Avenue Living Asset Management Ltd. has acquired three apartment properties in Calgary comprising 764 units and increasing its share of Calgary’s rental apartment market to over 4.5 per cent. The buildings were acquired for $138 million.

The properties are the Glenmore Estates at 2120 Southland Drive SW., Applewood at 3805 Marlborough Drive NE., and Woodlands Manor at 1825 Woodview Drive SW.

“We have always seen promise in the Prairies,” Avenue Living founder and CEO Anthony Giuffre said in a statement. “Over 40 per cent of our 750 employees are based in Calgary.

“This head office is also home to our vertically integrated platform, which supports our broader regions by drawing on efficiencies created by centralizing the disciplines of finance, legal, human resources, technology, marketing and property management.”

$103-million equity raise for Avenue Living

Avenue Living said the properties were attractive due to their affordable rental rates, as well as their proximity to other amenities such as green space and schools. It also intends to undertake strategic capital improvements to enhance the properties.

The acquisitions were funded in part by a $103-million equity raise for Avenue Living Real Estate Core Trust, which closed at the beginning of March.

The Core Trust is an open-ended fund, created in 2017 and focused on multiresidential assets. As of the end of January, its assets under management were valued at $2.54 billion.

“We are very excited about the timing of this accretive capital raise, and what it does for the execution of our continued growth and diversification activities,” Jason Jogia, chief investment officer at Avenue Living, said in a separate release.

“It builds on a carefully defined consolidation strategy focused on multifamily, low-to-medium density workforce housing apartment assets across the North American heartland.”

Rapid growth for Avenue Living

In 2021, Avenue Living reported the additions of over 2,800 multi-family apartment units, 6,600 acres of farmland and 1.75 million square feet of storage units to its various portfolios. The company is focused on expanding its position as a multi-family owner/operator in Canada, along with a growing presence in the self-storage, agriculture, and U.S. multifamily sectors.

During the past 20 months, Avenue Living has more than doubled the value of its assets under management.

Founded in 2006, Avenue now has 14,300 multiresidential units under management in 22 markets across North America. The company and its related entities own over 496,500 square feet of commercial space, 48,000 acres of farmland and more than 2.7 million square feet of self-storage space.

That adds up to over $3.5 billion in aggregate assets under management across its four real estate investment pillars.