Ontario Construction News staff writer
A joint venture with three companies is expected to lead to the development of retirement residences in urban areas in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The three firms, SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust, the Penguin Group of Companies, and Revera Inc., announced that they have executed four more conditional site specific joint venture agreements to develop and own retirement living residences in strategic urban locations.8
Three of the four new locations are joint ventures between SmartCentres and Revera in Barrie, Markham, and Oakville, with the fourth being between Penguin and Revera in Toronto. This is in addition to the previously announced three retirement residences’ joint venture projects between SmartCentres and Revera in Vaughan (two projects) and Oakville.
“These four exciting new Ontario projects in joint ventures with SmartCentres and Penguin, when added to the three GTA projects we announced together a year ago, are opening up tremendous new opportunities to offer exceptional, diverse options for older adults in this province,” said Thomas Wellner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Revera Inc.
“For Revera, these developments are a big part of our long-term strategic focus on growth in key markets to enhance the aging experience for our residents.”
The seven locations represent a total of 1,565 units, comprising a mix of seniors’ apartments, assisted living units, independent living units and memory care units. The total investment by the joint venture partners for these projects is approximately $825 million.
The surge of baby boomers into retirement residences is causing demand for this type of housing.
“Given our portfolio, we are very well positioned to respond to the market demand for seniors’ housing,” said Peter Forde, President and CEO of SmartCentres. “Our growing pipeline with Revera aligns with our strategy to extract deeply embedded value from our existing properties by generating additional reoccurring non-retail income.”
- About SmartCentres: SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class portfolio featuring 157 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has $9.7 billion in assets and owns over 34 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail space with over 98 per cent occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.
- About Penguin Group of Companies: The Penguin Group of Companies is a private company owned by Mitchell Goldhar. Penguin owns real estate across Canada at various stages of development including a 50 per cent interest in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre 100-acre master planned development. Penguin’s portfolio includes 12 properties co-owned with Walmart and the Cleveland House and the Rock Golf Club.
- About Revera: Revera is a leading Canadian owner, investor, developer and operator in the senior living sector. Through its portfolio of partnerships, Revera owns or operates more than 500 properties across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom serving more than 55,000 seniors.