Toronto-based REIT acquires nine Ottawa car dealerships as part of $101M deal

A Toronto-based real estate investment trust that owns a string of car dealership properties across the country has expanded into Eastern Ontario.

Automotive Properties REIT (TSX:APR.UN) announced earlier this month it’s inked a deal to acquire 11 parcels of land in Ottawa and Kingston from the Mierins Automotive Group for $101.3 million. The agreement is expected to be finalized later this month.

The portfolio includes six properties that are home to nine dealerships as well as five properties that provide services to those dealers.

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Nine of the properties in the deal are located in Ottawa and two in Kingston, representing a total leasable area of more than 300,000 square feet. It’s the first foray into the eastern part of the province for Automotive Properties REIT, which will now own 54 properties representing 31 car brands in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, the Greater Toronto Area, Kingston, Ottawa and Montreal.

“This is our largest property acquisition to date and we look forward to adding a major new tenant group to our portfolio,” Milton Lamb, the REIT’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “The acquisition marks our first entry into the Ottawa market, effectively positioning us in another major Canadian metropolitan area.”

Under the agreement, the operators of the dealerships and related properties will lease back those facilities from Automotive Properties REIT for terms of 17 to 20 years.

The Ottawa-based dealerships involved in the deal are:

• Elite BMW (1040 Ogilvie Rd.)

• Civic Motors (1171 St. Laurent Blvd.)

• Camco Acura (1475 Carling Ave.)

• Mini Ottawa (1501 Carling Ave.)

• Mendes Toyota (1811 Bank St.)

• Ogilvie Subaru (1056 Parisien St.)

• Orleans Honda (2055 Mer Bleue Rd.)