Gestion immobilière Bélanger has agreed to acquire 39 rental-apartment buildings in the Quebec City region from Logisco for $143 million, according to multiple reports.

The portfolio contains small buildings with 1,057 units altogether. The deal marks the lagest acquisition in Bélanger’s 17-year history.

“We are happy to keep these assets [under regional ownership],” François Bélanger, the company’s president, told Le Journal de Québec. “We know that there are groups from outside that were also interested. Management will be provided here from Quebec,”

The acquisition expands Bélanger’s real estate holdings to more than 3,000 rental units across Quebec City’s north and south shores.

“It’s a real estate [portfolio] that is very geographically diversified,” François Bélanger told the Journal. “There are no emblematic buildings in it. There are buildings in Val-Bélair, Loretteville, on Guillaume-Couture Boulevard in Lévis.”

Logisco’s divestment is part of the company’s shift designed to address Canada’s housing shortage, according to the Journal.

“We want to accelerate our development by doubling our construction capacity within two to three years to deliver many more units per year,” Logisco president Michel Parent told the Journal. “We are deploying our capital in much larger asset sizes versus assets that were much smaller.”

Meanwhile, Bélanger remains committed to the rental market.

“We have always been in multi-unit housing,” François Bélanger told the Journal. “It’s a market that has been very good for 20. We have made our way little by little.”

The large transaction was finalized in just a few months, he added.

“Essentially, it’s about ensuring the continuity of operations,” he told the Journal. These are buildings that are already well managed and already occupied.”

Pictured: Logisco apartment building Lévis, Que.

Photo: Logisco