The Northport Business Park in Edmonton. (Courtesy Crestpoint Real Estate Investments)

Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. continued its early 2021 acquisition spree, announcing Wednesday it has acquired the Northport Business Park in Edmonton.

Northport Business Park is a class-A, new-generation warehousing and distribution complex located in northwest Edmonton. Built from 2009-’15, the property is comprised of five state-of-the-art buildings totalling 846,000 square feet.

It also includes 16.5 acres of outdoor storage yards and 42.8 acres of serviced excess land which could support an additional 700,000 square feet of density.

The business park was previously owned by Toronto-based Oxford Properties Group.

“Crestpoint’s acquisition of Northport Business Park, a premier Class-A industrial park, is a great addition to our portfolio’s existing number of quality industrial assets located across Canada,” said Colin MacKellar, the executive vice-president and COO of Crestpoint, in the announcement.

Third major acquisition in weeks for Crestpoint

It’s the third major acquisition for Crestpoint in the past five weeks.

In January, Crestpoint announced a joint venture with Ottawa-based InterRent to purchase a $292.5-million apartment portfolio in Vancouver, as well as the $300-million acquisition of the South Surrey Business Park in Metro Vancouver and the Centre on Barton retail power centre in Hamilton.

Following those transactions, Cretspoint’s vice-president of acquisitions and asset management Devon Howsam told RENX the company was actively pursuing more properties.

“The mandate for us to continue purchasing is always there,” Howsam told RENX at the time. “The current climate of the economy makes it more difficult, but our interest and desire to buy more property has not changed.”

Strategically positioned in proximity to surrounding transportation corridors, the Northport industrial property provides quick access to several major highways and the CN Edmonton Intermodal terminal.

It is 94 per cent leased to 11 tenants operating in various industries including third-party logistics, medical distribution, and building supply. Crestpoint acquired the asset within its Crestpoint Core Plus Real Estate Strategy, the firm’s open-ended investment fund.

“As the gateway to the north, Edmonton is conveniently located in several trade corridors, providing distribution and logistics companies with strategic access to all of northern Alberta, Northern British Columbia and many parts of Saskatchewan,” MacKellar said in the release.

“As e-commerce adoption continues to grow, we anticipate that the demand for quality industrial space, such as Northport, will continue to drive absorption and rental growth.”

About Crestpoint

Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. is a commercial real estate investment manager, which is part of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, a multi-boutique asset management company.

The acquisition raises Crestpoint’s assets under management to $5.8 billion.

With offices across Canada and in Chicago, New York and London, Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group and its affiliates are collectively responsible for the management of over $86 billion in assets.