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CBRE Sells Waterloo, ON, Seniors Residence to Sienna for $93.3M

March 11, 2026 4 Minute Read

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CBRE has sold seniors residence The Hygate on Lexington in Waterloo, ON, to Sienna Senior Living Inc. for $93.3 million.

“This was a highly sought-after deal in the end,” says CBRE Senior Vice President Mathew Burnett, who brokered the sale alongside CBRE Associate Simran Hora.

Burnett notes that CBRE received bids from a number of institutional investor groups before ultimately securing the deal to sell The Hygate to Sienna. “It’s a phenomenal Class A retirement home with a vibrant community atmosphere.”

The 216-unit, six-storey retirement residence, built in 2021, has 126 independent supportive living units, 40 assisted living units and 50 seniors’ apartments. The Hygate property also includes a 4.7-acre development site with zoning in place for additional retirement residences or a condominium project.

Sienna CEO Nitin Jain said in a release that with the addition of The Hygate his firm continues to “strengthen our presence in Southwestern Ontario and further elevate the quality of our growing asset base.” The property is currently in lease up and Sienna’s aim is to reach stabilized occupancy within the next two years.

The Hygate has private terraces, a games room, exercise room, daily fitness classes and nearby walking routes to encourage active lifestyles. The facility also boasts Waterloo’s largest onsite pickleball court. “New format, Class-A retirement homes like Hygate are far from the seniors’ homes our grandparent’s generation would have had in mind,” says Hora.

Riding the Grey Wave

The population of seniors aged 85 and older is growing faster than any other cohort, according to Statistics Canada. Over the next 25 years the seniors population is expected to triple to ~2.5 million people.

“We’re starting to run up against the demographic curve known as ‘the grey wave,’” says Burnett. “We’ve been talking about it for the past few years and we’re now actually starting to see it in our own numbers.”

The grey wave has captured the attention of investors and developers, resulting in increased capital flows and construction activity in the seniors housing and long term care sectors.

Last year was one of the strongest years for seniors housing investment, with nearly $3 billion in deals done, according to one estimate. Demand in 2026 is expected to rise even higher as the first baby boomers turn 80.

“This asset class was long the black sheep of commercial real estate, but that’s no longer the case,” says Burnett. “It’s on the verge of becoming one of the top three sectors along with industrial and multifamily, perhaps even reaching number one in the next 10 years.”

Demand ‘Massively’ Outstrips Supply

That’s because strong demographic growth is increasing demand and outpacing supply across all senior sub sectors.

This is particularly true within the long-term care segment, which will require ~200,000 senior housing units to be built in the next decade to meet that demand. But in the past decade a mere 73,000 units were developed and there are currently fewer than 10,000 under development, owing in part to the exorbitant cost of construction.

“Demand is massively outstripping supply,” says Hora, who notes that over 50,000 seniors currently on the waiting list for long-term care in Ontario are starting to spill into traditional retirement residences.

“No area is immune to the demographic trends we’re seeing across the country,” Burnett adds. “The good news is that the market has woken up to it now, and it’s only a matter of time before we start to identify more opportunities to increase the supply of seniors housing.”

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