The Taunton Apartments in Oakville have been sold to Realstar Group by Branthaven Homes. (Google Street View)

Realstar Group has acquired the new, purpose-built The Taunton apartments property in the suburban Greater Toronto Area city of Oakville for $164 million from its builder, Branthaven Homes of Burlington.

The transaction for the 12-storey, 286-unit luxury property translates to $573,427 per unit, according to data supplied to RENX by Altus Group. This makes it one of the most expensive per-unit multires transactions in Canadian history.

Construction on the property at 2333 Taunton Rd. was completed in 2019.

The building contains a mix of units ranging from one-bedroom apartments to two-bedroom-plus-den. According to the Taunton website, units range from about 830 to 1,220 square feet and listed rents range from $2,575 to just under $3,200 per month.

The combination of larger apartments, premium finishes and a long list of amenities which were included in the development is a formula well-suited to a city such as Oakville, one of the most affluent in Canada.

The Taunton amenities

Amenities include in-suite washers and dryers, a concierge, fitness centre, billiards room, private dining room and catering kitchen, a rooftop terrace, parcel lockers and pet care area. The Taunton has both surface and underground parking, as well as two guest suites.

“The grandeur and elegance of classic high-end hotels and super luxury homes are the inspiration behind the rich materials and soaring scale of The Taunton apartments,” says a blog post on the Branthaven website.

“Residents and their guests will enjoy world-class amenities, best-in-class services and stunning interiors to make the most of carefree luxury rental living.”

There is also retail/commercial space on the ground floor.

The 1.9-acre property fronts onto both Taunton Road and Oak Park Boulevard, just south of Dundas Street East and Trafalgar Road.

Construction of The Taunton apartments also came at a time when there had been almost no apartment construction in the area for several years.

Pent-up demand from aging downsizers and rapid population growth in and around the GTA also contributed to the value of the property.

According to transaction data from Altus, the acquisition is also one of the largest residential transactions in the GTA during the past 13 months.

In fact, the only residential asset sales which were larger involved more than 900 units at Rossland Park in Oshawa ($220 million) and a 44-building portfolio sale by Continuum REIT to Starlight Investments for $1.735 billion.

About Branthaven and Realstar

The Taunton apartment project was something of a departure for Branthaven, however.

Branthaven has been in business for almost 50 years, but the family-owned company is known mainly as a builder of single-family and detached homes, towns and condos.

Despite Branthaven being new to rentals, the development garnered major accolades from the industry. Taunton won eight awards in the 2019 Hamilton Halton Homebuilders Association Awards of Distinction, including Project of the Year in the Mid-High Rise category.

Realstar Group is a privately owned real-estate investment and management company with over $7 billion of assets focused on rental residential, hospitality and alternative asset classes.

It has an extensive track record in the rental apartment sector, with over 25,000 units across Canada, as well as holdings in the U.S., Asia, the Caribbean and the U.K.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was amended after publishing to correct the per-unit price for the building. RENX apologizes for the error.