Big news today, Wilfrid Laurier University has closed on their acquisition of the 765 bed Student Housing portfolio near WLU campus. This will be one of the largest commercial real estate transaction in Kitchener Waterloo this year.
Laurier acquires apartment buildings adjacent to Waterloo campus
WATERLOO – Wilfrid Laurier University has purchased 12 student-housing apartment buildings adjacent to its Waterloo campus. The acquisition, valued at $58.9 million, closed today, Thursday, March 22.Nine of the properties are recently constructed four- and five-floor buildings and three are renovated multi-tenant houses. Together, they have a combined capacity to house approximately 785 students. Eleven of the buildings are located on the south side of Laurier’s Waterloo campus: 10 on Ezra Street and one on Bricker Avenue. The 12th building is located on Hickory Street West, adjacent to Laurier’s Northdale building on the north side of the campus.
This news gives important context to the recent support that the WLU president put towards placing a temporary development freeze on new (and now, competing) student housing projects in the popular Northdale area:
Waterloo freezes student housing in troubled Northdale
WATERLOO — Backed by two universities and a citizen committee, politicians have put the brakes on student housing developments in a troubled campus-area neighbourhood.
City council voted 7-0 Monday for a bylaw that temporarily freezes development in Northdale, north of Wilfrid Laurier University. That’s after too many owners built unloved, boxy structures crammed with student bedrooms.
Interesting. The University just bought 785 bedrooms that matches that general description. I would be interested to know if Laurier disclosed that they were in talks to acquire this portfolio when they lobbied for the development freeze.
@benjaminbach that will help the community population and the local economy. Great for WLU