HEROD: Player in rental game comes to town

Here’s some real estate news of possible interest.

Three properties on Towering Heights Boulevard in south St. Catharines recently sold for $37.7 million.

Real estate records show the seller was George Wakil and Company Ltd. of White Oaks Resort and Spa fame; the buyer was Kingston-based Homestead Land Holdings Ltd.

The key piece was the 135-unit Crown Tower apartment building, which, at 17 storeys, is St. Catharines’ tallest edifice.

I doubt which company owns what apartment complex in the city is of much interest to anyone but residents of the buildings. And, for all I know, maybe these dwellings change hands on a regular basis.

What makes this transaction potentially interesting for a broader audience, though, is the state of the other two parcels. They’re vacant, raw land.

The larger piece, on the northwest corner of Towering Heights Boulevard and Glen Morris Drive, is 4.42 acres. The smaller one, across the boulevard, is 2.48 acres.

Homestead Land Holdings is a fairly significant player in the rental apartment game, noting on its website that it owns and operates 25,000 rental units, mostly in Ontario.

In Kingston alone, it has more than 50 buildings.

And last year Homestead unveiled plans to build two 20-storey apartment towers in downtown Kingston, a couple of blocks away from that municipality’s puck palace.

That’s kind of encouraging, isn’t it?

OK, time for a reality check.

I talked to a Homestead representative this week who claimed there are no plans afoot for the vacant parcels.

And the fact of the matter is the two land parcels in questions have been in a state of vacant bliss for decades.

Indeed, if memory serves me correctly, the last development in Wakil Valley was the Southgate condo building more than 25 years ago.

However, keen followers of this sort of stuff may remember there was a Mountainview Homes/Wakil Brothers Ventures Inc. proposal to build a 15-storey, luxury condo tower on the aforementioned 4.42-acre site about 11 years ago.

Maybe this will help jog your memory. The advertising campaign featured a nine-storey vertical banner affixed to the nearby Crown apartment that had a photo of a groovy-looking, youngish couple in glitzy attire.

The woman, wearing a somewhat low-cut gown, was dipping backwards while in the grip of the tuxedo-clad man.

It screamed St. Catharines high society.

Then again, maybe not.

After a year-long marketing campaign, the plug was pulled on the Boulevard Club project in the fall of 2007.

Not enough units were pre-sold during the campaign to secure the financing that would have allowed construction to proceed, a Mountainview spokesman said at the time.

Various reasons were given for the slow sales, one being the price points — $300,000 to $500,000, which was a considerable chunk of real estate change back then.

As noted earlier, David Trousdale, of Homestead’s acquisitions and corporate development division, said there are no plans “at this time” for the vacant parcels.

“We’re just reviewing what the possibilities are. It’s very early in the process,” said Trousdale.

The purchase of the Crown apartment building fits in with what Homestead owns in other Ontario markets, he said, adding the company decided to make its first foray into St. Catharines because of the city’s “strong demographics.”

When someone says that about St. Catharines, I immediately think seniors. Or — egads! — university students.

But Trousdale said Homestead doesn’t target specific resident groups for its buildings.

He also said the company owns and operates rental apartments, not condos.

So, there you go.

I guess we wait until we seen another nine-storey vertical banner, perhaps featuring a less-glitzy couple.

dherod.niagara@gmail.com