TORONTO, June 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (“CAPREIT”) (TSX:CAR.UN) announced today that it has closed on three dispositions of non-core properties built between 1971 and 1999 for combined consideration of $103.3 million (excluding disposition costs). CAPREIT also announced that it has reinvested a total of $74.1 million (excluding transaction costs) in two new construction rental properties.

CAPREIT completed the disposition of one unencumbered property containing 393 residential suites and 2 commercial units in the Saint-Laurent neighbourhood of Montréal, Québec, for consideration of $68.9 million (excluding disposition costs). It further disposed of a 60-suite residential portfolio in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, for gross proceeds of $9.4 million (excluding disposition costs), which were in part used to repay the principal outstanding on the mortgage of $3.3 million. CAPREIT additionally closed on the disposition of 162 residential suites located in Longueuil, a suburb of Montréal, Québec, for gross consideration of $25.0 million, with the buyer having assumed the remaining $6.4 million mortgage outstanding.

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CAPREIT concurrently announced that it has completed the acquisition of a newly constructed, amenity-rich property located in the growing city of Langley, British Columbia, for a purchase price of $53.7 million (excluding transaction costs). The 93-suite residential building was constructed in 2022 and is located next to a park and a major transit station that provides direct access to Vancouver’s city centre. It is also nearby several of CAPREIT’s other new build properties in the area, providing operational synergies. Tenants enjoy use of their modern, high-quality apartments, which have a large weighted average suite size of over 1,000 square feet. The energy-efficient building is topped with 250 solar panels and contains suites that are each individually metered for all utilities, leading to lower consumption and costs. The property was acquired absent of any mortgage financing; however, it is expected to be mortgaged for anticipated principal of up to $33 million.

CAPREIT further announced that it has completed the acquisition of 52 residential suites and one commercial unit located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, for $20.4 million (excluding transaction costs). The strategically aligned property is also newly built with a large weighted average suite size of over 1,100 square feet. Located in an affordable, urban neighbourhood within the expanding Halifax municipality, it has a strong growth profile and will be efficiently managed by CAPREIT’s local regional office. The purchase was funded using cash from net disposition proceeds; however, an estimated $13 million in mortgage financing is expected to be arranged in the near-term.

“We are very pleased with the continued execution on our portfolio high-grading, and the positive impact that it has on helping with the widespread housing supply issues we’re seeing across the country,” commented Mark Kenney, President and Chief Executive Officer. “With this repositioning, we reallocated capital into fundamentally strong Canadian markets which are experiencing high population growth and increasing demand for residential accommodation. Our focus on acquiring new purpose-built rental properties in these attractive, expanding regions supports the supply of new construction rental housing where it is needed most.”

“These latest transactions bring total gross disposition proceeds to $281 million this year to date, of which we’ve reinvested $158 million in on-strategy properties before financing, along with over $100 million in our accretive NCIB program, all together generating strong value for our Unitholders so far in 2023,” added Julian Schonfeldt, Chief Investment Officer. “We are excited to continue acting on the expansive pipeline of capital recycling opportunities available to us, while simultaneously furthering our contribution to curbing the housing crisis in Canada.”

ABOUT CAPREIT
CAPREIT is Canada’s largest publicly traded provider of quality rental housing. As at March 31, 2023, CAPREIT owns approximately 66,000 residential apartment suites, townhomes and manufactured home community sites well-located across Canada and the Netherlands, with approximately $17 billion of investment properties in Canada and Europe. For more information about CAPREIT, its business and its investment highlights, please visit our website at www.capreit.ca and our public disclosure which can be found under our profile at www.sedar.com.
        
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
All statements in this press release that do not relate to historical facts constitute forward-looking statements. These statements represent CAPREIT’s intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could result in actual results differing materially from these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in regulatory filings that can be obtained on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

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