Colonnade Bridgeport and Fiera Real Estate have acquired a 5.5-acre redevelopment site just east of downtown Ottawa, adjacent to the city’s main train station. (Google Street View)
Colonnade Bridgeport and Fiera Real Estate have acquired a prime, five-acre urban redevelopment site just east of downtown Ottawa with a development capacity of up to 2.3 million square feet.
The firms announced the new partnership and transaction Monday morning. Fiera Real Estate made its share of the purchase on behalf of the Fiera Real Estate Core Fund LP.
Currently home to Dustbane Products Ltd., a manufacturer of sustainable cleaning products and equipment, the site currently consists of 155,376 square feet of industrial buildings.
Financial details were not disclosed.
The property is located just over three kilometres from Parliament Hill and downtown Ottawa and is located at a unique hub of multimodal transportation in Ottawa: it is adjacent to the Ottawa Train station, the Tremblay light rail transit station, Highway 417, and is directly connected to Ottawa’s extensive pedestrian and cycling pathways.
The redevelopment property
Colonnade BridgePort and Fiera Real Estate completed a sale leaseback with Dustbane, with a vision to re-develop the site into a mixed-use, high-density community hub.
“The leaseback provides us with an attractive income return from a quality tenant and allows us the time to master-plan the project, and Dustbane the time to find an alternative location,” said Hugh Gorman, CEO of Colonnade BridgePort, in the announcement.
“Looking ahead, we see a vibrant, walkable, cycle-friendly, transit-oriented community with quality mixed-use development that includes sustainable residential and commercial uses that generate long-term income returns for investors.”
Located along Tremblay Road in an area which used to be mainly industrial and commercial, the neighbourhood has been undergoing a transformation during the past few decades.
Linked by a walking path (over Highway 417) to the city’s RCGT Stadium baseball park, it’s now amid an expanding commercial and retail hub which includes the expansive The Trainyards retail development.
Existing Colonnade, Fiera partnerships
Colonnade BridgePort and Fiera Real Estate have partnered on several developments in the Ottawa area including Westboro Connection, a successful transit-oriented mixed-use development in the heart of Westboro, and Hintonburg Connection, a transit-oriented purpose-built high-rise rental building located close to Tunney’s Pasture LRT station.
“Fiera is a great partner and we have aligned objectives to build transit-oriented, mixed-use developments that are setting the standard for the Ottawa residential and commercial markets,” Gorman said in the release.
“These projects enhance the communities where we build and they also provide attractive risk-adjusted returns for our investors.
“We look forward to working with Fiera to create a long-term vision for this new opportunity.”
Dustbane is a long-standing business in Ottawa, with a history stretching back more than a century.
“We have operated on the site for most of our 112 years and wanted to ensure we sold the site to an owner who would redevelop and manage the site for the long term,” Benjamin Merkley, president of Dustbane, in the release.
“Colonnade BridgePort and Fiera Real Estate are very reputable organizations with a common goal to enhance the communities they develop in.
“Once we saw their vision, we knew they were the right buyer.”
With the closing complete, Colonnade BridgePort will now begin to execute the strategy to translate the vision for the site into a master plan for this unique new community.
About Colonnade BridgePort, Fiera Real Estate
Colonnade BridgePort is a 35-year-old firm which offers a fully integrated, real estate services platform throughout the real estate lifecycle. It is headquartered in Ottawa, with offices in Mississauga and downtown Toronto.
Colonnade BridgePort’s residential focus is to develop and manage modern apartment buildings, located in desirable neighbourhoods along Ottawa’s transit corridors.
Fiera Real Estate is a global real estate investment management platform serving investors in Canada and the United Kingdom. Fiera Real Estate globally manages over $6.4 billion of commercial real estate through its investment funds and accounts as of March 31.
Fiera Real Estate has assembled a highly diverse portfolio, both geographically and across multiple asset classes.
