Commercial Real Estate Podcast

Commercial Real Estate Podcast


Launching a Private REIT with Don White of Private Pension Partners

January 18, 2023

We’re welcoming Don White, President and CEO of Private Pension Partners and Apartment Plus REIT, to the show today. In addition to apartments, the company also holds some street-front commercial space. The company is based in Winnipeg and holds most of its assets within the city as well.


Don talks extensively about the differences between private and public REITs, including the benefits he sees from Apartment Plus being private. Later, the guys discuss issues in Canada with housing supply and what Don thinks needs to be changed to improve affordability.


Topics covered include:


  • How Don learned about contingency-based income and realized he wanted to get into real estate.
  • The principle that Apartment Plus REIT was formed upon.
  • Looking to expand outside of Winnipeg.
  • Why Don has no interest to take the REIT public.
  • What raising money looks like for a private REIT.
  • Shifts that banks have made which have caused raising money to become more difficult.
  • The volatility of equity markets affecting public REITs, with private ones of course not being directly affected.
  • Where Don is looking to expand into outside of Winnipeg.
  • Need for better collaboration in the industry to get units built faster.
  • Why rent controls benefit the wealthy and advocacy that Don does.
  • An example of why governments need to be firmer with people about the importance of a growing city.
  • NIMBYism disrupting housing affordability.

More about our guest…..


Don White is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Private Pension Partners (“P3”) as well as Chief Executive Officer, Management Representative, and Trustee of Apartment Plus (A+) REIT headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since 2010 and with over $750M of private real estate stabilized or under development, P3 is a real estate investment management company focused solely on acquiring, developing, or re-positioning, and then actively asset managing predominantly fresh and novel, purpose-built multi-family rental assets across Canada on behalf of A+ REIT, P3 Feeder Funds, and third-party private placement accounts. Apartment Plus (A+) REIT was launched in the fall of 2020 as a private REIT with the mandate to acquire and hold multi-family rental properties providing that it may also hold a maximum of 20% of its net assets in strategic multi-tenant, street-front commercial properties.


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