Toronto-based Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. has purchased two major properties in Calgary as its first office tower acquisitions in the city.
Crestpoint purchased Stampede Station and TransAlta Place, adding 498,000 square feet of leasable space to its portfolio. Both office complexes are in Calgary’s Beltline area, close to downtown. The acquisitions closed on January 30.
Stampede Station is a 162,000-square-foot, 10-storey Class-A office building with ground-floor retail and 373 underground and surface parking stalls. Sited on 0.64 acres, it is directly across from BMO Centre, Calgary’s largest convention centre, on land zoned for high-density residential development.
TransAlta Place is composed of three office buildings totalling more than 336,000 square feet and 295 underground parking stalls, encompassing an entire city block. It is adjacent to a proposed transit-line extension that is scheduled to complete in 2026. TransAlta is 100 per cent leased.
Crestpoint did not release the sale price of the two properties, but said it was “well below” the replacement cost.
The current assessed value of Stampede Station is $46.1 million, while TransAlta Place is assessed at $52.32 million.
Show of support
The transactions appear as a vote of support for Calgary’s teetering office sector, which has a near 25 per cent vacancy rate, the highest in Canada.
“While Crestpoint has existing industrial and retail assets in the Greater Calgary area, these two acquisitions mark our first office investments in Calgary. This investment is attractive as it provides a cost base well below replacement cost, an attractive going-in yield and upside in the future either through releasing the existing office space or, at some point in the future, the creation of high-rise residential projects,” said Kevin Leon, president of Crestpoint, in a released statement.
Crestpoint is an asset management arm of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, with offices in New York, Chicago and Canada. Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group and its affiliates are collectively responsible for the management of over $79 billion in assets.
