The Regency on Main apartment tower in Hamilton. On the right is the attached hotel, linked by a podium. (Google Maps)
Quad Real Property Group has bought three apartment complexes across Greater Toronto and the Greater Golden Horseshoe for $300 million.
These three buildings, all different in age and size, together offer 750 units, according to Altus Group’s recent transaction listings. The sellers were ICBC and Starlight.
The deals closed back in April, months after COVID-19 initially slowed down many big commercial real estate and apartment sales. Still, no official details were made public at that time.
Here are the properties involved:
* 140 Main St. W. in Hamilton;
* 245 Lena Cres. in Cambridge;
* 1505 Ottawa St. N. in Kitchener.
The Regency on Main in Hamilton
The property at Main Street in Hamilton, called Regency on Main, is a newer building that’s part of a two-tower complex connected to a Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel. The towers share a podium that covers much of the downtown block and also faces Bay Street.
It’s just a few blocks from Highway 403 and close to the waterfront area including Jackson Point and local trails, plus shopping at Jackson Square.
Apartments here range from one to three bedrooms with sizes between 567 and 1,672 square feet.
Amenities include plenty of perks like a rooftop terrace with BBQ on the fifth floor, fitness centre, fireplace lounge, a 4K movie theatre room, swimming pool, storage lockers, plus units with ceilings around 10 feet high.
Starlight had originally purchased this property through a forward-sale deal with the developer back in 2017.
Kitchener and Cambridge apartments
245 Lena Cres., located next to two towers near Hespeler Street’s main commercial strip in Cambridge, sits right across from Cambridge Centre mall.
This building dates back to the 1980s.
1505 Ottawa St. N., meanwhile, is an eight-storey mid-rise located in Kitchener’s eastern suburbs near where it meets Cambridge.
It borders a large green space behind which flows the Grand River and is just across from some food stores and smaller shops along the street.
Nearby you’ll find plenty of community spots like schools , sports fields , as well as a community centre featuring an arena and library – all within walking distance.
A representative from Starlight said they can’t discuss this sale because of confidentiality rules. RENX reached out but didn’t get immediate comment from Quad Real.
Documents show Cambridge ’ s building sold for $99 million , Kitchener ’ s went for $59 million , while Regency on Main brought $142 million.
Still , several apartment deals have gone through since early pandemic months , with SVN Rock Advisors CEO Derek Lobo saying during a recent webinar more could come soon.
Apartment investments look promising
One big reason is this sector kept doing pretty well despite lockdowns , with rent payments not dropping as much as expected.
Lobo mentioned big institutional investors will likely be rethinking their portfolios – which could spark more buying or selling action.
“Some might want to buy apartments , some might want to sell apartments but I suspect that most institutions were underweighted in the apartment class anyway and they are going to want to buy apartments,” he explained.”
“Partly because apartments came through this period – we’re certainly not through it by a long shot- but apartments have done well, better than almost anybody expected.”
Quad Real operates globally managing real estate investment & development programs tied to British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI).
BCI manages one of Canada’s largest asset portfolios totaling about $153.4 billion.
Lobo expects there will be some excitement once economies fully reopen; jobs come back; folks start living more normal lives again.
“People are going to be happy when this occurs and virtually every conversation I’ve had with almost anyone,” he said,“they’ve said,’Now Derek I am sitting on dry powder looking for bargains – bring me some deals.’”
“Honestly, I don’t think there will be many deals coming up – especially not many involving apartments. But we’ve picked up quite a few listings over these past ten weeks because we’ve been busy.”
“We expect to put about five buildings up for sale shortly.”
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