Alignvest Student Housing Inc. announced it has enetered into a contract to purchase the purpose-built student accommodation (“PBSA”) property at 265 Laurier Avenue East in Ottawa, known as “The Annex”. The acquisition will be the third PBSA property purchase by Alignvest Student Housing Real Estate Investment Trust and will increase the REIT’s asset base to over $200 million.
“The Annex is an outstanding, brand-new, PBSA asset,” said Jonathan Turnbull, Managing Partner. “The Annex has a long-term agreement with the University of Ottawa, offering the accommodation to its students as part of their residence portfolio. The high-quality property, combined with the unique partnership with one of the preeminent universities in the country, makes The Annex one of Canada’s premier PBSA properties.”
The Annex is a nine-storey PBSA asset that opened in September 2018 as the newest addition to the University of Ottawa’s residence portfolio and is located approximately 300 metres from the University. Highly-amenitized with a lobby fireplace lounge, The Annex offers residents an on-site Anytime Fitness facility, a games room, quiet study spaces, high-speed Wi-Fi, a communal terrace with picnic tables, 24-hour on-site maintenance, controlled and secured access, interior bike parking and underground parking.
The building has 503 beds in 159 fully-furnished studios, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom and 5-bedroom units, all of which have full kitchens with stainless steel appliances, individual locking private bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and in-suite laundry and is 100% occupied for the 2018/19 school year. Additionally, the property is equipped with 16,000 square feet of commercial space with tenants that specifically target the student demographic.
The Annex is the second property that the REIT will own in Ottawa, which management believes to be one of the most attractive student housing markets in the country. The REIT’s first property in Ottawa, 111 Cooper Street, was acquired in November 2018, and is located 300 metres to the west of the University of Ottawa and less than one kilometre from The Annex.
