Dream Office Real Estate Investment Trust

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Dream Office Real Estate Investment Trust
Company typePublic
TSX: D.UN
S&P/TSX Composite Component
IndustryReal estate
Founded2003
Headquarters
Toronto, Ontario
,
Canada
Key people
Michael Cooper
Websitewww.dream.ca/office

Dream Office REIT (formerly Dundee REIT) is a Canadian real estate investment trust (REIT).

History[edit]

Dundee REIT was formed in 2003, from the commercial properties of Dundee Realty.[1] The remainder of Dundee Realty was taken over by its major shareholder, Dundee Bancorp (now called Dundee Corporation).[1] In 2007, the company sold its Eastern Canadian assets to GE Real Estate for $2.4 billion, while retaining its Western Canadian assets.[2] In 2011, the company bought 29 buildings from Blackstone Real Estate and Slate Properties for $832 million.[3] In January 2012, the company acquired Whiterock REIT, a competing office property REIT, for $582 million.[4] In May 2012, Dundee REIT and H&R REIT bought Scotia Plaza for $1.3 billion, the highest price ever paid for a Canadian office building.[5]

In 2012, the company spun-off its industrial properties into a new company, Dundee Industrial REIT (later renamed Dream Industrial REIT).[6] Dundee Industrial held its $155 million IPO in September 2012. On May 8, 2014 the company was renamed to Dream Office REIT from Dundee REIT.[7]

In 2016, the company took a $749 million writedown, primarily relating to its Alberta office properties.[8] The company had significant exposure to the Alberta market as the result of the 2007 sale of its eastern Canadian properties to GE Capital; at one time, 60% of the company's properties were in Alberta.[9] As a result of its financial problems, the company sold many of its properties in 2016 and 2017. In June 2017, it announced the sale of $1.7 billion worth of properties, including the sale of its remaining stake in Scotia Plaza to KingSett Capital and AIMCo.[10] As of a result of this and other sales, the value of the company's properties decreased by more than half, from $6.1 billion to $2.9 billion.[11]

In February 2018, Dream announced that Michael Cooper, its CEO until 2014, would return as CEO later in the year.[9]

Properties[edit]

As at March 31, 2019, Dream Office had 37 properties with a gross leasable area of 7.3 million sf.[12] The majority of the company's properties are located in downtown Toronto, with others located in Calgary, Saskatchewan, and elsewhere in Canada.[citation needed] The company's portfolio consists almost exclusively of office buildings in the central part of cities.[citation needed]

Corporate structure[edit]

Dream Office REIT is part of the Dream family of companies, which also include three other Toronto Stock Exchange–listed real estate funds, as well as Dream, Dream Office's asset manager.[13] The Dream name was originally an acronym for Dundee Real Estate Asset Management. Dundee Corporation is a significant shareholder in Dream, but not in Dream Office REIT.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Dundee's REIT plan approved". The Globe and Mail. June 24, 2003. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  2. ^ Wong, Tony (June 5, 2007). "GE buys Dundee's eastern properties". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  3. ^ "Dundee REIT grabs office buildings". The Globe and Mail. July 21, 2011. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  4. ^ "Dundee acquires Whiterock in hot market for REITs". The Globe and Mail. January 17, 2012. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  5. ^ Tim, Kiladz (December 27, 2012). "Inside Michael Cooper's $1.3-billion bet on Scotia Plaza". The Globe and Mail. The ROB Magazine - The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  6. ^ "Dundee Industrial REIT IPO brings in the money". The Globe and Mail. September 26, 2013. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  7. ^ "Dundee REIT's new name is Dream Office REIT". Dream REIT. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014.
  8. ^ "Dream Office REIT turns to nightmare for investors after massive writedown". Financial Post. August 11, 2016. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "The humiliation, and comeback, of real estate wunderkind Michael Cooper". The Globe and Mail. March 10, 2018. p. B2. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "Dream Office REIT selling Scotia Plaza stake, other assets for $1.7B - Article - BNN". BNN. June 22, 2017. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  11. ^ "For Dream Office REIT chairman Michael Cooper, downsizing pays off". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  12. ^ "Dream Office REIT - 2019 Q1 Financial Report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 8, 2019.
  13. ^ "Dream - About". Archived from the original on February 24, 2018.
  14. ^ "Dream AIF - 2017" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
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