RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust Provides Update on Target Locations in RioCan's Portfolio

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 26, 2011) - RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust ("RioCan") (TSX:REI.UN) is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing negotiations with Target Corporation ("Target"). On January 13, 2011 Target announced that it had agreed to acquire up to 220 Zellers leasehold interests from Zellers Inc. and the Hudson Bay Company (collectively "Zellers"). As at the current date RioCan has 34 Zellers locations in its portfolio.

Target has selected the initial tranche of locations that they wish to acquire. Included in this first tranche of 105 locations are 21 locations across five provinces that are owned by RioCan and its partners currently occupied by Zellers. All 21 of these locations will be converted to, and open as, Target stores. With this, RioCan will be Target's largest landlord in Canada. Additional sites owned by RioCan may be chosen in Target's decision on the second tranche of store locations, which is expected to occur during the third quarter of 2011. Any remaining locations not selected by Target will continue to be leased by Zellers until the end of the term of the current lease.

"We are very pleased to have been able to secure Target stores for so many of our centres in this first round," said Edward Sonshine, President and Chief Executive Officer of RioCan. "This transaction highlights the intrinsic value in our portfolio, and will bring tremendous potential for repositioning and the opportunity to further enhance value and cash flow growth in our centres."

Target has committed substantial capital to remodel and renovate the selected locations, which will serve to modernize and bring the stores to a format that is in keeping with a typical Target store. To further enhance the value that Target will bring to its locations, RioCan is contemplating an extensive capital improvement program for those locations where it feels cash flow can eventually be increased as a result. In other locations where there is additional density or land, RioCan expects to benefit from increased tenant demand for space in these properties through expansion and development. Certain sites such as RioCan Notre Dame, Montreal, QC and RioCan Flamborough, Hamilton, ON have such land where additional density may be developed depending on tenant demand.

Conference Call and Webcast

Interested parties are invited to participate in a conference call with management on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. You will be required to identify yourself and the organization on whose behalf you are participating.

In order to participate, please dial 416-695-7806 or 1-888-789-9572 and enter passcode 4766003#. If you cannot participate in the live mode, a replay will be available until June 25, 2011. To access the replay, please dial 905-694-9451 or 1-800-408-3053 and enter passcode 4766003#.

Scheduled speakers include Edward Sonshine, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fred Waks, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and Rags Davloor, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Management's presentation will be followed by a question and answer period. To ask a question, press "star 1" on a touch-tone phone. The conference call operator will be notified of all requests in the order in which they are made, and will introduce each questioner.

Alternatively, to access the simultaneous webcast, go to the following link on RioCan's website http://investor.riocan.com/Investor-Relations/Events-Webcasts/default.aspx and click on the link for the webcast. The webcast will be archived 24 hours after the end of the conference call and can be accessed for 120 days.

About RioCan

RioCan is Canada's largest real estate investment trust with a total capitalization of approximately $11.2 billion as at March 31, 2011. It owns and manages Canada's largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 300 retail properties, including 8 under development, containing an aggregate of over 70 million square feet. RioCan owns an 80% interest in 31 grocery anchored and new format retail centres in the United States through various joint venture arrangements. In addition, RioCan owns a 14% equity interest in Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on supermarket-anchored shopping centres and drug store-anchored convenience centres located predominantly in the Northeastern United States. For further information, please refer to RioCan's website at www.riocan.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This News Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements made in this News Release (including the sections entitled "US Investment", "Acquisition Pipeline" and "Liquidity and Capital"), and other statements concerning RioCan's objectives, its strategies to achieve those objectives, as well as statements with respect to management's beliefs, plans, estimates, and intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook", "objective", "may", "will", "would", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "should", "plan", "continue", or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. All forward-looking statements in this News Release are qualified by these cautionary statements.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance and, by their nature, are based on RioCan's current estimates and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those described under "Risks and Uncertainties" in this News Release, which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this News Release. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those related to: liquidity in the global marketplace associated with current economic conditions, tenant concentrations, occupancy levels, access to debt and equity capital, interest rates, joint ventures/partnerships, the relative illiquidity of real property, unexpected costs or liabilities related to acquisitions, construction, environmental matters, legal matters, reliance on key personnel, unitholder liability, income taxes, the investment in the United States of America ("US"), US currency and RioCan's qualification as a real estate investment trust for tax purposes. Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to: a more robust retail environment compared to recent years; relatively stable interest costs; a continuing trend toward land use intensification in high growth markets; access to equity and debt capital markets to fund, at acceptable costs, the future growth program to enable the Trust to refinance debts as they mature; the availability of purchase opportunities for growth in Canada and the US; and the impact of accounting principles adopted by the Trust effective January 1, 2011 under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") which includes application to the Trust's 2010 comparative financial results. Although the forward-looking information contained in this News Release is based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Certain statements included in this News Release may be considered "financial outlook" for purposes of applicable securities laws, and such financial outlook may not be appropriate for purposes other than this News Release.

The Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Act") contains legislation affecting the tax treatment of publicly traded trusts (the "SIFT Legislation"). The SIFT Legislation will not impose tax on a trust which qualifies under such legislation as a real estate investment trust (the "REIT Exception"). RioCan currently qualifies for the REIT Exception and intends to continue to qualify for future years. Should this not occur, certain statements contained in this News Release may need to be modified.

Except as required by applicable law, RioCan under takes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.