Comox Valley-based RealStream™ Income Properties LP has just acquired another local income property for its investors.
Its latest investment, located at 519 Fifth St. in Courtenay, is consistent with RealStream™’s focus on finding high-quality, tenanted properties with expectations to hold those investment properties for at least 5 to 20 years.
“This is another superior property that’s home to several successful local companies,” says Real Estate Asset Manager Jim Stewart, a partner in RealStream™ Asset Management. “We’re proud to say that the majority of our investors are also local, and thus much of the income generated from our properties is being put back in the hands of local people.”
The opportunity to invest in solid “hands off” investments managed by local professionals, he adds, is proving to be very compelling.
“To date, RealStream™ has posted strong returns, and investor interest continues to build as more people learn of the opportunity to become an investor themselves. Recent declines in global stock markets have also once again reminded investors that additional diversification can be a comforting thing.”
Powered by expertise
In addition to Stewart, who was formerly the Deputy Assessor of BC Assessments’ Vancouver Island Region, the RealStream™ management team includes Richard DeLuca and Jonathan Veale, founders of Comox-based investment management firm DeLuca Veale Investment Counsel Inc., which just celebrated its 10th anniversary. The three partners realized that they had the tools, the expertise and the relationship with investors to create a real estate investment for local people, and thus RealStream™ was born.
“The rationale for creating RealStream™ was simple,” explains DeLuca. “We believe that adding investment real estate to portfolios of stocks and bonds will enhance returns and stability. The RealStream™ portfolio is designed to produce income and growth for individual investors wishing to collectively invest in a portfolio of properties that are managed for them.”
Importantly, adds Veale, RealStream™ is much more than property management; it’s about portfolio management.
“Our expertise encompasses acquisitions, leasing, financing, dispositions, building improvements and much more,” says Veale. “Most people prefer not to spend the years it takes to acquire all these specialized skills when they are already available locally and affordably. DeLuca Veale clients tend to share this perspective, whether it’s about managing their stocks, bonds or real estate. They’re looking for qualified managers whom they know, and whom they trust to do what’s in their best interest with minimal need to be involved personally.”
A growing portfolio
RealStream™’s first acquisition, in 2014, was Timberline Village, a 30,000 sq. ft. shopping centre at the corner of Dogwood and Hilchey Rd. in Campbell River. The following year, it added its second property, located at 1111 Braidwood Rd. in Courtenay and home to Van Isle Veterinary Hospital.
RealStream™’s latest acquisition, 519 5th Street, is home to Mosaic Vision Care, Island Dentures, Braidwood Massage Therapy, Buckstone Investments, the Travel Medicine Clinic and the Law Office of Tom Finkelstein.
“Our objective is to continue to add more investors and more properties, as additional tenants and locations increase diversification while lowering the impact of individual vacancies,” says Stewart. “Spreading risk and sharing operational overhead across more properties also enhances investment performance and liquidity.”
To that end, he says, RealStream™’s management team continues to scour the market for their next acquisition, and investor presentations will be running locally again soon.