2018 is set to be a major year for commercial real estate in Canada’s capital
It’s not just the residential segment that’s flourishing in Ottawa recently. Even the national capital’s commercial market is enjoying generous windfalls, according to a new report from CBRE.
Overall investment in Ottawa’s commercial real estate in the first half of the year was at $718.5 million, representing a 10.2% year-over-year increase.
This value, which placed the market on track to a very strong 2018 finish (approaching or even exceeding $2 billion), stemmed from a record-breaking 139 completed transactions in the first six months This was a decade-high first-half performance level for Ottawa’s commercial segment, CBRE added.
In the second quarter alone, the market clocked in $339.5 million worth of properties exchanged, up 10.5% compared to the same time last year.
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“Investment demand for all asset types [in Ottawa] remains high and tempered only by the availability of product,” CBRE stated in its quarterly investment report, as quoted by the Ottawa Business Journal.
The sheer volume was driven by massive deals such as those for the Mierins Auto Group’s portfolio sale of eight dealership and service centres, along with a pair of land parcels. Valued at a total of $80.2 million, the transaction was completed with the Alpha Auto Group.
Another major deal was Investors Group’s $68.15-million industrial portfolio sale to Desjardins. The transaction – involving approximately 550,000 square feet within properties on Leeds Avenue, Walkley Road, Hawthorne Road, St. Laurent Boulevard, and Parisien Street – was Desjardins’ first significant move into the Ottawa industrial segment.
