Winnipeg Free Press
Tuesday May 3 2005
By Geoff Kirbyson
THE acquisition spree continues at Huntingdon Real Estate Investment Trust.
The Winnipeg-based REIT announced yesterday a troika of Winnipeg properties containing more than 153,000 square feet of space have been acquired at a cost of $9.3 million.
The properties are: 1000 Waverley Street, which has National Leasing as its main tenant; 1300 Church Avenue, Nygard International; and 110 Lowson Crescent, which is currently empty.
Arni Thorsteinson, president and CEO of Huntingdon, said the buildings mark the sixth, seventh and eighth purchases in less than three months. Combined, Huntingdon's properties in Winnipeg and Thompson have more than 300,000 square feet of space and cost more than $27 million.
"We're pleased. National Leasing and Nygard are strong tenants. We think these are ideal acquisitions for us," he said in an interview yesterday.
Thorsteinson admitted Huntingdon has been aggressive since completing its initial public offering in March, but it's merely doing what it said it would. "We're right on schedule. Stand by, there are more acquisitions to come," he said.
Thorsteinson said the properties were acquired from Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust, the Toronto-based REIT that completed a $1.2-billion deal to buy 46 primarily Wal-Mart-anchored properties from First Pro Shopping Centres last month. "They're phasing out their smaller assets, that's why we acquired them for Huntingdon. We're a much smaller REIT at this point," he said.
There was no trading of Huntingdon units (HNT.UN/TSX) yesterday. Their previous close was $2.60.
Huntingdon continues buying spree (2)
Acquires NewPort Centre
Winnipeg Free Press
Wednesday May 4 2005
By Geoff Kirbyson
ARNI Thorsteinson wasn't kidding when he said more acquisitions were in the offing for Huntingdon Real Estate Investment Trust.
A day after announcing it had purchased a trio of buildings consisting of more than 150,000 square feet of space at a cost of $9.3 million, Huntingdon announced the NewPort Centre, at 330 and 340 Portage Avenue, had been added to its holdings.
The 17-storey, 153,313-square-foot building, the majority of which is leased to blue-chip tenants such as Great-West Life, Investors Group, Rogers Wireless, the Bank of Montreal and the province, was purchased for $13 million, according to Thorsteinson, who is Huntingdon's president and CEO.
Located on the southwest corner of Portage and Hargrave Street, it is connected via a skywalk system to the MTS Centre and Portage Place Shopping Centre and will eventually be linked to the soon-to-be-built Manitoba Hydro building.
Thorsteinson said the NewPort Centre represents the middle of the new downtown business corridor.
"If you add together the MTS Centre, Manitoba Hydro, new developments at Portage Place, (the NewPort Centre) is ideally located. We've already been in contact with several prospective tenants that are suppliers and vendors to Hydro. They're very anxious to be located on the walkway to the Hydro building," he said in an interview yesterday. The NewPort Centre acquisition is being funded by the assumption of a first mortgage loan of about $7.65 million, with the balance in cash, Thorsteinson said.
Huntingdon has now bought nine properties since its initial public offering in March. Eight of them are in Winnipeg, while one is a strip mall in Thompson.
There was no trading of Huntingdon shares (HNT.UN/TSX Venture Exchange) yesterday. Their previous close was $2.60.