A diligent divestment strategy has seen BC Tree Fruits Cooperative sell close to $40 million in real estate since 2020.
The latest deal saw the co-op sell its warehouse at 858 Ellis Street to Mission Group, a development company based in Kelowna, for $23.8 million. The sale was announced in mid-December, nearly eight months after the closing date for bids in April 2021. The deal will complete in March.
The sale came in nearly $4 million over the listing price of $20 million, testimony to the strong real estate market in Kelowna. The price set a new local record, a nod to a prime, large scale location that will anchor an eventual makeover of that part of Kelowna. In the meantime, Mission Group says it will seek tenants for the industrial property.
The deal followed the sale a year earlier of the co-op’s headquarters in downtown Kelowna for $7.5 million. The co-op sold its Osoyoos packing house to winery owner Markus Frind the same month, also for $7.5 million.
With its balance sheet augmented by proceeds from $38.5 million in real estate transactions, the co-op is considering its options.
“The cooperative will decide how best to use the funds, including a focus on debt repayment,” says the co-op’s director of strategic initiatives, Laurel van Dam.
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