Dream taps the key Toronto market

Article Excerpt

DREAM OFFICE REIT $21.77 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (www.dream.ca/office; Shares o/s: 50.7 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; Dividend yield: 4.6%) launched a three-year strategic initiative in 2016. As part of that plan, it sold roughly 138 properties for $3.7 billion. It used $1.8 billion of the proceeds to pay down its high-interest debt. It also repurchased over $1.1 billion of its outstanding units. In July 2017, Dream cut its monthly distribution by 50.6%, to $0.0833 a unit from $0.125. It has held that new rate—yielding a high 4.6%— steady since then. The trust now has 30 office properties, including one under development. These properties have a total of 5.5 million square feet of gross leasable area. Also, the highly profitable downtown Toronto market supplies 79% of its rental revenue. Its overall occupancy rate as of March 31, 2021, was 87.2%. Its Toronto downtown properties had an occupancy rate of 93.9%, while the occupancy rate for its other markets was…