A marquee downtown rental apartment complex has sold for $96 million in one of the biggest residential real estate transactions in recent Ottawa history.
The 16-storey highrise at 50 Laurier Ave. E. and 170-180 Waller St. was acquired by Homestead Land Holdings from QuadReal Property Group and RBC Global Asset Management in a deal that closed in late September.
Located on a triangular plot of land bordered by Laurier Avenue East, Nicholas Street and Waller Street west of the University of Ottawa campus, the building designed by Roderick Lahey Architects has become a prominent downtown landmark since it opened in 2003.
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“It’s a trophy asset in all facets of the word,” CBRE executive vice-president of capital markets Nico Zentil, who helped broker the deal on behalf of the sellers, told OBJ on Tuesday morning. “It really kind of checked every box in best-in-class there was to check. It got a lot of interest in the market.”
Homestead did not respond to requests for comment.
The 212-unit building has commercial and retail tenants on the ground floor and features amenities such as a fitness facility, indoor saltwater pool, sauna and rooftop patio.
“It’s the type of building everybody wants to own,” Zentil said. “Certainly, it’s one you’re happy to put on the front of your corporate brochure.”
The transaction adds to Homestead’s growing portfolio in the National Capital Region.
The Kingston-based company, which owns real estate across Ontario as well as in Calgary, currently manages 28 rental apartment properties in Ottawa.
Two years ago, the firm purchased a three-building apartment complex in Westboro for $267 million in what is believed to be the biggest residential real estate transaction in the city’s history.
The sale comes as the price of rental housing soars in Ottawa amid an ongoing supply crunch.
The latest report from Rentals.ca and real estate data firm Urbanation says the average new tenant in a one-bedroom apartment in the nation’s capital is now paying $2,055 a month, up nearly 11 per cent from a year earlier. The average two-bedroom unit was renting for $2,515 last month, a 12.6 per cent increase from September 2022.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Ottawa’s vacancy rate for purpose-built rental housing dropped to 2.1 per cent last year, down from 3.4 per cent in 2021.
Zentil said he expects the multi-residential market to keep drawing significant interest from investors as the city’s population grows and demand for housing intensifies.
“Its fundamentals are probably the strongest of all asset classes, just given where we’re seeing demographic trends in Ottawa – particularly with (economic) stability, population growth, immigration, etc.,” he said. “I think Ottawa’s going to benefit in a disproportionate way from that.”
