Forum Asset Management’s $183-million acquisition of a 579-unit student residence near the University of Ottawa topped the list of the capital’s most valuable commercial real estate transactions in 2024 as trading volumes held steady with the previous year.
Already a Subscriber? Log in
Get Instant Access to This Article
Become an Ottawa Business Journal Insider and get immediate access to all of our Insider-only content and much more.
Forum Asset Management’s $183-million acquisition of a 579-unit student residence near the University of Ottawa topped the list of the capital’s most valuable commercial real estate transactions in 2024 as trading volumes held steady with the previous year.
The Toronto-based investment firm purchased the property at 256 Rideau St. and 211 Besserer St. from Choo Communities in October. It was one of four deals involving multifamily properties on last year’s top-10 list as the asset class accounted for $1.37 billion in transactions – more than half of Ottawa’s total deal volume of $2.23 billion, according to figures compiled by Colliers.
It marked the fifth consecutive year that multifamily properties were the top-performing asset class in Ottawa, Colliers said in a report provided to OBJ last week.
The company said strong demand for rental housing fuelled by “population growth and a preference for rental living” attracted investors seeking “high-quality properties, stability and resilient returns.”
Colliers vice-president of national investment services Michael Pyman said it was no surprise that rental and townhome complexes dominated the list of transactions.
“I think all the underlying fundamentals in that space continue to be strong,” Pyman said in an interview on Wednesday. “Multifamily was definitely the darling last year. There’s a lot of interest in that sector.”
Retail transactions also accounted for a significant chunk of the city’s investment activity last year, with the $73.5-million sale of Carlingwood Shopping Centre from the Ontario Pension Board to Vancouver-based Anthem Properties Group and Toronto’s Streamliner Properties leading the way.
Also making the top-10 list was Choice Properties REIT’s $31.65-million deal to purchase the Avalon Centre on Tenth Line Road in Orléans from HT Avalon late last year. The 85,000-square-foot strip mall is fully leased, with a tenant list that includes Farm Boy, Mattress Mart and a Barley Mow pub.
Pyman noted that retail space continues to be in high demand in Ottawa, with more potential tenants than available vacancies in many properties. He said he doesn’t expect that to change in 2025.
“There’s still a lot of interest in grocery-anchored (properties),” Pyman explained. “I think we’re going to see apartments and retail lead the way (in transactions again this year).”
On the other side of the coin, 2024 was a down year for office transactions as they accounted for just two of the top 10 deals.
The properties involved in both transactions – a 270,000-square-foot building at 181 Queen St. and the Chambers building at 40 Elgin St. – were sold to the federal government.
Both buildings fetched well above the average price of $183 per square foot that office properties attracted last year in Ottawa as the feds aggressively tried to “repatriate” properties near the Parliamentary precinct that were owned by the private sector, Pyman said.
“When they get an indication that some of these properties may be coming to market, they get in the front of the line and really jump on the opportunity,” he explained. “Those are sort of outliers. They’re not typical office transactions for Ottawa.”
Pyman said many large institutional investors remain wary of expanding their portfolios in the office asset class.
“There’s just so much uncertainty in (the office market),” he said. “The bigger pension funds and real estate investment trusts are kind of shying away from that space. There’s just too many headwinds in that market with back-to-work strategies still being uncertain.
“It presents an opportunity for some local buyers to maybe capture some of that market space. But certainly we’re not seeing as much interest in that part of the market.”
Overall, $2.23 billion worth of Ottawa commercial properties changed hands in 466 transactions last year. While the total number of transactions was up from 322 a year earlier, the total dollar value of commercial deals fell from $2.35 billion the previous year as the average deal value dropped from $6 million in 2023 to $5 million in 2024.
Pyman said total dollar volumes from the last two years mark a return to about the 10-year average for Ottawa after a spike that saw more than $3 billion worth of transactions in 2021 and 2022.
“I thought (2024) was a little bit of a sleepier year,” he said, adding he was “a little bit shocked” to see that dollar volumes ended up almost equal to 2023.
“You had some larger transactions take place in the last quarter. Take those out and we’re probably back down to 2020 levels.”
As for what’s in store for the next 11 months, Pyman said a lot will hinge on whether Canada and the United States settle their tariff feud.
“Trade wars have their way of filtering down to everything in the market,” he said. “It creates uncertainty, which is not a good thing for commercial real estate. I think that if we don’t come up with a solution to these tariffs and de-escalate, there’s going to be some more uncertainty in our marketplace, and I think more capital will decide to sit on the sidelines instead of being deployed.”
Also making the top-10 list was Choice Properties REIT’s $31.65-million deal to purchase the Avalon Centre on Tenth Line Road in Orléans from HT Avalon late last year. The 85,000-square-foot strip mall is fully leased, with a tenant list that includes Farm Boy, Mattress Mart and a Barley Mow pub.
Pyman noted that retail space continues to be in high demand in Ottawa, with more potential tenants than available vacancies in many properties. He said he doesn’t expect that to change in 2025.
“There’s still a lot of interest in grocery-anchored (properties),” Pyman explained. “I think we’re going to see apartments and retail lead the way (in transactions again this year).”
On the other side of the coin, 2024 was a down year for office transactions as they accounted for just two of the top 10 deals.
The properties involved in both transactions – a 270,000-square-foot building at 181 Queen St. and the Chambers building at 40 Elgin St. – were sold to the federal government.
Both buildings fetched well above the average price of $183 per square foot that office properties attracted last year in Ottawa as the feds aggressively tried to “repatriate” properties near the Parliamentary precinct that were owned by the private sector, Pyman said.
“When they get an indication that some of these properties may be coming to market, they get in the front of the line and really jump on the opportunity,” he explained. “Those are sort of outliers. They’re not typical office transactions for Ottawa.”
Pyman said many large institutional investors remain wary of expanding their portfolios in the office asset class.
“There’s just so much uncertainty in (the office market),” he said. “The bigger pension funds and real estate investment trusts are kind of shying away from that space. There’s just too many headwinds in that market with back-to-work strategies still being uncertain.
“It presents an opportunity for some local buyers to maybe capture some of that market space. But certainly we’re not seeing as much interest in that part of the market.”
Overall, $2.23 billion worth of Ottawa commercial properties changed hands in 466 transactions last year. While the total number of transactions was up from 322 a year earlier, the total dollar value of commercial deals fell from $2.35 billion the previous year as the average deal value dropped from $6 million in 2023 to $5 million in 2024.
Pyman said total dollar volumes from the last two years mark a return to about the 10-year average for Ottawa after a spike that saw more than $3 billion worth of transactions in 2021 and 2022.
“I thought (2024) was a little bit of a sleepier year,” he said, adding he was “a little bit shocked” to see that dollar volumes ended up almost equal to 2023.
“You had some larger transactions take place in the last quarter. Take those out and we’re probably back down to 2020 levels.”
As for what’s in store for the next 11 months, Pyman said a lot will hinge on whether Canada and the United States settle their tariff feud.
“Trade wars have their way of filtering down to everything in the market,” he said. “It creates uncertainty, which is not a good thing for commercial real estate. I think that if we don’t come up with a solution to these tariffs and de-escalate, there’s going to be some more uncertainty in our marketplace, and I think more capital will decide to sit on the sidelines instead of being deployed.”
OTTAWA'S TOP 10 COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS OF 2024
- Envie Rideau, 256 Rideau St. and 211 Besserer St. – $183 million – student apartments, 579 units, sold by Choo Communities to Forum Asset Management
- 181 Queen Street – $125.3 million – downtown class-A office, 270,543 square feet, sold by Morguard to His Majesty the King in Right of Canada (Public Services and Procurement Canada)
- 1-27 Woodfield Dr., 12-26 Woodfield Dr., 30-72 Chesterton Dr. – $86 million – affordable housing townhouses, 311 units, sold by Minto Group to Ottawa Community Housing
- Nuovo Apartment, 518 Rochester St. – $78.5 million – highrise apartment, 144 units, sold by RealStar Group to CAPREIT
- Carlingwood Shopping Centre – $73.5 million – regional shopping centre, 632,700 square feet, sold by Ontario Pension Board to Streamliner Properties and Anthem Properties Group
- The Chambers, 40 Elgin St. – $51 million – downtown class-A office space, sold by Chambers Building (Ottawa) Inc. to His Majesty the King in Right of Canada (PSPC)
- Sophia Apartments, 91 Valleystream Dr. – $44,986,400 – highrise apartment, 136 units, sold by Minto Group to Homestead Land Holdings
- 2215 Gladwin Cres. – $36.8 million – industrial warehouse, 201,323 square feet, sold by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and CBC Pension Fund to KingSett Capital
- Avalon Centre, 2030 Tenth Line Rd. – $31.65 million – neighbourhood shopping centre, 85,438 square feet, sold by HT Avalon Inc. to Choice Properties REIT
- Sheraton Ottawa Hotel, 150 Albert St. – $31.1 million – hotel, 236 rooms, sold by Delta Hotels by Marriott to Sunray Group of Hotels
