- What One apartment property has sold and another is in play in Nanaimo, B.C.
- Why Nanaimo is a fast-growing city on Vancouver Island
- What next The listed property offers valued-added opportunity for a buyer
The multifamily market on Vancouver Island is heating up, with one property changing hands and another on the block.
The 63-unit Dufferin Heights, in Nanaimo, sold for $17m, or $270,000/unit, earlier this month to a private investor, Green Street News can reveal. CBRE brokered the off-market deal with an unnamed institutional seller. It’s the brokerage’s third apartment transaction on Vancouver Island this year.
Built in 1991, Dufferin Heights, at 1651 Dufferin Crescent, is close to the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and holds 27 one-bedroom units and 36 two-bedroom units. The average suite size is 869 sq ft with an average in-place rent of $1.43/sq ft.
Also in Nanaimo, the 137-unit Woodgrove Pines hit the market last week. The price was not disclosed, but the valuation translates to a capitalization rate of around 4.5%. CBRE also is marketing that property, which comprises two separate parcels, on behalf of an institutional investor.
The owner has renovated roughly a third of the suites, achieving an estimated 55% boost in rents. The pitch is a buyer could continue the upgrades to increase cashflow.
One parcel contains three four-storey buildings at 6597, 6599 and 6601 Applecross Road. The 96 one- and two-bedroom units average 805 sq ft. The property was valued at $20.8m by the B.C. Assessment Authority.
Next door, 6439 Portsmouth Road is a stratified unit operating as all rentals, with 40 one- and two-bedroom units plus a three-bedroom apartment averaging 820 sq ft. There are also five commercial units averaging 6,000 sq ft. B.C. Assessment Authority values most of the residential units between $200,000 and $300,000.
The building is fully rented, though the sales campaign notes that a buyer could sell the units individually.
Average rent for all residential units is $1,318, with a projected rent of $2,050.
The offered property is in the Dover Bay neighbourhood, close to Costco Wholesale and the Woodgrove Centre mall. Downtown Nanaimo is 12 km away.
Nanaimo, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, has seen 10% population growth over the last five years. It’s accessible to Victoria and Vancouver by ferry, seaplane and car.
