Colonnade BridgePort is continuing to expand its real estate management services division, setting up shop in Atlantic Canada where it will begin managing a portfolio of over a million square feet in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The Ottawa-based real estate developer, owner and manager says it has hired experienced property management and leasing staff, and opened offices in Halifax/Dartmouth and Fredericton.

Colonnade BridgePort plans to provide a full suite of management services for all asset classes including office, retail, industrial and residential.

The initial management portfolio includes industrial/flex properties and two land-hold mandates in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Fredericton and Moncton.

“We determined that our approach to real estate management was an ideal fit for the Atlantic Canada market,” Ron Matheson, Colonnade’s senior vice-president, real estate management services, said in the announcement.

“We are excited to embark on this new chapter of our business growth and we are confident we will make a positive impact in the region by helping clients maximize the potential of their assets and position them for long-term success.”

Managing large Ontario Fiera Real Estate portfolio

Colonnade BridgePort first expanded into the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), southern and southwestern Ontario in 2018, where its operations have grown steadily.

Last fall, Colonnade BridgePort announced a major expansion of its property management operations, taking on a portfolio of about 2.1 million square feet of mainly industrial properties owned by Fiera Real Estate in Burlington, Brantford and Brampton in the GTA.

It marked a major expansion of the two companies’ relationship, which has included several developments as well as previous property management contracts.

The portfolio Colonnade BridgePort began managing in September includes:

• the Fiera Burlington portfolio of six industrial flex buildings, totalling approximately 250,000 square feet with 50 tenants;
• the Brantford portfolio of 11 industrial and retail buildings – approximately 1.3 million square feet – with 23 tenants; and
• the newly constructed Heart Lake Business Park in Brampton, home to five class-A industrial buildings comprising approximately 750,000 square feet.

"Colonnade BridgePort recognizes that mid-market institutional and private equity/high-net-worth property owners and investors are faced with a fragmented real estate services market that creates extra work, costs more and delivers less,” Matheson told RENX at that time in an exchange of emails.

“Colonnade BridgePort has built its management platform around its expertise in providing mid-market owners and investors with a best-in-class, multi-disciplined institutional-grade services platform capable of delivering more in return.”

The firm now manages over 12.5 million square feet of space in all asset classes including office, retail and industrial, and residential across Ottawa, the GTA and southern and southwestern Ontario, and Atlantic Canada. 

About half of that portfolio is owned by Fiera.