Growing REITs with special appeal

Article Excerpt

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $31.60 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 60.0 million; Market cap: $1.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.2%; www.alliedpropertiesreit.com) owns 119 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 8.3 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century light industrial buildings that have been converted to office and retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors. In 2011, the trust bought 22 properties for $456 million. In the first half of 2012, it bought 14 buildings for $175.0 million. Allied has an occupancy rate of 92.3%. These new buildings helped increase Allied’s revenue by 37.7% in the three months ended June 30, 2012, to $62.7 million from $45.5 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit jumped 43.5%, to $0.33 from $0.23. Allied yields 4.2%. In July 2012, Allied entered into a joint venture with RioCan REIT to buy buildings in urban…