1795 Willingdon is a three-storey office building in Burnaby, in Metro Vancouver. It has been acquired by Concert’s CREC fund. (Courtesy Concert)

Concert’s CREC Commercial Fund LP has paid $112.5 million to acquire a Metro Vancouver office building which is fully occupied by a provincial government tenant.

1795 Willingdon Ave. is a three-storey building with large floor plates of about 52,000 square feet. Located at the corner of Halifax Street, it contains 160,654 square feet of leasable office space.

B.C.’s Provincial Health Services Authority is the tenant. Concert says the agency is a “long-term, stable” tenant, although at some future point the property could be slated for redevelopment.

The building is located in Burnaby’s Brentwood neighbourhood. The 2.58-acre property is within the Brentwood Town Centre Development Plan core area.

“There is significant future redevelopment potential at this location, with the Brentwood Town Centre Development Plan identifying this site for high-density, mixed-use development consisting of residential and commercial uses,” a spokesman for Concert wrote in an exchange of emails.

The vendor was a private investor. Concert acquired a 100 per cent interest in the property.

Burnaby and Brentwood

As one of the fastest-growing areas in Metro Vancouver, Brentwood contains an abundance of commercial and social amenities.

The property is in a hub of new residential and commercial developments, including The Amazing Brentwood – one of British Columbia’s largest mixed-use community developments.

“This is Concert’s first acquisition in the Brentwood neighbourhood and we’re excited to be part of this rapidly growing community as we further expand our commercial portfolio in B.C.,” David Podmore, president and CEO of Concert, said in the announcement on Monday.

The Brentwood Town Center Skytrain Station is located two blocks south of the property, providing rapid transit connections to downtown Vancouver and Surrey.

The location also allows for easy vehicle and bike access along Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue, and is within short driving distance to Highway 1.

“We’re very pleased to acquire this premium office property in one of the fastest-growing areas of B.C.,” said Andrew Tong, Concert’s chief investment officer and managing director of the CREC fund, in the release. “With a long-term, stable, government tenant in PHSA, this acquisition will contribute stable returns to both our portfolio and to our pension fund and institutional investors.”

The Concert spokesman said the firm is continuing to seek “income-producing assets” for the fund in core Canadian markets.

In November, the fund acquired one of Western Canada’s largest distribution centres, a 1.2-million-square-foot facility in Rocky View County, just outside Calgary. Leased by Lowe’s, the $134-million facility sits on a 69.6-acre site in the High Plains Industrial Park.

Concert and the CREC Commercial Fund LP

Concert’s fully subscribed CREC Commercial Fund LP holds a diversified Canadian portfolio. The open-ended, limited partnership fund invests in and actively manages industrial and office real estate in Canada.

The portfolio is managed by Concert and is the firm’s exclusive commercial platform.

With the acquisition of this facility, the fund’s value will increase to over $2.5 billion and includes nearly 12 million square feet of industrial and office properties.

Concert was founded in 1989 and develops, acquires and manages Canadian real estate.

With over $8 billion in assets, it is backed and owned by over 200,000 Canadians, represented by union and management pension plans.

Concert delivers condominiums, active aging communities for seniors, rental apartments, industrial and commercial properties, and public infrastructure projects.