The South Surrey Business Park in Greater Vancouver has been acquired by Crestpoint Real Estate. (Courtesy Crestpoint)
Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. announced Thursday it has acquired major properties in two Canadian metropolitan areas; the Centre on Barton shopping centre in Hamilton, and the South Surrey Business Park in Metro Vancouver, for a total expenditure of over $300 million.
Following these acquisitions, Crestpoint’s total assets under management have grown to approximately $5.3 billion.
“To grow the portfolio with such high-quality assets in a difficult environment, especially in the industrial sector, should provide long-term tangible benefits to our portfolio,” said Kevin Leon, president and founder of Crestpoint, in the announcement. “Despite a challenging year, Crestpoint managed to acquire over $700 million of high quality properties across Canada in 2020.”
The Centre on Barton is one of the few major retail transactions to occur in Canada since the beginning of the pandemic, which hit some sectors of the shopping sector hard due to government-mandated lockdowns and other restrictions.
South Surrey Business Park
The park comprises properties at 2920 188th St., 18899 28th Ave., 18880 30th Ave. and 2945 190th St, in Surrey, with easy access to the Canada-U.S. border,
South Surrey Business Park is a state-of-the-art, multi-tenant class-A industrial park which was built between 2018 and 2020 by Hopewell Development (the industrial/retail development division of Calgary-based Hopewell Group of Companies).
The industrial complex is situated on a 38.9-acre site and is comprised of four buildings spanning 731,000 square feet.
The buildings feature 32-foot clear heights, over 150 loading doors and an abundance of parking, Crestpoint says. Occupying a full city block, the property is located close to four municipal roads and multiple highways. It is fully leased to a roster of tenants which include Amazon and DSV Solutions.
“This acquisition provides Crestpoint with the opportunity to own a best-in-class industrial park that is fully leased to a resilient roster of tenants at below-market rents, presenting the opportunity to increase income upon rollover,” Leon said in the release.
The Centre on Barton
Centre on Barton is a 677,000-square-foot open-format regional shopping centre on a 66.4-acre site at 1275 Barton St. E.
The property is comprised of 23 buildings and is currently 87 per cent leased to over 60 national and regional tenants. It is anchored by Walmart, Metro and Canadian Tire and has a diverse roster of ancillary tenants including Shoppers Drug Mart, LCBO, The Brick, Staples and all five Schedule I Canadian banks.
Built between 2009 and 2013, the site offers local and regional access as it sits between the Queen Elizabeth Way and downtown Hamilton. It’s within close proximity to several bus routes and GO Transit stations.
“We strongly believe that this ideally situated, defensive retail asset is a great addition to our well-diversified portfolio of commercial real estate. This asset provides long-term, steady cash flow from strong credit tenants with great access to a large population base that can withstand the retail transformation currently underway.” Leon said in the release.
About Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd.
Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. is a commercial real estate investment manager with $5.3 billion of gross assets under management.
Crestpoint is part of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, a multi-boutique asset management company that provides investment management products and services to institutional and high net-worth clients.
With offices across Canada and in Chicago, and London, Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group and its affiliates manage over $85 billion in assets. For more information, please visit: www.crestpoint.ca.
