• CIBT Education Group’s real estate subsidiary, GEC Education Center Limited Partnership has signed a non-binding term sheet with an independent lender
  • The lender will commit up to $50 million by way of loans or equity-like investment in the GEC Education Mega Center Project
  • The GEC Education Mega Center Project will be a 49-storey mixed-use commercial and residential building
  • The project’s total development budget is approximately $270 million
  • CIBT Education Group is one of Canada’s largest education services and academic real estate companies with a $1.5B portfolio
  • CIBT’s real estate subsidiary, Global Education City Holdings Inc., develops and manages academic assets

CIBT Education Group’s (MBA) real estate subsidiary, GEC Education Center Limited Partnership has signed a non-binding term sheet.

Under the terms, an independently owned mortgage lender and investment fund manager will commit up to $50 million by way of loans or equity-like investment in the mega center project.

The parties are working to finalize a formal loan and investment agreement in the coming months.

The company will continue to finalize the remaining procedures required by the City of Surrey to issue the development and building permits. Demolition of the building previously occupying the project site has been completed.

About the GEC Education Mega Center

A subsidiary limited partnership of CIBT acquired the site in downtown Surrey on August 30, 2019. The total purchase price was $22.6 million, excluding closing costs. An appraisal report by an independent appraiser dated August 31, 2020, valued the property at $50.48 million.

The GEC Education Mega Center Project will be a 49-storey mixed-use commercial and residential building with 41 residential floors, 6 commercial and retail floors, 2 amenity floors, and 7 underground parking levels. The building design stands 542 feet tall, making it the fourth tallest building in Metro Vancouver.

The project will comprise 404,249 square feet with 787 bedrooms, including 112 studio units, and accommodates up to 982 occupants. The upper floors will be allocated for residential rental housing and the middle floors for student-centric rental apartments and corporate housing. The lower six floors will accommodate at least five colleges and universities looking to expand their Surrey City Centre presence and a cafeteria-style restaurant with a premium food market on the ground floor.

The project’s total development budget is approximately $270 million, land cost included.

School tenants will share the amenity floors, including dining areas, student lounges, electronic library, video-conferencing and meeting rooms. Such sharing arrangement reduces the operating cost for all the schools. Most importantly, students attending their schools can reside upstairs from the schools, saving them time and money, with increased safety.

GEC Education Mega Center® could also provide much-needed rental housing to the students studying at the Simon Fraser University Surrey Campus, only 150 metres from the project. The Kwantlen Polytechnic University Surrey Central Campus is within 80 metres of the project. The project could also provide rental housing to the estimated 10,000 workers anticipated to be employed in the expanded Surrey Central Business District directly across the street.

Other public amenities such as the Surrey SkyTrain station are 20 metres away, 100 metres from the Central City Shopping Centre and the Surrey Civic Library with the Surrey City Hall adjacent to it.

The Surrey campus of the company’s education subsidiary, Sprott Shaw College, currently occupies over 10,000 square feet in central Surrey. The plan is to relocate the Sprott Shaw College (Surrey) campus to the Education Mega Center as an anchor tenant. The company has been in discussions with numerous universities and colleges from across Canada and abroad and has received tremendous interest in the Project.

CIBT Education Group is one of Canada’s largest education services and academic real estate companies. Its real estate portfolio, including operating assets and development budget, exceeds $1.5 billion.

CIBT’s education subsidiaries include Sprott Shaw College (established in 1903), Sprott Shaw Language College, Vancouver International College Career Campus, CIBT School of Business and Global Education Alliance. These subsidiaries offer over 150 accredited educational programs in healthcare, business, e-commerce, cyber-security, hotel management, language training and recruitment services at 29 locations in Canada and abroad.

CIBT’s real estate subsidiary, Global Education City Holdings Inc., develops and manages academic assets such as student-centric rental apartments, corporate housing, hotel and education super-centres.

Under the GEC® brand, Global Holdings provides B2B accommodation service to 90 schools in Metro Vancouver and B2C service to students from 70 countries. The GEC® branded portfolio, including operational and under-construction or development, comprises 11 projects, 16 buildings, spanning over 1.5 million square feet.

CIBT Education Group Inc. (MBA) is trading at C$0.76 per share at 11:30 am ET.

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