Allied Properties REIT touts itself as the leading owner andmanger of class 1 office properties in Canada. A market source inToronto tells GlobeSt.com that the REIT specializes in off-marketdeals for high-quality, vintage brick-and-beam buildings that canbe converted into loft-style offices or their sites scraped andrebuilt. He says the just-bought properties were all off-marketpickups, predominately from families that had passed down the realestate for generations. He says the REIT has been averaging 6.5%cap rates on its recent deals.

Allied Properties Monday reported the fund-raising drive anddisclosed deals totaling $72 million for a 130,532-sf building at204-214 King St. West and 34,414-sf structure at 70 Richmond St.East, both in Toronto's Downtown core, and a 251,345-sf, fullyleased asset at 5505 Saint-Laurent Blvd. in Montreal. The deal, setto close in August, bears a cap rate of slightly more than 8%.

In a press release distributed yesterday in the US, the REITreported closing a $30.75-million deal for more in-town properties:32,559 sf at 183 Bathurst St., 26,271 sf at 489 King St. West,11,183 at 495 King St. West and 8,400 sf at 499 King St. West. A255,671-sf building at 860 Richmond St. East is included in theprice, but it will close after "a minor title issue" is resolved,according to the REIT's press release.