Avenue Living Passes $5 Billion In Assets

The Calgary firm owns and operates a portfolio of 15,700 residential units and 200-plus self-storage facilities

With its latest acquisitions, Canadian asset management firm has surpassed $5 billion in assets under management, with continued growth on the horizon. Founded in 2006 with the purchase of 24 rental units in Brooks, Alta., for over $3 million, the company today has about 15,700 residential rental units (14,350 in Canada and 1,350 in the United States); about 6.7 million square feet of self-storage property (2.3 million square feet in Canada and 4.4 million square feet in the United States); about 86.500 acres of farmland in Saskatchewan; and about 496,000 square feet of commercial property.

Anthony Giuffre, founder, CEO and executive chairman of Avenue Living, said the multifamily real estate market is experiencing an interesting moment in time. “Clearly when we hear all the headlines, multifamily is very newsworthy right now and that’s basically because we have a supply imbalance. We really do have a housing crisis in Canada,” Giuffre said. “We do need to bring more multifamily units online in Canada province by province. Frankly, what we are seeing is just an inability to build fast enough for whether we talk about the net inbound in-migration coming inter-provincially or also internationally.”

"What’s happened is it’s created a supply imbalance. When we look at housing starts and housing completions, it’s tough because essentially that housing stock can’t necessarily keep up. So it’s a moment in time where we have to be very conscious about how we do things. Now at Avenue Living, because we’re not a developer, we do see those supply constraints maybe differently than most.”

Giuffre said 10 interest rate hikes changed the affordability picture for developers in tandem with rising construction costs. As a result, getting a property onto the market becomes increasingly challenging. For the consumer, it translates into higher costs – especially considering the supply imbalance.

“When you look at Avenue Living, we are not a builder or developer but what we’re doing is we’re doubling down on Alberta,” Giuffre said. “We’re taking our own path and trying to help – trying to be responsible in terms of managing the quality of housing, so upscaling housing, providing an institutional service standard on assets typically that have been undermanaged and bringing that to the next level.”

Avenue Living's growth has been dramatic in recent years. In 2018, it held $1.27 billion in assets under management. That rose to $1.6 billion in 2019 and to $2 billion in 2020. Throughout the pandemic, the company continued to grow, reaching $3.2 billion in 2021 and $4.6 billion in 2022. Today, it manages more than 700 properties across North America.