APM

March 1, 2004

Killam buys Venus Apartments

HEATHER McLAUGHLIN
The Daily Gleaner

A Halifax-based real estate company didn't even have to pull out a cheque book when it bought Venus Apartments in Fredericton for $3.1 million.

Killam Properties Inc. paid cash for the nine one-bedroom units, 18 two-bedroom units and 27 three-bedroom units with an average rent of $715 per two-bedroom unit.

Venus has a total of 54 units in Fredericton.

A Killam news release says the Fredericton apartment units will be mortgaged within the next month as part of its financial plan. It's the first purchase of apartment properties for the company in this marketplace.

Fredericton continues to have a shortage of apartments with an overall vacancy rate of 1.6 per cent, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Killam, a publicly traded real estate company, is in the process of acquiring, redeveloping and managing multi-family residential units and manufactured home communities in Canada.

Killam now owns 2,172 properties in the four Atlantic provinces, up from the 311 units it owned last year at the same time, says the release.

The company plans to investigate other apartment buys actively in the Atlantic region, the release states.

The company is adding 64 units of apartment housing to its Charlottetown inventory. That $2.1-million deal was completed with a mix of cash and a vendor take-back mortgage of $200,000.

"I am very excited about Killam's entry into the Charlottetown residential marketplace and we are currently looking for more quality buildings to buy," said company director Tim Banks of Charlottetown.

Killam is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange at TSX:KMP.