CONCERT EXPANDS INCOME-PRODUCING PORTFOLIO IN EDMONTON & CALGARY

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Concert Properties is pleased to announce that it has expanded its income-producing portfolio with a number of recent acquisitions in Alberta. Concert has acquired a 20-acre development property in Edmonton, a 4.14-acre industrial property in southeast Calgary and a 2.15-acre property in northeast Calgary.

Despite significant competition in the real estate investment markets, Concert continues to be very active in acquiring well-positioned property to diversify and grow its extensive income-producing portfolio.

Located on 76th Avenue in Edmonton’s southeast industrial region, the 20-acre property has excellent access to the Sherwood Park Freeway. Zoned medium industrial, the property provides Concert with a substantial build-to-suit development site in an established industrial node.

“The booming Alberta economy continues to lower industrial vacancy, and well-located industrial land with significant yard capacity will continue to be highly sought after,” said David Podmore, Concert’s President & CEO. “Most importantly, this acquisition will allow Concert to move forward in a meaningful way with its mandate to invest and develop in Alberta”.

CE Franklin, an existing Concert tenant in Edmonton, has leased the new 153,000-square-foot warehouse and office building being built by Concert on the site. With site clearing and earthworks commenced, the build-to-suit warehouse will serve as the distribution centre for CE Franklin’s 30 branches in western Canada.

“2006 was a very busy year for the acquisitions team,” says Court Smith, Vice President, Alberta. “Upon completion in 2008, this new building for CE Franklin will double Concert’s income-producing portfolio in Edmonton”.

In mid December 2006, Concert acquired a 2.12-acre property located in the Horizon Industrial Park in northeast Calgary. The property is in close proximity to the Calgary International Airport and to the Barlow Trail, a major north/south arterial. The property contains a 51,656-square-foot, two-storey, concrete walk-up suburban office building with surface parking. This acquisition is Concert’s first office asset in Alberta.

Currently, Calgary’s suburban office market is one of the strongest in Canada with a record low vacancy of 3.6 per cent. The high absorption and resulting low vacancy has driven lease rates up 12 per cent in the last quarter.

Earlier in 2006, Concert also acquired a property which is 100 per cent leased and located within the Foothills Industrial Park in southeast Calgary. The property benefits from excellent access to major transportation thoroughfares and is in close proximity to both CN and CP Railway Intermodal yards.

This latest acquisition in Alberta bring Concert's income-producing properties in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario to over 4.6 million square feet, continuing the company's strategy of carefully expanding and geographically diversifying its portfolio.

Property Addresses

  • 2603 – 2935 76th Avenue, Edmonton
  • 4747 54th Avenue, Calgary
  • 2723 37th Avenue NE, Calgary

About Concert Properties

Concert is an award-winning diversified real estate enterprise involved in developing and acquiring commercial and industrial properties, rental housing, multi-family condominium housing, seniors living communities, and resort developments in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. www.ConcertProperties.com

For media inquiries contact:
Heather Harley
Telephone: 604.602.3713
Email: HHarley@ConcertProperties.com