Priveda Capital has spent $76.5 million to acquire Horizon, a 249-unit apartment complex in Terrebonne near Montreal, and plans to develop close to 200 additional units on the site.

“We thought it was a great opportunity to buy a newly built project in an area that we think is up and coming,” says Dov Amzallag, founder and president of Priveda Capital, of the Horizon purchase. 

Located in the heart of Terrebonne, north of Laval, the development includes two towers with 121 and 128 units that were built in 2020 and 2025. Horizon’s previous owner was Groupe Socam.

Amzallag says Terrebonne is a strong sub-market of Montreal with above-average household median income, rising market rents and a limited supply of new builds.

“This acquisition reflects our investment strategy to acquire high-quality existing apartment buildings in great locations in Eastern Canada,” he says.

Plans for two new towers at Horizon

He says Horizon is well-built and “we thought the price was good at the time,” when Priveda made its initial offer last September. With interest rates dropping, “the deal made a lot of sense.”

The development was purchased via a CMHC loan that has accessibility and energy-efficiency components. 

There is also CMHC funding with an affordability component for the building that was completed this year: Ten per cent of the units must be affordable, with monthly rents of $1,090 or less.

Horizon is fully leased. Two-bedroom market units rent for an average $2,000 monthly.

Priveda also plans to spend about $50 million to build 10- and 12-storey towers on two excess lots of land next to Horizon. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026, with completion 12 to 16 months later.

Amzallag, and the launch of Priveda

Amzallag, who launched Priveda Capital in March 2024, has been active in the multifamily market for close to 20 years. He has amassed a multi-residential focused portfolio of about 2,000 units across Quebec and Eastern Canada along with several commercial properties and development land for more than 1,500 additional units.

Last year’s launch of Priveda came because “we were getting to a point where we’re big enough that we needed to establish a proper deal flow with a nice structure,” Amzallag says. “I would be more in charge of the bigger decisions and have a nice structure in place, where we could grow the company and still benefit from quality of life.”

In November, Priveda had invested $55 million to acquire 250-260-270 Maisonneuve Blvd., a three-building apartment complex with 180 units in Gatineau, just across the Ottawa River from Ottawa.

It also spent $17.5 million in 2024 to acquire 1900 Lincoln, a 12-storey multi-residential building in the Shaughnessy Village area of downtown Montreal, close to Concordia University. The concrete structure was built in 1959 and comprises 96 units.

Priveda is currently working on potential transactions in Ottawa and Atlantic Canada. 

The company has an in-house management operation in the Montreal area and uses a third-party management firm for properties further afield.

Potential redevelopment in Gatineau

One of its potential projects involves demolition of an office building in Gatineau, with an 850-unit multi-family project proposed in its place.

The site at 480 de la Cité Blvd. is home to a two-storey, 44,399-square-foot office building that was completed in 1995 and has 150 exterior parking spaces.

“We have tenants in there now. We’re not there yet. It’s a long process,” Amzallag says. “We also have to time the market.”

Although Priveda is “laser-focused” on multifamily, it also owns a few hotels, offices and retail assets.

One of its hotels is in the Plateau Mont-Royal area of Montreal, a former warehouse that was retrofitted into a 54-unit apartment hotel. It is rented to Sonder, as the Sonder Le Guerin at 4501 Drolet St. 

"I want to focus on multifamily"

Amzallag says he believes in the resiliency of Canada’s multi-family sector and is very bullish on acquiring high-quality assets in great locations.

“I want to focus on multifamily. You’ve got to be an expert in one thing to be able to grow,” he says. “Trying to do too many different things, I realized I just want to focus on one thing. We know it well. We’re good at it and I think it’s easier to scale when you focus.”

Now that Priveda has reached the 2,000-unit mark, its next target is to reach 10,000 doors in the next 10 years.

Priveda takes advantage of its position as a private investor to act quickly when it finds something it likes, Amzallag says.

Although continued growth is a key part of its strategy, he maintains Priveda will not jeopardize deal or execution quality for growth. “We want to grow the correct way, with well-thought-out systems that support the growth.”

Says Amzallag: "We take a lot of pride in our buildings. We want to have buildings we’re proud to own.”