KIN Capital Partners is part of a joint venture planning two high-rise residential towers in the Weston area of Toronto. (Courtesy KIN Capital Partners)

KIN Capital Partners is partnering with Castlepoint Numa and Forthlane Partners to build two high-rise residential towers in the Weston area of Toronto as the company continues to expand in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) housing market.

Jacob Iftah, co-founder and managing partner of KIN Capital Partners, said the development is adjacent to the Weston GO/UP Express Station on Weston Road and the transit-oriented project is strategically located within a 15-minute ride from both Union Station and the Pearson Airport.

He said the investor remains bullish on the GTA market even during these challenging macro-economic times because of the region’s strong population and job growth fundamentals which have produced a substantial supply-demand imbalance.

“We have been heavily focused on investing in large-scale projects that are increasing the supply in the more affordable areas of the city, with close proximity to transit,” Iftah said.

“From our perspective, we are very active in the market. Since we launched the platform not too long ago we’ve created six deals. . . .The fact that interest rates are going up and there are challenges and softness in the market we are aware and understand that, but at the core the fundamentals of the market stay the same.”

Iftah expects supply and demand to be in worse shape in a few years as developers are delaying sales.

“Because we are buying land that is two or three years away from being zoned . . . our view is a long-term view and if anything the environment has created opportunities to be even more active than what we planned to because it’s harder for developers to raise equity and it’s harder for developers to acquire properties now due to capital shortage.

“It creates, from our perspective, a lot of opportunities while the market from a fundamentals perspective hasn’t changed a bit. If anything it got better because less people are going to be building in the next year or so.”

KIN “very active” in the GTA

KIN Capital Partners, a Toronto-based global real estate investor, asset manager and advisory firm, recently announced it has partnered with Israeli-based Mivtach Shamir Holdings to invest in major residential developments in the GTA.

KIN was launched in January 2020 as it identified a gap in the market on the equity side, particularly for larger-scale developments in the GTA.

Iftah said KIN has now closed on four deals. The Weston deal is its second.

Its first deal was announced in May. The partnership with Elad Canada and Ellsworth involves the acquisition of an 11.6-acre site at 3300 Rutherford Rd. in Vaughan in close proximity to Hwy. 400 and the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre to develop a large-scale master-planned community.

“We’re very active and we’re continuing to look at deals. We’re probably going to approve our seventh deal (soon). We continue to be very bullish on the city. We continue to be very active,” he said.

When asked how many residential units will be brought to the market in those seven deals, Iftah replied: “it would be between nine to 10 million square feet. And the unit count varies depending on how much we’re going to end up with.

“But we’re talking about significant projects. We have two master-planned communities that, combined, are about half (of the total square footage). . . . We’re looking at the bigger scale because at the end of the day this is what we think is going to do much better in the long run.”

Two Weston Road developments

Iftah detailed the Weston project as including two separate developments at 1830 – 1844 Weston Rd. and 1798 – 1808 Weston Rd. Castlepoint Numa will lead the development.

The properties are on the same block but they will be separate development applications which may be submitted to the city before the end of the current quarter.

“They will be attractive product for both tenants and for investors and for foreign buyers,” said Iftah. “We just like the area; so close to transit and so close to downtown. But this area is still completely undeveloped. We really like to go into those nodes.

Jacob Iftah, managing partner of KIN Capital Partners. (Courtesy KIN Capital Partners)

“Typically we go there when there’s a couple of applications already ahead of us. There’s a few developers that are in front of us in the line, but the area is still not there and we’re very bullish about that node.

“So if there’s going to be more opportunities to do more there we’ll definitely be doing that.”

Iftah said he couldn’t provide specifics on the projects as they are currently being worked on for submission in the development application process with the city.

The intent, though, is for two high-rise towers with a significant number of residential units.

“The business plan right now is condos. We may change it later down the road but for now our mandate is to do condos . . . but there is a chance we’ll adjust if the market will be a better fit for us,” he said.

“You don’t get many sites where you can get in 15 minutes to downtown Toronto directly without any stops . . . From a location perspective this area has been just a little bit unfortunate and a little bit overlooked over the years.

“I think it’s been time for a while now for this area to change and evolve and we’re happy to be one of the first groups to develop this area in a significant way.”

Iftah said Castlepoint had assembled the pieces of land over a period of years and KIN bought into the partnership.

“We’re excited to welcome our new partners KIN Capital and Forthlane as they share our enthusiasm and commitment to unlocking the full potential of the Weston and Lawrence community,” said Jeff Brenner, partner at Castlepoint Numa, in a news release.

“The adjacency to transit, the natural amenities of the Humber River and the diversity of its residents present the characteristics we seek for our community development projects.”