PIRET Embarks On Growth Strategy
Busy week on the Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust front, with the company announcing it had entered into conditional agreements to buy just over $134M of income-producing properties (nine industrial properties including a property in Calgary, a portfolio of five properties in Bolton, Stoney Creek, Hamilton, Burlington, Woodstock, and a portfolio of three properties in Toronto and London, totaling 1.5M SF of GLA). The company also raised $65M in equity financing, used to fund the acquisitions. (They're wearing the numbers off their calculators.) Company president Kevan Gorrie was also named co-CEO of the trust.
Kevan tells us they are seeing positive absorption across PIRET markets and good demand for space, driving their acquisition strategy. “We believe the demand for storage will be strong for years to come as growth in population and e-commerce/home delivery continues,” he says. “Growth for growth’s sake has never been our objective, and it’s even less so in the current environment, but this was a great opportunity to accretively add quality assets to our portfolio in our target markets.” The new title is an acknowledgment of his leadership role in the capital markets and in the development and execution of the acquisition strategy of the company.
