Ottawa’s commercial real estate investment market jumped off to a hot start in the first quarter of the year, with $379 million in local assets changing hands, according to real estate services firm CBRE.
That’s up 13 per cent over the first quarter of 2017 and 23 per cent higher than the five-year average, CBRE added.
One of the quarter’s largest transactions was Fiera Properties’ $74-million purchase of a four-building portfolio in Kanata. The properties – 3000 and 3001 Solandt Rd., 450 March Rd. and 1001 Farrar Rd. – were previously managed by Morguard on behalf of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
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The first-quarter figures come on the heels of investment sales reaching a five-year high in 2017, with more than $2 billion in transactions led by the purchase of Constitution Square by Canderel, Greystone and Canstone.
“Our feeling is that 2018 is definitely going to be another big year,” Nico Zentil, a senior vice-president at CBRE’s national investment team, previously told OBJ.
The top first-quarter transactions, according to CBRE, were:
| Property | Price | Unit rate | Purchaser |
|---|---|---|---|
| 131-141 Cooper St. (hotel) | $48,000,000 | $230,769 per room | Paramount Properties |
| 1100 & 1101 Polytek St. (industrial) | $42,500,000 | $175 per square foot | Morguard Realty |
| 3000 Solandt Rd. (Part of office portfolio sale) | $41,000,000 | $208 per square foot | Fiera Properties |
| 236 Richmond Rd. (multi-residential) | $36,250,000 | $510,563 per door | InterRent REIT |


