Lankin Apartment REIT has acquired a 258-unit multifamily residential community in Ottawa, parent company Lankin Investments announced this week.

The building, located at 1551 Lycee Pl., "strengthens Lankin's footprint in the National Capital Region, a market characterized by government-anchored employment and rental demand," Lankin said in the announcement.

The property was acquired for $72 million in a deal which closed last month.

Lankin Investments president, capital markets, Ray Punn told RENX Ottawa is an attractive market for adding multifamily properties to the company's portfolio.

"Ottawa offers a stable, government-anchored employment base, growing population, and constrained rental supply, all of which contributing to a low 2.9 per cent vacancy rate," he said. "We view the market as a natural complement to our existing Ontario portfolio given its resilience and long-term demand fundamentals."

Other recent acquisitions

The acquisition follows a flurry of buying in 2025 which saw Lankin pick up three multifamily assets in Brampton, Ont. 

Lankin acquired 2 and 4 Silver Maple Ct. in Brampton for $132 million last May, adding the 23-storey, 339-unit apartment building at 6 Silver Maple Ct. at the end of 2025 for $115 million.

1551 Lycee Place

The 23-storey residential building was previously owned by GWL Realty Advisors. It is comprised of 115 one-bedroom units (averaging 709 sq. ft.) and 143 two-bedroom units (averaging 958 sq. ft.), for a weighted average suite size of 847 sq. ft.

Punn said Lankin was attracted to the building's strong fundamentals.

"1551 Lycée Pl. is a well-amenitized 258-suite high-rise in Ottawa's transit-connected Riverview neighbourhood, offering strong revenue growth potential driven by below-market in-place rents and immediate operational synergies through Lankin's existing Ottawa presence, which creates a clear path to value creation," he said. "The property features a well-balanced suite mix, extensive on-site amenities, and the durable construction quality of a well-maintained concrete high-rise."

Among the onsite amenities are an indoor pool, fitness centre, tennis courts, playground, party room, laundry and 330 parking stalls.

The property is an eight-minute walk from the 1 at the Hurdman O-Train East stop in Ottawa and has a transit score of 81 and a bike score of 84. It is located withing walking distance of Dale Park, Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivor Park and Riverview Park and has a walk score of 54.

The Ottawa market

According to Urbanation, Ottawa's rental market became "more balanced" in Q1 with a vacancy rate of 3.2 per cent, a drop from 3.5 per cent in the previous quarter. However, the real estate consulting firm's Q1 Ottawa Rental Market Survey found over half of the rental buildings are now offering rental incentives.

"The most common incentive in the latest quarter was two months of free rent offered at 39 per cent of projects, which was double the share from a year ago," Urbanation noted.

The National Rent Report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows the average costs to rent in Ottawa in May were $1,961 for a one bedroom and $2,470 for two-bedroom units.

About Lankin

Lankin Apartment REIT has over $511 million in assets under management and apartment properties in Edmonton, Mississauga, Newmarket and Brampton - and now Ottawa.

Lankin Investments has over $2 billion in assets under management, with 70 properties and over 6,200 apartments under management and more than 2,500 under development.