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The Stampede Station office complex in Calgary. (Courtesy Crestpoint)
Just days after making a major office purchase in Montreal, Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd., has announced the acquisition of two large office properties in Calgary. Crestpoint purchased Stampede Station and TransAlta Place, adding 498,000 square feet of leasable space to its portfolio.
Crestpoint also purchased the Place du Canada in Montreal in a transaction which closed on Dec. 30, 2019. In total, the acquisitions represent $190 million in investments.
“While Crestpoint has existing industrial and retail assets in the Greater Calgary Area, we are excited to announce that these two acquisitions mark our first office investments in Calgary,” Crestpoint president Kevin Leon said in a media release announcing the Calgary purchases.
“This investment is attractive as it provides a cost base well below replacement cost, an attractive going-in yield and upside in the future either through re-leasing the existing office space or at some point in the future the creation of high-rise residential projects.”
Crestpoint acquired 100 per cent interests in the Calgary properties on behalf of the Crestpoint open-end fund. The deal closed on Jan. 30.
Calgary Beltline office properties
Both properties are in Calgary’s Beltline, an area that has continued to see development despite an extended slowdown in the Alberta economy due to depressed prices for oil and other natural resources.
“The Beltline continues to be one of Calgary’s fastest-growing areas given the convenient access to amenities, attractions, public transit and recent multiresidential development,” Leon said in the release.
The two towers were previously part of Artis REIT’s (AX-UN-T) portfolio.
Artis has been actively readjusting its holdings during the past several years, diversifying from what used to be a heavily weighted Alberta portfolio, divesting non-core or lower-performing properties and expanding its presence in new markets including the U.S.
Artis president and CEO Armin Martens said early in 2019 the REIT planned to divest up to $600 million in assets during the year.
Stampede Station: 1327-1331 Macleod Trail SE
Stampede Station is a 162,000-square-foot, 10-storey class-A building with ground-floor retail and 373 underground and surface parking stalls.
Built in 2008, it has achieved LEED-EB Gold, BOMA BEST Gold and Energy Star certification.
It is leased to a variety of long-term high-quality tenants including Rogers Insurance, AppDirect and Enerflex Systems.
Stampede Station is across the street from the BMO Centre, Calgary’s largest convention centre, and offers quick access to the Victoria Park/Stampede CTrain station.
The acquisition includes 0.64 acres of land zoned for future residential development.
TransAlta Place: 110 12th Avenue SW
The three-building TransAlta Place office property in Calgary. (Courtesy Crestpoint)
TransAlta Place is comprised of three office buildings totaling over 336,000 square feet and 295 underground parking stalls, encompassing an entire city block.
“The building is a unique property as it has a campus feel with multiple towers, plenty of amenity space and is situated close to the downtown core,” says the release from Crestpoint.
The complex is 100 per cent leased to TransAlta, Canada’s largest clean electricity provider.
TransAlta Place is adjacent to the proposed Green CTrain line, which is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
Following these major acquisitions, Crestpoint’s total assets under management have grown to $4.9 billion.
Montreal purchase
Located at 1010 de la Gauchetière St. W. in the central business district, Place du Canada is a 384,000-square-foot, 22-storey office building with two levels of retail and a 352-stall underground parking garage.
It is leased to a diversified roster of premier tenants, including National Bank, The Guarantee Company of North America and Fuller Landau Associates. Place du Canada has excellent transit access as it is connected to Montreal’s underground city including the subway system, train and bus stations and a future LRT station.
Jamie Miller, Crestpoint’s senior director, acquisitions and asset management, told RENX last week that with National Bank poised to move into a new head office in late 2023, Crestpoint will embark on a major overhaul of the building with an eye to repositioning it within the market.
Place du Canada is Crestpoint’s second Montreal office acquisition, after 630 René-Lévesque Blvd. W.
About Crestpoint
Crestpoint is a commercial real estate investment manager with $4.9 billion of gross assets under management.
Crestpoint is part of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, a multi-boutique asset management company that provides investment management products and services to institutional and high net-worth clients.
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 $79 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2019.
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