Skyline Living has officially moved out of town.

Skyline Apartment REIT announced that it has completed a “two-phase strategic disposition” of its Sault Ste. Marie properties, according to a news release issued by the company last week. 

The sale of five local apartment complexes — totalling a dozen properties and 714 rental units — was finalized over the past month.

“The sale of our Sault Ste. Marie portfolio is part of our ongoing work to strengthen and modernize the REIT by focusing on markets that align with our long-term growth objectives,” Skyline Apartment REIT president Matthew Organ said in the release.

The following apartment buildings are now under new ownership:


352 Dacey Road (Village Green)
365 and 379 Lake Street (Lake Street Apartments)
122, 130 and 142 Allard Street (Ruscio Villa)
23, 26 and 27 Terry Fox Place (Terry Fox Place)
621, 627 and 631 MacDonald Avenue (Heritage Place)

A letter obtained by SooToday reveals that Terry Fox Place is now owned by Les Immeubles Jardins Radisson Inc. and managed by Gestion Zagaro.

The new owner of the east-end apartment complex is linked to Black Ridge, a Quebec-based real estate company that specializes in the acquisition and management of properties in markets throughout Canada, including Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Gatineau.

One of the tenants at Terry Fox Place says the transition to new ownership over the past week hasn’t exactly been a smooth one.

“I couldn’t imagine if my toilet stopped working because in that period we couldn’t get a hold of our current residential building managers . . . their cell phones were shut off,” said Talon Beharriell, who has been living there with his spouse for about three years.

Beharriell says one of the building managers at Terry Fox Place is now employed by Gestion Zagora, which has been hired to assume property management duties.

“She actually lives in our building, and she’s decided to stay — she’s tackling this head on,” he said. “So, it was really reassuring.”

Skyline Apartment REIT now owns 224 properties in 48 communities across Canada, totalling 19,566 residential suites, following the sale of its Sault properties.