- Halifax Business Blog
- Feb 26, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 2, 2024
November 30, 2023 marked a historic day for Nova Scotia real estate: the $370 million purchase of Halifax Shopping Centre went through as perhaps the highest-priced provincial property deal ever.
The buyer was Primaris, a Toronto-based real estate investment trust that is one of Canada's largest mall operators. The seller was Ontario Pension Board, which manages $31 billion for provincial employees.
The sales price is the largest in the provincial database of Nova Scotia real estate transactions. The database goes back only to July 2010, however, and HBB is therefore unable to say with absolute certainty that the shopping-centre deal price was a record.
The year's second-biggest transaction was the $90 million acquisition by Toronto-based Align Student Housing REIT of a 141-unit rental complex near Dalhousie University from Werkliv, a Montreal-based developer led by Daniel Goodfellow. The No. 3 deal was Ontario-based Skyline Real Estate Holdings Inc.'s $69.5 million purchase of the Brookside Terrace Apartments from a partnership including Cresco Properties Ltd. and Shaw Living. Next was the Kanellakos family's $58.3 million acquisition of 18 Halifax sites on or near Robie Street between Cobourg Road and South Street. The seller was listed as George Tsimiklis.
Cresco Holdings Ltd., an affiliate of Cresco Properties, made the list at No. 7 for a Bedford transaction that has stirred controversy. Critics are questioning the motives of public officials in what Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair called an "unusual arrangement,"after the province bought an unfinished hotel with plans to convert it to a health-care facility. AllNovaScotia, an online news service, reported Feb. 14 that the $34.4 million Hogan Court transaction "was costly to the public," citing the auditor general.
Killam Apartment REIT, Atlantic Canada’s largest landlord, figured in two transactions during 2023. One was the $33 million sale of the James, a 108-unit apartment building on South Street in Halifax, to the Trihopoylos family's Olympus Properties Management. Killam's second divestment involved property outside the HRM, with the 87-unit Cabot House apartments on Kings Road in Sydney selling for $14.5 million to Adam Barrett's AMK Barrett Investments.
1
Halifax Shopping Centre
$370 million
Date: November 30, 2023
Buyer: Primaris REIT
Seller: OPB Realty Inc. (Ontario Pension Board)
2
1402 Seymour Street, Halifax
$90 million
Date: January 17, 2023
Buyer: Align Student Housing REIT
Seller: Werkliv GP Inc., general partner of Seymour LP, (Daniel Goodfellow, president)
3
118 Tilbury Avenue, Bedford
$69.5 million
Date: November 9, 2023
Buyer: Skyline Real Estate Holdings Inc. (Jason Castellan, Martin Castellan, Roy Ashdown, directors)
Seller: Tilbury Apartments GP Ltd., as general partner of Tilbury Apartments LP (whose limited partners include Cresco Properties Ltd. and Shaw Living Ltd.)
4
Robie Street parcels, Halifax
$58.3 million
Date: February 28, 2023
Buyer: 4479072 Nova Scotia Ltd. (James Kanellakos et al., directors)
Seller: George Tsimiklis
5
49 Brookline Drive, Bedford
$40 million
Date: September 6, 2023
Buyer: 49 Brookline Drive Ltd. (Geoffrey Wayne Squibb, president, and principal, Realstar Group)
Seller: Brookline Luxury Suites GP Ltd. (Victor Kielbratowski, president)
6
7 Mount Hope Avenue and 11 Mount Hope Avenue, Dartmouth
$38.5 million
Date: March 27, 2023
Buyer: Province of Nova Scotia
Seller: Advantage Food Equipment Ltd. (Darren Godbout, president)
7
Hogan Court, Bedford
$34.4 million
Date: February 1, 2023
Buyer: Province of Nova Scotia
Seller: Cresco Holdings Ltd. (Taleb Abidali, president)
8
5620 South Street, The James, Halifax
$33 million
Date: April 21, 2023
Buyer: Olympus Properties Management Ltd. (John Trihopoylos, president)
Seller: Killam Investments Inc.
9
95 Wyse Road and 99 Wyse Road, Dartmouth
$31 million
Dates: June 16, 2023, and June 19, 2023
Buyer: Edifice Place Metropolitain Inc./Place Metropolitan Building Inc. (Vincent Chiara, president)
Seller: Canadian Property Holdings (Nova Scotia) Inc. (Choice Properties) and 9182071 Canada Inc. (Canada Mortgage & Housing Pension Fund)
10
Albro Lake and Primrose portfolio, Dartmouth
$26.8 million
Date: July 5, 2023
Buyer: AMK Barrett Investments Inc. (Adam Barrett, president)
Seller: Strategic Atlantic Ltd. (Riaz Mamdani, president)
11
Three-building portfolio, Halifax
$22.1 million
Date: May 1, 2023
Buyer: Oikos Management Co. (Jimmy Karountzos, president)
Seller: Doric Management Co. (Stratos Karountzos, president)
12
101 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth
$20.4 million
Date: June 1, 2023
Buyer: Capreit Apartments Inc.
Seller: Boris Holdings Inc. (Dean Hartman, president)
13
694 Broad Street, Bedford
$18.9 million
Date: November 14, 2023
Buyer: Shannex RLC Ltd. (Joseph Shannon, chairman and chief executive)
Seller: BYN Properties (The Highbury II) Ltd. (Gerardus Nowee, president)
14
75 Brookline Drive, Bedford
$16.7 million
Date: April 19, 2023
Buyer: Cresco Holdings Ltd. (Taleb Abidali, president)
Seller: West Bedford Holdings Ltd. (Jason Brunt, president; directors include Taleb Abidali)
15
535 Portland Street, Dartmouth
$16.4 million
Date: September 15, 2023
Buyer: Opal Ridge Developments Ltd. (Jason Brunt, president)
Seller: Penhorn Residential Holdings GP Ltd. (Crombie REIT)
16
5991 Spring Garden Road, Halifax
$16 million
Date: November 15, 2023
Buyer: 5991 SGR Ltd. (Alex Halef, president)
Seller: Northwest Healthcare REIT
17
Airport Parcels at Aerotech Drive, Goffs
$16 million
Date: September 11, 2023
Buyer: Aerotech Developments LP (Jason Brunt, Clayton Developments)
Seller: Parkdale Developments Ltd., (John Fiske, president)
18
CFC Climate Canada Parcels
$15.1 million
Dates: March 28, 2023, and March 31, 2023
Buyer: CFC Climate Forest Canada Inc.
Seller: Mayflower Forestry Ltd.
19
3000 Monaghan Drive, Halifax
$14.5 million
Date: April 14, 2023
Buyer: Monaghan Square South GP Ltd. (Moray Tawse and Robert Margeson, directors)
Seller: Mayflower Curling Club
20
500 Kings Road, Sydney
$14.5 million
Date: November 2, 2023
Buyer: AMK Barrett Investments Inc. (Adam Barrett, president)
Seller: Killam Properties Inc.
Sources: Property Valuation Services Corp. and Nova Scotia Property Online
--HBB