The initial entity in what later became the Ivanhoé Cambridge real estate group dates to May 12, 1953, when Montreal businessman Sam Steinberg, who built the Steinberg's grocery store chain, founded Ivanhoe Corporation. In 1954, Ivanhoe opened its first shopping centre, Dorval Gardens, in the Montreal area. During the 1950s and 1960s, the company focused on building shopping centres in the Greater Montreal area and also built projects in Ontario, especially in the Ottawa area. Ivanhoe specialized in shopping centres located in growing urban areas.