The Stampede Station office complex in Calgary. (Courtesy Crestpoint)
Just days after making a major office purchase in Montreal, Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd., has announced the acquisition of two large office properties in Calgary. Crestpoint purchased Stampede Station and TransAlta Place, adding 498,000 square feet of leasable space to its portfolio.
Crestpoint also purchased the Place du Canada in Montreal in a transaction which closed on Dec. 30, 2019. In total, the acquisitions represent $190 million in investments.
“While Crestpoint has existing industrial and retail assets in the Greater Calgary Area, we are excited to announce that these two acquisitions mark our first office investments in Calgary,” Crestpoint president Kevin Leon said in a media release announcing the Calgary purchases.
“This investment is attractive as it provides a cost base well below replacement cost, an attractive going-in yield and upside in the future either through re-leasing the existing office space or at some point in the future the creation of high-rise residential projects.”
Crestpoint acquired 100 per cent interests in the Calgary properties on behalf of the Crestpoint open-end fund. The deal closed on Jan. 30.
Calgary Beltline office properties
Both properties are in Calgary’s Beltline, an area that has continued to see development despite an extended slowdown in the Alberta economy due to depressed prices for oil and other natural resources.
“The Beltline continues to be one of Calgary’s fastest-growing areas given the convenient access to amenities, attractions, public transit and recent multiresidential development,” Leon said in the release.
The two towers were previously part of Artis REIT’s (AX-UN-T) portfolio.
Artis has been actively readjusting its holdings during the past several years, diversifying from what used to be a heavily weighted Alberta portfolio, divesting non-core or lower-performing properties and expanding its presence in new markets including the U.S.
Artis president and CEO Armin Martens said early in 2019 the REIT planned to divest up to $600 million in assets during the year.
Stampede Station: 1327-1331 Macleod Trail SE
Stampede Station is a 162,000-square-foot, 10-storey class-A building with ground-floor retail and 373 underground and surface parking stalls.
Built in 2008, it has achieved LEED-EB Gold, BOMA BEST Gold and Energy Star certification.
It is leased to a variety of long-term high-quality tenants including Rogers Insurance, AppDirect and Enerflex Systems.
Stampede Station is across the street from the BMO Centre, Calgary’s largest convention centre, and offers quick access to the Victoria Park/Stampede CTrain station.
The acquisition includes 0.64 acres of land zoned for future residential development.
TransAlta Place: 110 12th Avenue SW
The three-building TransAlta Place office property in Calgary. (Courtesy Crestpoint)
TransAlta Place is comprised of three office buildings totaling over 336,000 square feet and 295 underground parking stalls, encompassing an entire city block.
“The building is a unique property as it has a campus feel with multiple towers, plenty of amenity space and is situated close to the downtown core,” says the release from Crestpoint.
The complex is 100 per cent leased to TransAlta, Canada’s largest clean electricity provider.
TransAlta Place is adjacent to the proposed Green CTrain line, which is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
Following these major acquisitions, Crestpoint’s total assets under management have grown to $4.9 billion.
Montreal purchase
Located at 1010 de la Gauchetière St. W. in the central business district, Place du Canada is a 384,000-square-foot, 22-storey office building with two levels of retail and a 352-stall underground parking garage.
It is leased to a diversified roster of premier tenants, including National Bank, The Guarantee Company of North America and Fuller Landau Associates. Place du Canada has excellent transit access as it is connected to Montreal’s underground city including the subway system, train and bus stations and a future LRT station.
Jamie Miller, Crestpoint’s senior director, acquisitions and asset management, told RENX last week that with National Bank poised to move into a new head office in late 2023, Crestpoint will embark on a major overhaul of the building with an eye to repositioning it within the market.
Place du Canada is Crestpoint’s second Montreal office acquisition, after 630 René-Lévesque Blvd. W.
About Crestpoint
Crestpoint is a commercial real estate investment manager with $4.9 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, New York and London, Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group and its affiliates are collectively responsible for the management of over $79 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2019.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
