Crestpoint Responds to Investor Demand for Commercial Real Estate - Announces Three Significant Property Acquisitions

TORONTO, April 10, 2013 /CNW/ - Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd., a business dedicated to providing institutional and high net worth investors with direct access to high quality Canadian commercial real estate assets, marks the completion of its second year of operation by announcing three recent and significant property acquisitions.

Demand for investment opportunities in commercial real estate has grown significantly in recent years as institutional plan sponsors and individual investors seek improved returns, income generation, diversification and protection against future inflation. Crestpoint has responded to this demand by accumulating a diversified portfolio of office, retail and industrial properties now exceeding 2.6 million square feet and valued at over $300 million.

Crestpoint's most recent acquisition, valued at approximately $47 million and totaling 428,000 square feet, includes four class A industrial buildings and four prime retail properties located in Mississauga and the greater Toronto area.  Crestpoint has also acquired the 108,000 square foot Empire office complex located in the heart of downtown Edmonton. These two transactions follow on the heels of Crestpoint's December 2012 acquisition of a 623,000 square foot portfolio of industrial and office properties located adjacent to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal.

These properties were acquired with highly reputable institutional and private partners, with Crestpoint acting as asset manager for each project

Property	City	Asset Class	Average Occupancy	Lot size (acres)	Area sq.ft.
Empire Building	Edmonton	Office	81%	0.34	108,000
Montreal Airport Properties	Montreal	Office/Industrial	80%	32.7	623,000
GTA Portfolio	Mississauga/GTA	Industrial/Retail	100%	26.0	428,000

"We are extremely pleased with our recent acquisitions and the portfolio of assets we have accumulated. Despite markets being extremely competitive, we have been successful in acquiring investments at prices we feel provide attractive risk-adjusted returns for our investors," said Kevin Leon, President of Crestpoint.  "By maintaining our disciplined approach to investing, we have generated attractive income and capital returns resulting in top quartile performance. We feel confident in our ability to continue acquiring assets through the remainder of 2013."

With these recent additions, Crestpoint continues to add both size and diversity to its real estate portfolio, now comprised of 24 high quality properties located in 5 provinces, spanning the industrial, retail and office sectors. Average occupancy rates of the properties exceed 90% and include high profile tenants such as: Loblaws, Staples, Shoppers Drug Mart, Rona Home Centre, Xerox, McLennan Ross, Rolls Royce, Shred-it, and Buro Plus.

For additional details on these properties and investing with Crestpoint, please visit www.crestpoint.ca

About Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd.

Crestpoint is a commercial real estate investment manager dedicated to providing investors with direct access to commercial real estate assets. Crestpoint is part of the Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group, a multi-boutique asset management company that provides investment management products and services to institutional, high net worth and retail clients. With offices in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and London (England), CC&L Financial Group and its affiliate companies are collectively responsible for the management of approximately $44 billion in assets.

SOURCE: Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd.

Kevin Leon, President and CIO 
Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd.
[phone]
[email protected]

Greig McKenzie, 
Head of Marketing Services 
Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group
[phone]
[email protected]