PRO Real Estate Investment Trust (PRV-UN-T) has completed the sale of 12 retail properties in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for $51.3 million, one of the REIT's final tasks en route to becoming a pure-play light industrial investor.

The assets total approximately 277,000 square feet of gross leasable area (GLA) and were sold for $185 per square foot, excluding closing costs. The completed sales include transactions for nine properties that were previously announced as sold for $39.8 million, and an additional three properties that closed for $11.5 million.

Among the assets are the 2480–2485 King-George Highway properties, which were previously disclosed as one property within a six-property retail portfolio in Atlantic Canada. PROREIT has reported the properties as four separate buildings for this announcement.

PROREIT has not divulged the buyers.

Montreal-based PROREIT now has industrial base rent making up 90 per cent of its annualized portfolio base rent, hitting a medium-term target of the company.

Achieving the goal “marks an important achievement for PROREIT in its evolution from a diversified REIT to a pure-play light industrial REIT, a process that began in 2023," Gordon G. Lawlor, president and CEO of PROREIT, said in the announcement.

Properties involved in the sales

From the net proceeds of the sales, approximately $27 million was used to repay related mortgages and approximately $13 million allocated to partially repay amounts drawn under PROREIT's revolving credit facility. The remaining funds will be directed toward general business purposes.

PROREIT's shift to pure-play industrial

PROREIT has been making steps to move away from being a diversified REIT to a pure-play light industrial company.

In May, PROREIT acquired six properties in Winnipeg totalling 678,177 square feet of GLA for $96.5 million from Toronto-based Parkit Enterprises (PKT-X). In exchange, Parkit acquired a 9.6 per cent stake in PROREIT.

The acquisition elevated PROREIT's industrial exposure to approximately 88 per cent of GLA and 83 per cent of its base rent.

With the sale of these 12 properties, PROREIT now owns 106 investment properties that represent approximately 6.4 million square feet of GLA. Industrial assets now make up 92 per cent of GLA and 90 per cent of annualized base rent.

"Looking ahead, we will remain focused on strengthening our position as a prominent Canadian light industrial REIT and on delivering long-term, sustainable value for our stakeholders," Lawlor said.