of Capital Interest – July 2003
produced by Juteau Johnson Comba Inc.
Real Estate Advisors and Appraisers
2255 St. Laurent Boulevard, Suite 340
Ottawa, Ontario
K1G 4K3

Phone 613-738-2426 ex 104
Fax 613-738-0429

Editor John Comba

We have finally made it to the world wide web, albeit in a very modest way. Our web site is now active and we have archived all of our old newsletters there for those of you who deleted them by mistake (or not) the first time you received them and now need that information you know you read somewhere. We have also provided a links page to clients, brokers, financial institutions etc. If we have missed anyone (who has a web site) just send us a note and we will rectify the situation as soon as possible. Oh yes, our web site address is www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com.

Now onto the sales that occurred in the month of May. There were a total of 27 sales reported this month totaling over $69,500,000. Retail building sales accounted for 38.0% of the total sales, office buildings 2.8%, industrial buildings 11.2%, apartments 8.8% and vacant land 39.2%.

Sales data has been provided by RealTrack, Inc. For more information visit http://www.realtrack.com or call 1-877-962-9033.

SALES

Six RETAIL building transactions were reported for the month of May which totaled $26,453,930. The rate per square foot of building area ranged from $58 to $191. The newly constructed Viewmount Square retail plaza located at 1701 -1705 Merivale Road was sold by First Viewmount Shopping Centres Limited to Merivale Portfolio Inc. who purchased the plaza for $21,973,930 or $191 per square foot of building area. The plaza is comprised of a freestanding Montana’s and a strip retail housing Loeb, Linens ‘N Things and Best Buy. There is some potential for additional construction on the site.

There was only one OFFICE building sale this month totaling $1,950,000 or $116 per square foot of building area. 398460 Ontario Inc. sold the two-storey medical/dental building located at 139 Greenbank Road to Goldcrest Enterprises Ltd..

There were seven INDUSTRIAL building sales this month totaling $7,805,000 in value ranging from $31 to $93 per square foot of building area. Abraham Cohen sold a one-storey industrial/warehouse building located at 50 Slack Road for $1,700,000 or $47 per square foot of building area to 888394 Ontario Inc. Joel Brodie of jj Barnicke had the property listed for sale.

There were three APARTMENT building sales in May which totaled $6,140,000 and ranged from $71,429 to $131,429 per unit. Prem Bhatia sold a 50% interest in a 98-unit residential row housing complex located at 901 – 913 & 904 -918 Borthwick Avenue and 908 – 1030 Cummings Avenue. 1436960 Ontario Inc. acquired a 50% interest in the property for $3,500,000, adjusted to $7,000,000 for a 100% interest, or $71,429 per unit.

There were ten vacant LAND transactions during the month of May totaling $27,241,585. The rate per acre ranged from $7,300 for Future Growth Land to $556,000 for Industrial Land. There was one sale and one agreement of purchase of sale on commercial land, one industrial sale, four residential, one institutional and two future growth sales. A Caution of Agreement of Purchase and Sale was placed upon a 20.798 acre parcel of land owned by Emparrado Corporation that is located on the south side of Innes Road to the west of Mer Bleue Road. First Line Shopping Centres Limited plans to develop a retail power centre. A site plan control application has been made to permit a new commercial and retail development totaling 443,777 square feet of floor area and includes retail stores, a building material trade store, restaurants and a gas station.

Arnold Ernest Bradley sold a 137.97 acre parcel of industrial land located on the north side of Hazeldean Road east of Carp Road. Taggart Residential Developments Ltd. purchased the land for $2,217,296.45 or $16,071 per acre. The lands are designated for development with an industrial park. However, the purchaser is attempting to rezone the lands for development of a residential subdivision.

A 151.543 acre parcel of residential land located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Innes Road and Trim Road was sold by Orleans E & M Ltd.. 6095186 Canada Inc. purchased the land for $10,450,000 or $68,957 per acre. The property was purchased for its development into a 425-lot residential subdivision, with commercial and medium density residential blocks along Innes Road.

A 64.45 acre parcel of future growth land was sold by WEC 2000 Ottawa Land A Company. The property extends from the south side of Maple Grove Road to the north side of Hazeldean Road and is bisected by the Carp River. Driveway Realties Limited purchased the property for $2,800,000 or $43,445 per acre. The property is within the Kanata West expansion area and is designated as being within the General Urban Area under the new Official Plan. The parcel previously sold in 2000 for $1,067,200 or $16,418 per acre.

NEWS

The unemployment rate in Ottawa-Gatineau for June fell from 6.6% to 6.4% as some 2,900 new jobs were added to the local economy. According to Statistics Canada, this is the 14th straight month of job creation for the Ottawa region. Most of the gains are due to the strong healthcare and education sectors. The job gains in Ottawa over the past two years have been amazing considering that employment in the technology sector dropped again to 53,600 in June, down from 69,000 in March 2001.

The Ottawa Real Estate Board reported that for the first half of the year, the number of units that have been sold through the Real Estate Board is down some 8.1% from last year, but the average price is up 9.1% to $218,405.