Toronto-based Starlight Investments has expanded its B.C. holdings with the $43.5 million purchase of two Metro Vancouver apartment buildings with a total of 153 units.

“Starlight is seeking scale in the Lower Mainland multi-family market, and these acquisitions – the sixth and seventh apartment properties in its B.C. portfolio – give a serious boost to that strategy,” said Lance Coulson, executive vice-president of the CBRE national apartment group in Vancouver.

The recent apartment properties purchased by Starlight Investments are:

1629 Haro Street, a 40-unit concrete apartment building in the West End of Vancouver; and 720 Queens Avenue, a 113-unit low-rise apartment building in New Westminster, B.C.

Concrete highrise rental apartment buildings are somewhat of a rarity on the West Coast, where most multi-family structures are wood-framed, Coulson noted. “They don’t come up that often,” he said. “In fact, this was the first concrete highrise rental building sold in the city of Vancouver this year.”

The low-rise New Westminster property came as part of a package purchase for Starlight.

Breakdown:

Property type: Two multi-family rental buildings

Location 1: 1629 Haro Street (concrete high-rise), Vancouver

Location 2: 720 Queens Avenue (low-rise, wood-frame), New Westminster

Total number of units: 153

Total price: $43.5 million

Price per suite: $302,000 (approx.)

Brokerage: CBRE National Apartment Group, Vancouver

Broker: Lance Coulson