London Calling
Crestpoint Real Estate Investments president and CIO Kevin Leon says his company’s acquisition of Vancouver’s London Building—the 11-storey heritage office building in the downtown, adjacent to the financial core and Pacific Centre—was all about location. “It is very difficult to acquire such well-located assets in downtown Vancouver as the office market ownership is very tightly held,” he tells us. (It's a rare opportunity, like seeing a shooting star or getting a picture of Thomas Pynchon.)
The London Building—100% occupied—was one of five properties in Toronto and Montreal, as well as Vancouver, that Crestpoint acquired. This brings the value of Crestpoint’s portfolio to $600M, doubling in size over the past year. Kevin says it also liked the aesthetic appeal and heritage nature of the building, as well as the quality of its tenantsl; Eminata Group's the anchor, occupying several floors. Crestpoint is part of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, an international company managing $46B in real estate assets for investors.
