OTTAWA, April 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colonnade BridgePort, on behalf of its partners, and Fiera Real Estate on behalf of Fiera Real Estate Core Fund LP, are pleased to announce a new partnership and successful acquisition of a five-acre urban re-development site located in central Ottawa with a development capacity of 2.3M square feet. Currently home to Dustbane Products Ltd. (“Dustbane”), a market-leading manufacturer of sustainable cleaning products and equipment, the site consists of 155,376 square feet of industrial buildings.
The site is located just over 3km from Parliament Hill and downtown Ottawa and is located at a unique hub of multimodal transportation in the City of Ottawa: it is adjacent to the Ottawa Train station, the Tremblay LRT station, Highway 417, and is directly connected to Ottawa’s extensive pedestrian and cycling pathways. Colonnade BridgePort and Fiera Real Estate completed a sale leaseback with Dustbane, with a vision to re-develop the site into a mixed-use high-density community hub. “The leaseback provides us with an attractive income return from a quality tenant and allows us the time to master plan the project, and Dustbane the time to find an alternative location,” said Hugh Gorman, CEO of Colonnade BridgePort. “Looking ahead, we see a vibrant, walkable, cycle friendly, transit-oriented community with quality mixed-use development that includes sustainable residential and commercial uses that generate long-term income returns for investors,” continues Gorman.
Colonnade BridgePort and Fiera Real Estate have partnered on several developments in the Ottawa area including Westboro Connection, a successful transit-oriented mixed-use development in the heart of Westboro, and Hintonburg Connection, a transit-oriented purpose-built high-rise rental building located close to Tunney’s Pasture LRT station. “Fiera is a great partner and we have aligned objectives to build transit-oriented, mixed-use developments that are setting the standard for the Ottawa residential and commercial markets. These projects enhance the communities where we build, and they also provide attractive risk adjusted returns for our investors. We look forward to working with Fiera to create a long-term vision for this new opportunity,” says Gorman.
Benjamin Merkley, President of Dustbane, noted how important it was to select the right buyer: “We have operated on the site for most of our 112 years and wanted to ensure we sold the site to an owner who would re-develop and manage the site for the long-term,” said Merkley. “Colonnade BridgePort and Fiera Real Estate are very reputable organizations with a common goal to enhance the communities they develop in. Once we saw their vision, we knew they were the right buyer.”
With the closing complete, Colonnade BridgePort will now begin to execute the strategy to translate the vision for the site into a master plan for this unique new community.
About Colonnade BridgePort
Colonnade BridgePort has a 35-year track record of helping owners achieve their asset strategies and return objectives by leveraging a fully integrated, real estate services platform that delivers value throughout the real estate lifecycle.
A creator of spaces and places that enhance quality of life, Colonnade BridgePort’s residential focus is to develop and manage modern apartment buildings, located in desirable neighbourhoods along Ottawa’s transit corridors. These projects support the City of Ottawa’s transit-oriented development strategy, connecting residents to their neighborhoods, and making communities stronger and more vibrant.
Colonnade BridgePort is headquartered in Ottawa, with offices in Mississauga and downtown Toronto.
For more information, visit www.colonnadebridgeport.ca
About Fiera Real Estate
Fiera Real Estate is a global real estate investment management platform serving investors in Canada and the United Kingdom. Fiera Real Estate protects and grows the money it manages on behalf of its clients and partners by investing directly in exceptional commercial real estate assets. Fiera Real Estate globally manages over $6.4 billion of commercial real estate through its investment funds and accounts as at 31st March 2020.
The highly diverse nature of Fiera Real Estate’s portfolio – in terms of both geographies and types of properties – combined with a range of best-in-class strategies provides investors with exceptional opportunities to diversify their exposure within the real estate asset class.
For further information, including information about real estate assets the firm has invested in, please visit www.fierarealestate.com.