Minto Apartment REIT has completed its acquisition of a 50% managing interest in a North Vancouver, B.C., multi-family rental property for about $53 million.

The REIT purchased the stake in Lonsdale Square from its parent, the Otawa-based Minto Group.

The deal’s completion, announced in a news release, officially marks Minto’s expansion into the Metro Vancouver market.

Lonsdale Square is a newly built multi-family rental property.

The remaining 50% of Lonsdale Square will be owned by a national Canadian life insurance company, which has acquired a non-managing interest.

Lonsdale Square, completed in early 2024, is a six-storey purpose-built rental building featuring 113 suites and approximately 8,000 square feet of retail space. Current retail tenants include an upscale brewpub, a pharmacy, and a health-supplement store.

The building’s amenities include a rooftop terrace, a penthouse social lounge, and smart building systems. Residential occupancy stands at 93%.

Minto funded its share of the acquisition by assuming a $52.96 million CMHC-insured mortgage at an annual interest rate of 3.9%, maturing in December 2034. In addition, the REIT received repayment of its $14-million convertible development loan associated with the project, which will be used to reduce its variable-rate debt.

“Our team worked hard to design and implement a transaction that is beneficial to unitholders,” said Jonathan Li, president and CEO of Minto, said when the then proposed deal was announced in December 2024.

“The transaction adds a newly built asset in the attractive Metro Vancouver market to our portfolio in a manner that is accretive to [funds from operations] per unit. We did not have to access expensive and dilutive new equity capital because we implemented a financing structure that fully funds it with CMHC financing at a significantly lower interest rate compared to our revolving credit facility.”

The undiscounted purchase price of the entire property was $111.5 million, below the $114.3 million average appraised value, according to Minto.

The REIT owns and manages multi-residential rental properties across major Canadian urban centres, including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary.

Photo: CNW Group/.Minto Apartment REIT