Suske Capital
2275 Upper Middle Rd E L6H 0C3 Oakville, ON, Canada

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) initiated research coverage on the Canadian seniors housing industry this week, with a comprehensive market report which profiled sector fundamentals and outlook for the investment market in 2020 and beyond. Key take-aways are as follows: -According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the average healthcare spending on those age 80 and older is more than seven times the amount spent for someone between the ages of 1 and 64. Govern...ments continue to grapple with growing demands for spending at a time when the overall labour force participation rate (and by extension, individuals paying income tax) is expected to decrease due to the aging population. The private sector will be increasingly called upon to come up with innovative solutions to provide housing and services for the growing segment of the population aged 75-plus. The seniors housing & care property market is a direct beneficiary of these trends. -Total Canadian seniors housing & healthcare annual transaction dollar volume in 2019 exceeded the $4.0 billion level for the second time in the past decade. -Implied cap rates on Class A seniors housing investments have steadily declined over the past decade. From previous highs in the mid-8s during the trough of the ‘great-recession’, yields have compressed by about 300 basis points nationally. -Cap rates for seniors housing in Canada generally held at record-lows in 2019, with some late-cycle compression observed in markets like Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal. Cushman expects cap rates for best-in-class product to remain steady for the balance of 2020. For Class A assets in the very best locations, the market remains tilted in favour of sellers. Implied returns on trades in the market for Class B product, which historically has featured lower transaction volume than the Class A market, will be highly dependent on the level of product available for sale. -In recent years, certain markets have faced an excess of supply, which contributed to a sequential decline in national occupancy in 2018 and 2019. While many developers have slowed the pace of construction starts due to rising development costs and temporary supply and demand imbalances, the industry can still expect a wave of deliveries from properties currently under construction, which will continue to disrupt occupancy in select markets through 2020. -Looking to the U.S., where the theme of overbuilding has played out in certain markets in recent years, national leading indicators of supply and demand continue to improve, hinting to the upside that lies ahead. Cushman sees a similar narrative playing out in Canada. https://www.cushmanwakefield.com//2020-02-va-canadian-seni

Suske Capital’s newest investment, BerQ RNG, has signed a term sheet for US$4M of financing with a large Canadian private equity fund. The funding is for BerQ to develop a farm-based digester to renewable natural gas project. The project is planned to be in development this year and be operational by the spring of 2021. Congrats to the team at BerQ for all their hard work! We look forward to following this project as it progresses to completion.

Suske Capital's investment, Canoe Bay, is pleased to announce that they have partnered with Campanale Homes for the construction of the Birch Towns and Cedar Flats the two ownership options available at Canoe Bay. Campanale Homes is an award-winning home builder with over 40 years of proven experience in the Ottawa region. The Canoe Bay team was incredibly impressed with their innovative designs, attention to detail, and their commitment to building sustainable homes that ...exceed industry standards. Campanale Homes will be taking on a comprehensive role that includes sales, design, and customer service for the Birch Towns and Cedar Flats. The Birch Towns offer townhome living for those seeking home ownership with private outdoor spaces for gardening or entertaining, and the Cedar Flats offer condo living in a beautiful, universally-designed low-rise condo surrounded by nature, with all the exceptional amenities of the village at your doorstep. Canoe Bay is a large seniors housing development that includes a 247-suite seniors apartment and a 265-suite seniors residence located in Ottawa, ON, across from Mooney’s Bay. The team is planning on developing the community into the seniors development, as well as two mixed-use buildings, 26 town homes, and a 36-suite condo development.

Last week, the BerQ team signed a Term Sheet with Adirondack Farms to allow BerQ RNG to build a Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) upgrader on their farm. The project will be a first of its kind in North East New York, allowing Adirondack Farms and BerQ RNG to become leaders in the industry. The project takes manure from the farm and processes it into RNG, in turn reducing carbon emissions while delivering long-term revenues for the farmer and investors. BerQ RNG hopes to have this ...project operational by Q1 next year. Adirondack Farm is home to over 5,000 dairy cows so it looks like the BerQ Team will have their hands full!

Teams from across Canada and the United States pitched for over $40,000 in prizes today at the Ivey Business Plan Competition at Western. EarthSuds founders Mar...issa Vettoretti and Daniel Moll took the top prize for undergraduates, and Hairstrong founder Nicole Baranowski won the graduate competition. A special shout out goes to Urban Roots London founders Richie Bloomfield and Mariam Waliji for winning the Pembroke Management prize in social enterprise. #purpleandproud of all our Western Entrepreneurs! by Propel - Western’s Entrepreneurship Centre and Entrepreneurship at Ivey.