How 5 More REITs Fared in the Second Quarter

August 21, 2015 | 12:00 am ET Ryan Starr

We continue with our look at the performance of Canada’s real estate investment trusts last quarter. Here’s how five more REITs stacked up in Q2.

1. Plaza Retail REIT

Highlights: Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) for first six months of 2015 was $14.1M, up 10.2% from 2014. Plaza had 497k SF in new leasing deals and renewals.

Portfolio: 305 properties totaling 6.7M SF nationwide, a mix of strip plazas, enclosed shopping centres and stand-alone small box retail outlets, like 1726 Huron Church Rd in Windsor (above).

Big deal: In June, announced plans to develop—in a JV with DewCor—The Shoppes at Galway, the 700k SF retail portion of a master planned community in St. John’s being built by DewCor, whose owner is former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams.

2. Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust

Highlights: PIRET's AFFO in Q2 increased to $15.9M, up from $12M for the same period last year.

Portfolio: 173 properties with 17.4M SF GLA under management. Occupancy is 94%. Developing a new 422k SF FedEx Ground distribution facility in Vaughan (above).

Big deals: Reached an agreement in June to expand a 198k SF FedEx Ground sorting and distribution facility in Barrington, NJ, by 57k SF for US$9.1M. Sold interest in four investment properties in Burlington, Mississauga and Vaughan for net proceeds of $10.3M.

3. Milestone Apartments REIT

Highlights: AFFO was $14.9M, up 34.3% from $11.1M in Q2 2014. Occupancy was 95.2%, slightly higher than in 2014.

Portfolio: 61 multifamily garden-style residential properties, 20,232 units in 14 major metropolitan markets throughout the Southeast and Southwest US, including Arbor Creek, a 280-suite property in Dallas (above).

Big deal: Completed $24M acquisition of The Village at Almand Creek, a 236-unit multifamily apartment community in Atlanta. The REIT has acquired over 1,000 apartment units year-to-date via acquisitions, on pace with the almost 2,000 units it acquired in 2014.

4. BTB REIT

Highlights: AFFO of $3.9M in Q2, up from $3.4M in 2014. Leased and renewed 106k SF, with 90.8% occupancy.

Portfolio: $620M in assets, with 73 retail, industrial and office properties (5.1M SF GLA), located mostly in Montreal, Quebec City (like 825 Lebourgneuf Blvd) and Ottawa.

Big bummer: Groupe Épicia filed for bankruptcy and terminated leases, leading to closure of two BTB commercial spaces and one industrial space (40k SF total) and $300k rental income lost in Q2. BTB subsequently refinanced two Quebec City-area assets for a $200k savings.

5. Slate Retail REIT

Highlights: AFFO of $7.7M for Q2, up from $4M in 2014. Completed 25.5k SF of new leases; 173k SF of lease renewals. Greg Stevenson named CEO, succeeding Blair Welch.

Portfolio: $3B of assets under management, with 59 grocery-anchored US properties, like Barefoot Common, a 100k SF shopping centre in Myrtle Beach, SC (above).

Big deals: Acquired 16 grocery-anchored shopping centres in Q2, including the 13 properties of Slate U.S. Opportunity (No. 3) Realty Trust. The REIT sees continuing “large opportunity” in high-quality, grocery-anchored US shopping centres.