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Toronto-based developer Fitzrovia has just made headlines in the GTA development community with the initial closing of the company’s first real estate fund in late February. Titled the Fitzrovia DevCore Fund LP, the fund will enable Fitzrovia to continue pursuing the development of purpose-built rental properties in the GTA. Targeting a total pool of $920 million in equity, Fitzrovia has reported that more than half of those commitments have already been secured.
“This fund represents the next chapter in Fitzrovia’s growth,” said Adrian Rocca, Founder and CEO at Fitzrovia. “We are deeply appreciative of our capital partners commitments to the strategy and continued support for our business.”
Elaborating further on what this announcement means for the company’s next steps, Rocca explained that “the fund will focus on the development of high-rise residential rental buildings in well-located, transit-oriented nodes across the GTA.” With a clear vision for the conditions that represent highly developable and strategic sites, DevCore represents $2 billion in purchasing power for Fitzrovia to acquire land and develop it.
The announcement of DevCore comes at a critical moment, as Toronto navigates the challenges of delivering new housing in a volatile economic climate. Furthermore, it’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore that the current dearth of rental housing available is one of the primary forces exacerbating the housing crisis, and one that has lacked solutions.
“There is a significant housing shortage in the GTA and all signs point to that shortage continuing to grow over time,” said Corey Pacht, Senior Vice-President of Investments at Fitzrovia. “We firmly believe that meaningfully growing the rental supply is critical to the long-term success of the GTA and are proud to be leading the market in this regard.”
With an existing portfolio of successful rental projects in Toronto, Fitzrovia is looking to harness DevCore to focus more specifically on larger-scale opportunities. This means a greater emphasis on mixed-use development, high-rise massing, and master-planned communities. Looking at some of their recent projects, like The Parker, The Elm and The Ledbury, and The Waverley, it’s clear that the activation of the company’s long-term vision has already begun, and will continue to be advanced with an expanding slate of projects.
Discussing how Fitzrovia plans to manage the increase in output that comes with their development goals, Rocca explained how the company’s vertically integrated model will enable them to meet their targets. “As the largest rental developer in the province, we are able to effectively utilize our size and scale to creatively structure deals with vendors and trades, all of which further align the stakeholders and help ensure success for all parties.”
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