Canadian Firm Invests $234M in Silicon Valley Apts.

(Save the date: RealShare Apartments comes to the Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles, October 24.)

SAN JOSE, CA-Montreal, Quebec-based firm Ivanhoe Cambridge has invested $234 million in two multifamily properties—one purchase and one new development—that bring the Canadian firm’s total units in the Silicon Valley to 2,300. The company has acquired its fifth property in this market, Kimberly Woods, for $63 million including a $2.5-million capital program, and is developing its first construction project, ICS Transit Village, with Shea Properties for $171 million.

The 208-unit Kimberly Woods joins four other complexes here in the firm’s portfolio: the Park Kiely, Woodbridge, the Verandas and the Reserve. When complete, ICS Transit Village will consist of 648 luxury rental units built in two five-story buildings with a full range of amenities. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Spring 2013, with construction expected to be completed by year-end 2015.

“The Silicon Valley region continues to provide excellent investment opportunities in the residential market,” said Daniel Fournier, chairman and CEO of Ivanhoe Cambridge, in a prepared statement. “Conditions in this market, which boasts the most favorable employment prospects anywhere in the US, are a strong incentive for us to build critical mass in rental stock. In addition, our venture with Shea Properties exemplifies the type of partnership we seek to develop as we pursue our growth in the US."

ICS Transit Village is located near several major employers including Hitachi, Kaiser Hospital and IBM Research, and is convenient to the new Apple Campus, set to hold roughly 13,000 employees and open nearly the same time as the complex is slated to be completed.

“Scarcity of land and restrictions on home construction make the rental market highly attractive for people wishing to settle in Silicon Valley,” said Sylvain Fortier, president, residential, of Ivanhoe Cambridge, in the statement. “Moreover, we are very pleased to be partnering with Shea Properties, a large company that shares the same values and same long-term vision as Ivanhoe Cambridge.”

The firm’s total investments in the Silicon Valley area amount to slightly more than $600 million and are part of its strategic plan. In addition to the Silicon Vallely, the company has made investments in other areas of the US market, including, as GlobeSt.com previously reported in May, building a $300-million, 45-story office tower to be named River Point in Chicago. The joint venture between Houston-based Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge will be the first speculative tower in downtown Chicago in two decades.