About District
District Group is a leading-edge real estate investment, development and asset management company based in Vancouver, BC. With deep roots on Vancouver Island, District is passionate about building exceptional projects that energize neighborhoods and realize timeless design all while adding value for tenants, homeowners and capital investors. District aims to exceed standards in design and engineering to create thoughtful and highly livable master-planned communities. District is actively developing and pursing residential, commercial, mixed-use and master-planned projects in BC, Alberta and the United States, with particular focus on Vancouver Island and the Okanagan in B.C..
Development
Real estate development is the core of what we do. With decades of experience in every asset class in all key western Canadian markets, including land development – residential and industrial – retail, transit oriented mixed use, large multi-use master plans, high rise residential and office building, development is what we know. Our primary focus is purpose built low and midrise rental residential, with a mix of retail and office use where appropriate, along with a strong emphasis on market housing in major markets. We see projects through the full development process, from due diligence, financing, municipal approvals, building and design programming and construction management, to marketing, sales and leasing. We currently have 18 projects under development with over 3,000 residential units in the pipeline, 200 acres of industrial property, and 120,000 square feet of office and retail space totaling over $1B in gross project value.
Acquisitions
Acquisitions is the opportunity seeking, analysis, procurement and disposition division of our business bolstering our investment and development programs. We identify, underwrite, model and evaluate prospective real estate opportunities, liaising with all stakeholders and moving forward through due diligence to deal structure and purchase or sale where appropriate. With years of experience in originating, negotiating and structuring deals, along with tackling several of the largest, most complex land acquisitions in Western Canada, our level of expertise, sophistication and realization not only produces significant acquisition success, but also provides deal flow and long-term deal channel access. We produce comprehensive investment information for our lenders, investors and team to inform our decisions in the process, review our portfolio and define our plans, generating our business strategy, executing transactions and completing the full process of the deal.
Investment
We develop and manage real estate asset investments for ourselves and our capital partners and private investor clients. We align ourselves with our partners by co-investing and taking on development risk at the early stage of a project. Our success comes from identifying opportunities in Western Canada and the U.S.’s most attractive markets, building strong relationships with prudently selected partners, and skillfully managing projects from acquisition through development. We focus on acquisitions of deep value, long-term cash flow, opportunistic investments, and management practices that maximize value. Our hands-on approach provides comprehensive solutions throughout the value chain of a given asset, and allows us to also make strategic investments in operating businesses that service our development business, providing vertical integration. We currently own or are invested in all of our development projects and the real estate assets currently under management total over $1B in gross project value.
Leasing & Asset Management
Our process at District ensures that the real estate assets we own and are invested in are marketed, leased, maintained, accounted for and put to their highest and best use. We manage assets alongside our property management partners to provide exceptional customer service to our homeowners, tenants, retailers and commercial operators, and to operate more reliable, efficient and less expensive assets for long-term hold where possible, maximizing returns and adding value across the span of each project. With expertise in asset management, branding and marketing, and retail and office leasing through decades of retail and mixed-use development experience, we deliver discerning advisory and work closely with our partners to oversee and implement the strategic direction of our assets.