Tausi Insider

Michael Emory, CEO of Allied Properties REIT, stands in the lobby of offices on Adelaide in Toronto. Ashley Hutcheson/Tausi Insider Office property owner Allied Properties REIT AP-UN-T is considering the sale of its data-centre portfolio, a deal that would help the commercial landlord pay down debt as it retools for a new era of higher interest rates and hybrid working. Allied, best known for its low-rise office buildings in downtown cores, currently owns three data-centre properties in downtown Toronto. In a statement Thursday, the REIT said it is “exploring the sale” of these properties, the largest of which is 151 Front St. West, a major telecom hub. The company values the portfolio at $1.3-billion. Data centres, which house servers and telecommunications equipment, are not core to Allied’s property portfolio – they comprise 16 per cent of net operating income. But chief executive officer Michael Emory has long been bullish on them, in part because their industry is a relatively s...

Blackstone Inc limited withdrawals from its $69 billion real estate income trust (REIT) on Thursday after receiving too many redemption requests, an unprecedented blow to a franchise that helped it turn into an asset management behemoth. The curbs in redemptions came because they hit pre-set limits, rather than Blackstone setting the redemption limits on the day. Nonetheless, they fuelled investor concerns about the future of the REIT, which makes up about 17% of Blackstone’s earnings. Blackstone shares ended trading down 7.1% on the news. Investors in the REIT, which is not publicly traded, have been growing concerned that Blackstone has been slow to adjust the vehicle’s valuation to that of publicly-traded REITs, which have taken a hit amid rising interest rates, a source close to the fund said. Rising interest rates weigh on real estate values because they make financing them more expensive. Blackstone has reported a 9.3% year-to-date return for its REIT, net of fees, while the pu...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tours a rental housing development in Vancouver on Feb. 11, 2019. JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press Mark Kenney is the president and chief executive of Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT). The solution to the housing crisis is simple: We need more homes, of all kinds. At Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT), we are part of that solution. We provide rental homes for Canadians. However, we have a simple problem. In the 2021 mandate letters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the ministers of housing and finance “to expand Canada’s housing supply” and “review and consider possible reforms to the tax treatment of REITs.” These priorities are in conflict. A REIT, like us, is essentially a form of mutual fund. Investors buy into REITs, and the resulting funds are used to build rental homes. Like shares in a publicly traded company, investors’ stakes in REITs earn dividends and go up and down w...

Samir Manji, founder and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Sandpiper Group, launched a proxy contest aimed at replacing four of nine trustees on First Capital’s board. DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust FCR-UN-T is asking investors to be patient as activist campaigns from two fund managers and the REIT’s founder set out a starkly different approach to property sales than the strategy introduced this fall by the REIT’s own executives. First Capital owns one of the country’s largest retail property portfolios, a collection of grocery store-anchored malls in four provinces valued at $10-billion. Over the past five years, the price of First Capital units significantly lagged peers, declining by 19 per cent. In September, the REIT announced plans to sell up to $1-billion of real estate over the next two years to fund new developments. At the same time, First Capital doubled its monthly cash distributions. Shortly after, First Capital sold a 50-p...

Samir Manji, founder and chief executive officer of Sandpiper Group in Vancouver, on Dec. 19, 2018. DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail Activist investor Sandpiper Group is going to court in a bid to push First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust to speed up a vote on replacing four board members, a move aimed at blocking the shopping-mall owner’s plans to sell trophy properties. Sandpiper and a number of other First Capital unitholders, including Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. and the REIT’s founder and former chief executive officer Dori Segal, are campaigning for new leadership at the Toronto-based REIT, which owns $10-billion of grocery store-anchored malls in four provinces. The fund managers and former CEO targeted First Capital after its units underperformed peers over the past five years. The REIT announced turnaround plans last September that include selling up to $1-billion in real estate by 2024 to fund development projects, while doubling monthly cash distributio...

Samir Manji, founder and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Sandpiper Group, launched a proxy contest aimed at replacing four of nine trustees on First Capital’s board. DARRYL DYCK/Globe and Mail First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust FCR-UN-T is asking investors to be patient as activist campaigns from two fund managers and the REIT’s founder set out a starkly different approach to property sales than the strategy introduced this fall by the REIT’s own executives. First Capital owns one of the country’s largest retail property portfolios, a collection of grocery store-anchored malls in four provinces valued at $10-billion. Over the past five years, the price of First Capital units significantly lagged peers, declining by 19 per cent. In September, the REIT announced plans to sell up to $1-billion of real estate over the next two years to fund new developments. At the same time, First Capital doubled its monthly cash distributions. Shortly after, First Capital sold a 50-p...