The Camby is a twin-building multifamily property in Cambridge, Ont., which has been acquired by BGO. (Courtesy BGO)
BGO recently picked up two rental apartment buildings designed specifically for that use – The Camby in Cambridge, Ontario, and Blueprint Residences in Greater Victoria, B. C. – as part of their careful growth strategy.
“We are looking to add multifamily assets to our portfolio and are very focused on assets like The Camby,” BGO principal of portfolio management Adam Hagedorn told RENX.
Hagedorn admitted the multifamily sector faces some hurdles – mostly because a large number of condo owners have put their units up for rent. But since not many new rentals will be built soon, combined with growing populations in key areas, this should work out well for those who own or develop purpose-built rental apartments.
“The developers’ play is to make land acquisitions and start building the product and have the core institutional groups purchase those assets in five years,” Hagedorn explained. “For us today, it’s challenging to make that development economics pencil.”
“If there’s shovel-ready land that we could access and start building on immediately, we could see a possibility for development of those projects. But if there’s a development timeline and horizon attached to it, it’s very challenging to make the development economics work.”
The Camby acquisition
BGO bought The Camby using one of its main account funds for $147 million from Belmont Equity Partners, an Oakville-based boutique real estate investment firm that has developed or repositioned over 1.3 million square feet of buildings and managed zoning and master planning for more than 175 acres of land.
Cushman & Wakefield served as the seller’s advisor while Mc Carthy Tétrault LLP was legal counsel for BGO.
Hagedorn noted other institutional investors showed interest in The Camby, leading to a two-stage bidding process before the sale was finalized.
“The brand-new construction was very attractive to us,” Hagedorn said. “It will minimize long-term capital planning requirements and we should be able to just generate a very attractive, stable cash yield.”
What The Camby offers
The Camby was finished between 2023 and 2024 at 140 and 150 Hollywood Ct. in Cambridge with 284 units averaging about 762 square feet each. Roughly half have one bedroom plus a den; the rest offer two bedrooms or two bedrooms plus a den.
This property consists of two connected eight-storey buildings joined by a three-storey amenities pavilion featuring a fitness centre, smart parcel lockers, pet spa, rooftop terrace with fire pits, entertainment lounge, games room, various co-working spaces, plus 338 parking spots.
“This is one of the highest quality rental projects that we’ve seen completed in the GTA,” Hagedorn said. “It has an amazing amenity package attached to it, it’s well-built, and the mid-rise nature really lends itself to a real community feel.”
Sustainability-wise, The Camby includes hybrid heat pumps in every unit; motion-activated lighting common areas; plus advanced energy monitoring systems covering water usage along with hydro and thermal energy consumption.
The location is close to public transit routes and Highway 401 giving easy access both Waterloo Region jobs centres as well as Milton and Mississauga nearby.
BGO Living manages The Camby property currently with occupancy nearing stabilization at roughly 92 percent full.
The Blueprint Residences acquisition
Blueprint Residences was developed by West Urban Developments Ltd., based out of Campbell River B. C., known for over 25 multifamily developments since starting operations back in 2017.
BGO bought this site partnering with client Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada through separately managed accounts.
A Western Investor story quoted sources putting Blueprint Residences’ price near $160 million – making it possibly Vancouver Island’s biggest single-property multifamily deal ever recorded.
“Our conviction in the Victoria market is rooted in strong population growth, high-quality employment driven by healthcare and government sectors and long-term housing undersupply,” BGO managing partner and Canadian chief investment officer Simon Holmes said when announcing this purchase.
What Blueprint Residences offers
Sitting at 15-23 Erskine Lane within View Royal (a town inside Greater Victoria), Blueprint consists of four five-storey buildings totaling over 218 thousand square feet containing some 336 homes alongside around 356 parking spaces available onsite.
BGO Living will take charge of leasing duties along with daily operations plus programs aimed at engaging residents directly; they also plan marketing campaigns combined with targeted upgrades for shared amenities over time too.
This property sits on roughly five acres next door from Victoria General Hospital with convenient transit connections downtown thanks mainly due access via Trans-Canada Highway corridors nearby as well.
BGO’s activity across Canada’s rental sector
Together with Rio Can REIT’s Rio Can Living arm-which owns half-the company co-owns Pivot: a tall residential tower boasting some 361 apartments located near Yonge Street & Sheppard Avenue East Toronto intersections currently under partial sale discussions involving Rio Can’s stake-but Hagedorn didn’t comment on whether they want full control yet or not either way:
“Rio Can has announced it is selling its non-managing interest in the property,”
and beyond:
<BGO operates globally providing real estate advisory services dealing across office space industrial properties retail outlets hospitality venues plus multiresidential holdings broadly speaking-maintaining offices spread over twenty-five cities across twelve countries servicing upward seven hundred fifty big institutional clients worldwide.
As at September end last year US$89 billion worth assets were managed including more than twelve thousand apartments throughout Canada alone.
In Ontario alone you’ll find their multifamily investments scattered throughout Toronto proper but extending into surrounding cities such as Mississauga Pickering Kitchener Waterloo along Cambridge too.
Further westward locations include places like Vancouver Victoria Calgary Edmonton among others where similar rental apartment ownership continues steadily expanding within their portfolio now increasingly balanced coast-to-coast nationwide presence overall.
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