On September 24, 2020, Skyline Group of Companies Co-Founder & CEO Jason Castellan spoke on a panel discussion at the RealREIT conference, which was held virtually for 2020.
The panel’s topic was “Trying to understand valuations and the investment market in the age of COVID-19: is transaction activity returning?”
Castellan spoke to the strength and competitive pricing seen amid the pandemic among all three of the real estate asset classes Skyline is invested in: residential, industrial, and retail —and how this resulted in consistently strong performance for Skyline Apartment REIT, Skyline Commercial REIT, and Skyline Retail REIT through the past seven months.
Opportunities for transactions continued in many of Canada’s secondary and tertiary markets in which Skyline’s properties exist, and where Skyline continues to seek further acquisitions.
During the discussion, Castellan highlighted a particular acquisition transaction for Skyline Apartment REIT that closed in mid-April 2020: 2 apartment properties in Kingston, ON, that were purchased for $32M. He noted that although the first wave of the pandemic was at its height at this time, conditions remained favourable to close the 234-suite transaction.
The panel was moderated by Colin Johnston, President, Research Valuation and Advisory, Canada, Altus Group.
Other panellists included representation from CMLS Financial, Starlight Capital, and KPMG LP.