.2 million in financing from Sun Life of Canada and the SLC Management Canadian Commercial Mortgage Fund, though Retail Insider said it had not independently examined the mortgage documentation.
Montreal-based SAJO undertook nearly two and a half years of construction, abatement and heritage restoration across approximately 20,000 square feet on the project, according to SAJO's account of the redevelopment.

German Fund Buys Apple's Montreal Flagship for $51.9 Million — Image: editorial illustration · Story sourced from retail-insider.com

Deka Immobilien, a German real estate investment manager, purchased the building housing Apple's new Montreal flagship for $51.93 million on November 5, 2026. The property at 1255 Sainte-Catherine Street West was sold by ASG Equities, the real estate investment business of New York's Gindi family, which had owned the building since December 2001. CBRE marketed the property on behalf of the seller.

Deka confirmed the acquisition on November 6, identifying the seller as a U.S. family office. The German company said the property will be added to its Deka-ImmobilienGlobal real estate fund. Deka did not disclose the purchase price in its announcement.

The building stands at Sainte-Catherine Street West and Rue de la Montagne, directly opposite Holt Renfrew Ogilvy and near the Four Seasons Hotel Montreal. The location is within the city's Golden Square Mile shopping district. Deka identifies the property as containing approximately 35,833 square feet of leasable space across four floors.

Apple occupies the entire property under a long-term lease with an initial 15-year term and two renewal options, according to Deka. The lease is structured as triple-net, under which the tenant generally assumes responsibility for specified property expenses. In its November 6 acquisition announcement, Deka identified the property's long-term secured income stream as an attraction.

Apple opened the new Sainte-Catherine store on January 16, 2026, relocating from its previous location at 1321 Sainte-Catherine Street West, which had operated since 2008. The retailer said the new store more than doubles the size of its former location and provides additional space for product demonstrations, customer service and technical support. Apple said the location opened with nearly 200 employees.

The sale follows an extensive heritage restoration and construction project undertaken by Montreal-based SAJO. The building was built in 1896 and was historically associated with Montreal's Ogilvy department store. Its heritage-listed stone façade and older structure presented considerable challenges for a conversion intended to accommodate Apple's contemporary retail operations.

SAJO undertook nearly two and a half years of work combining modern retail construction with extensive heritage restoration. According to the company's account of the redevelopment, the project encompassed approximately 20,000 square feet across four levels and included construction, abatement and historical restoration. One of the most demanding components involved recreating the building's original patinated copper cornices, requiring coordination with municipal authorities and architects specializing in restoration. SAJO also employed robotic layout tools, LiDAR scanning and topographical surveys to address irregular floor levels and other complexities associated with the 19th-century structure.

The Deployment Angle

Family Office Real Estate Daily Desk · our analysis, not the source's

The transaction offers a valuation data point for a narrow but repeatable strategy: acquiring heritage retail assets in core North American markets where a credit tenant has committed to absorb the entirety of renovation and ongoing operating costs under a triple-net structure. The Gindi family acquired the property in December 2001 for $7.4 million. At a $51.93 million exit, the investment returned approximately seven times cost over 25 years, or roughly 8.2 percent compounded annually before accounting for any interim cash flow or capital expenditure.

The structure of the Apple lease shifts renovation risk and ongoing property expenses to the tenant, which makes the investment resemble a bond more than an operating real estate asset. A 15-year initial term with two renewal options provides contractual visibility into cash flows through 2041 at minimum. For a family office evaluating a similar opportunity, the underwriting question is whether the implied cap rate on the $51.93 million purchase compensates for the illiquidity and the risk that Apple does not renew after the initial term. The lease provisions have not been independently confirmed, so the rental rate and effective yield remain undisclosed.

The route here is direct ownership of a single asset, not co-investment or programmatic deployment. The SAJO redevelopment required nearly two and a half years and involved robotic layout tools, LiDAR scanning and coordination with municipal heritage authorities. A family office considering a comparable deal would need to price in pre-acquisition due diligence on structural integrity, heritage-compliance costs and tenant coordination risk. The alternative is to acquire post-lease-commencement, as Deka did, and pay the premium for certainty.

Questions this story answers

01Who sold the Apple Montreal flagship building and what did they originally pay for it?

ASG Equities, the Gindi family's real estate investment business, sold the property. The Gindi family reportedly acquired the building through De La Montagne Canadian Venture for $7.4 million in December 2001. The reported $51.93 million sale price is approximately $44.53 million above that original purchase price, though Retail Insider noted that redevelopment, financing and transaction costs have not been established.

02What are the lease terms for Apple at the Montreal property Deka just bought?

Apple occupies the entire property under a long-term lease, according to Deka. Transaction reporting indicates the agreement has an initial 15-year term, two renewal options and a triple-net structure under which the tenant generally assumes responsibility for specified property expenses. Retail Insider noted those detailed lease provisions have not been independently confirmed.

03How large is the Apple Montreal property that Deka acquired?

Deka identifies the entire property as containing approximately 35,833 square feet of leasable space across four floors, according to Retail Insider. The building at 1255 Sainte-Catherine Street West was built in 1896 and was historically associated with Montreal's Ogilvy department store.

04Which Deka fund is the Montreal Apple property going into and what other Canadian assets does it hold?

The property will be added to the Deka-ImmobilienGlobal fund, according to Deka's November 6, 2026 acquisition announcement. That fund already holds Canadian real estate investments in Edmonton and Vancouver. Deka also holds a separate Montreal investment, Tour Deloitte, acquired in January 2026 for its Deka-ImmobilienMetropolen fund.

05How was the Montreal Apple store building restored before the sale?

Montreal-based SAJO undertook nearly two and a half years of work combining modern retail construction with extensive heritage restoration across approximately 20,000 square feet on four levels. The project included recreating the building's original patinated copper cornices, use of robotic layout tools and LiDAR scanning, and preservation of a stone façade featuring historic Saint-Marc stone from Quebec and local granite, according to SAJO's account and Apple's January 2026 store-opening announcement.

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Original reporting

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