Passion For Positive Change

In her role as Director of Organizational Effectiveness, Atara Harrison has a passion for being a driving force behind effecting positive change in the operations of Avenue Living Communities.

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Warming Hearts with 3rd Annual Wetaskiwin Coat Drive

For Brandy Pfeil, one recent moment during the third annual Warm Hearts Coat Drive in Wetaskiwin tugged at her heart strings and is forever indelibly etched into her mind.

Pfeil, the Property Administrator and Marketing Coordinator for Wetaskiwin Mall, owned by Avenue Living Asset Management, gets emotional when she recalls one of the recipients of the winter jackets from the campaign.

“The standout moment this year was there was a gentleman who came in and had a voucher just for himself, no family members. He waited until the room cleared out and he started tearing up,” says Pfeil, who worked with the Boys and Girls Club for three years before joining the mall.

“He was in his late 30s or early 40s. He’d lived his entire life without a brand new winter jacket. He came in wearing five hoodies. It took him a few minutes to realize that he could take those hoodies off and put a jacket on and he would be plenty warm.

“That was a huge eyeopener. Some of these things we take for granted. If we need a new jacket, we just go to the store and buy one. But not everybody can do that.”

The mall teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of Wetaskiwin to put on the annual drive.

Avenue Living, an asset manager of commercial, residential and agricultural properties across Western Canada, contributed 33 new winter jackets, while 62 were donated by people in the community.

“The intention was to be able to help our community out by providing warm coats and winter gear for those who are accessing support services and emergency services in Wetaskiwin, with a special focus on children. There were vouchers given out through the Boys and Girls Club of Wetaskiwin and their partner agencies. They work alongside a lot of different agencies in the community,” says Pfeil.

“Our school district has a policy that kids cannot come to school on school buses unless they have both jackets and snow pants. A lot of children and youth are not able to access education through the winter months if they don’t have the proper winter attire to be able to take the school bus.”

The annual campaign has grown since it first began in 2017, when 35 coats were distributed within the community. Last year, about 60 purchased and donated coats were handed out.

“Community outreach is a huge, huge portion of what Avenue Living does because Avenue Living is effectively in so many different communities. Our customers, our residents, are our main priority – whether that’s on the commercial or the residential side,” says Pfeil.

“Being able to support our community, support those in our community who are sometimes doing without, it’s near and dear to our hearts. First and foremost, everybody who works with Avenue Living in individual locations, that’s their community. They’re engrossed in their community. They’re part of what goes on. Being able to give back to the people that we see day to day, be it our neighbours, or friends, is of huge importance.”

Last year, Pfeil remembers a young family in their early 20s with a boy about three years old. They all received new jackets and the father began tearing up.

“This was the first winter jacket that he’d had since he was probably 12 or 13. He was so excited to be able to put his jacket on and he was going to go out and play in the snow with his son when they got home,” says Pfeil.

It’s those moments that resonate within the community, highlighting the importance of giving back and helping those in need.

Calgary Rental Market Increasingly Competitive

Lifestyle choices and economics are playing a major role these days in driving rental demand in Calgary, according to a report by Urban Analytics. The mortgage stress test rules continue to make it challenging for would-be first-time home buyers to qualify for a mortgage, leading potential buyers to continue renting for the foreseeable future.

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Avenue Living Committed To Enhancing Quality of Life in Communities

In the past year, Avenue Living Communities has dedicated time and resources to help the communities it operates in throughout Western Canada. By supporting and helping not-for-profits, social agencies and other organizations, Avenue Living is committed to having a hand in their efforts to positively impact their respective communities.

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Record-Breaking Month for Avenue Living

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For Calgary-based Avenue Living Asset Management, August was the company’s busiest month ever in terms of leasing volume for rental properties. A record-breaking renewal rate of about 75 per cent, as well as new leases signed, have been triggered by the company’s aggressive and ambitious capital investment in its properties.

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Canadian Multi-Family Sector Sets Record Returns For Investors

The multi-family residential sector is the strongest it’s ever been in Canada with record transaction activity in the second quarter, sparked by strong economic fundamentals.

Buoyed by those healthy economic indicators, Calgary-based Avenue Living Asset Management has been one of the investment leaders in Western Canada as it continues to grow its portfolio in the region.

Morguard Corporation recently released a report saying investors in the multi-family residential rental market looked to increase their exposure to sectors that had performed relatively well during times of economic weakness. Investment in the sector surpassed the $2 billion mark in the quarter.

Another report by CBRE said Canada’s multi-family market is the most robust it has ever been, with apartment buildings practically full from coast to coast. Rental rates are currently at or near 10-year highs in almost every market.

Jason Jogia, Chief Investment Officer for Avenue Living, which owns and operates 8,800 multi-family rental residences across many Western Canadian markets, said he is not surprised at all by what the two reports are saying.

“There’s definitely a feeling that there’s a continued move to multi-family investment. Avenue Living has purchased over 1800 units in the last 12 months in the specific niche of workforce housing. As we underwrite acquisition opportunties, we do see a lot of investment interest in all our markets. Much of this interest is also directed beyond the workforce housing niche and elevated in the primary markets.

“What’s really driving the investment interest is a flight to safety. Multi-family has always been viewed as a kind of counter-cyclical investment – an investment that will always hold the opportunities to refresh against inflation or any pressures on capital markets. People are seeing that the truly stabilized asset class has quite a bit of resilience relative to the current economic volatility that we’re facing.”

Avenue Living has aggressively built a portfolio of 8,800 residential rental units across Western Canada in just 13 years. The company’s journey began in 2006 with the purchase of 24 rental units in Brooks, Alberta for $3 million.

Avenue Living, which has a diversified portfolio across 17 markets in the Prairies, will continue to provide homes for the workforce housing population well into the future. The company expects to grow to more than 10,000 residential units across Western Canada by the end of this year.

Jogia said there is continued demand for rental housing across Western Canada, adding that housing legislation still makes it very hard for some people to qualify for mortgages to buy a home. There’s also a great influx of people coming to the region from other countries.

“People need housing solutions. As a result, we’re seeing high demand. If you look at August for Avenue Living, for example, it was our busiest month in the history of the organization in terms of leasing volume,” explained Jogia.

Avenue Living has strategically aligned its multi-family rental assets to cater to a niche market – called workforce housing – that is growing across Western Canada. Workforce Housing is geared to a city’s “essential workers,” who are the backbone of every city, and make up close to 40 per cent of the Canadian population.

The company builds out its portfolio through the Avenue Living Real Estate Core Trust, which seeks out properties with high occupancy rates and strong in-place cash flow, and the Avenue Living Real Estate Opportunity Trust, which acquires properties that present an opportunity to reposition and drive cash flow through a capital investment and leasing program.

The Morguard commercial real estate report said the multi-family residential rental sector was again the strongest contributor to the record transaction activity during the second quarter.

“Investor confidence in property sectors with strong historical performance, apartments in particular, has been demonstrated recently with sales activity remaining at the record high despite growing economic uncertainty,” said Keith Reading, Director of Research at Morguard, in a news release. “Investors are looking for safer investments as they become more cautious and question where Canada and the United States are situated in their respective economic cycles.”

The CBRE report said growing population, rising home ownership costs and lack of rental supply are driving the sector’s record-setting returns and investment volumes.

It said the national average multi-family vacancy rate ended 2018 at 2.4 per cent, below the 10-year average of 2.6 per cent and average rents for purpose-built rental units have grown by 4.4 per cent annually at the national level. Total annualized returns for the Canadian multi-family sector were 9.8 per cent as of the first quarter and those hefty returns have enticed investors, with multi-family investment volume reaching record levels for four consecutive years, including an all-time high of $8.3 billion in 2018.

“The multi-family segment’s ability to generate consistent cash flows with low levels of volatility has always made apartment buildings an enticing option for investors, but the combined strength of tenant demand, rental growth, and investor interest is unprecedented,” said CBRE Canada Vice Chairman Paul Morassutti in a news release. “Demand drivers, including a growing population and high home ownership costs, coupled with a lack of meaningful rental supply, are fueling income growth at a pace that we have never seen in many Canadian markets.

“Traditionally viewed as a stable, defensive asset class, the multi-family sector is now benefiting from market fundamentals that are arguably as good as they have ever been, and we don’t expect them to change in a material way, recession or not. That’s great news for investors.”

Avenue Living to Aggressively Expand Calgary Portfolio

Avenue Living Asset Management has built its vast Western Canadian portfolio of residential rental properties outside the major market of Calgary. But the Calgary-based company is now poised to aggressively expand into the city, actively looking to acquire both residential and commercial real estate assets.

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Taking A Day Off Work To Build Love

When a hard working project manager takes a day off, you’d expect some much deserved relaxation to follow. But Ray Tarnes, Project Manager for Avenue Living Communities, recently put his construction skills to work helping a charity transform a house into a fully accessible home for a woman with severe MS.

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ALC Tenants Making a Difference in Regina

Two commercial tenants in Avenue Living Communities’ Viking Apartments are making a significant difference in the North Central Regina neighbourhood.

North Central Hacker Dojo and White Pony Lodge are passionate about the community and both non-profit organizations are actively working on improving it through two unique, but different, initiatives they have launched.

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