Margaux REIT (ALFA-UN-X) has invested $12.5 million to purchase Mini-Entrepôt St-Basile, a self-storage property in Saint-Basile-le-Grand, on Montreal’s South Shore.

The 500-unit facility is fully leased, has a waiting list and is in the middle of a “booming” residential real estate area off Highway 116, says Michel Lassonde, chairman and CEO of Margaux REIT. “Going forward, this facility will almost always be full because of the demand around it. It’s an ideal situation for us.”

The 145,000-square-foot site at 131D Sir Wilfrid Laurier Blvd. comprises a 76,000-square-foot, two-storey building as well as outdoor storage spaces for automobiles, recreational vehicles, trailers and various types of equipment.

Mini-Entrepôt St-Basile was a mom-and-pop family business launched by a couple about 15 years ago and expanded around five years ago. “It’s not brand new but almost. It’s in damn good shape,” Lassonde says. “So, it won’t need much in maintenance over the next couple of years.”

The property generates $1.05 million in revenue annually and a net operating income of $750,000. As the property is appraised at $14 million. “I believe we made a damn good deal," Lassonde says.

As part of the $12.5 million deal with Margaux, the vendor took $500,000 worth of units in the trust.

Acquisition takes Margaux to $26M in assets

The Saint-Basile site had been for sale for two or three years. Another offer was accepted but the financing fell through, Lassonde says. “It’s not easy for sellers because there’s not many groups able to put up $10, $15 million. It’s a peculiar business.”

The acquisition gives the Quebec-based REIT about $26 million in assets, but it is aiming to reach $50 million and then $100 million in assets. “We’ll try to to move as fast as possible to reach the $100 million mark and to become a large player in the Canadian space.”

Margaux now operates more than 1,000 storage units in the Montérégie and Estrie regions. The Quebec-based REIT also has properties in Cowansville-Bromont, Roxton Pond-Granby, Drummondville and Saint-Hyacinthe.

Lassonde says Margaux is staying away from the island of Montreal because its population is forecast to fall in coming decades, according to Quebec’s institute of statistics. “You just want to avoid Montreal because the competition will be fierce, with offers of three, four months free to get people in.”

As the self-storage business is tied to demographics, growth will concentrate on Montreal’s South Shore, followed by its North Shore and Quebec City, areas that are “exactly in the middle of the action in terms of population growth,” he says.

Sticking to Quebec for now

Margaux had an opportunity to buy a self-storage facility in Ontario but wasn’t ready to buy. “We’ll walk before trying to run,” Lassonde says of expansion outside the province. “We’ll wait until we’re ready to do it.”

The REIT plans to grow through acquisitions. “In most cases we prefer to buy something that is up and running because you know the cash flow,” he says.

“While if you build, it’s going to take some time to fill up the place,” which can temporarily result in negative cash flows. "For a REIT, it’s not a very good thing because you’re diminishing your returns.”

Lassonde says Quebec is under-served in self-storage, with only 400 self-storage facilities in the province, but finding good opportunities for acquisitions is not easy.

“If there’s an opportunity, we’ll take it. But it’s not easy to find good places on a good spot” for a self-storage facility. “You can not grow at the speed you wish.”

Margaux was founded in 2021 by Lassonde. His love of Château Margaux led him to name the self-storage business after the French wine. (He has some bottles of 1998 and 1999 Château Margaux in his cellar.)

The company went public on the TSE Venture Exchange in March 2025, following its acquisition of shell company Odessa Capital.

It now bills itself as the only publicly traded REIT in Canada focused exclusively on the acquisition and operation of self-storage properties.

In April 2025, Margaux named prominent Quebec real estate investor Luc Poirier as president. He has since taken on the chief operating officer role as well.

Resilient business model

Margaux’s clientele is comprised mainly of women – as much as 65 per cent – and entrepreneurs, such as electricians and plumbers, who need space to store their goods.

“It’s a fantastic business because if you think about it, you have no inventory. You have no accounts receivable. And you have mainly part-time employees,” Lassonde says.

“You eliminate a lot of worries that entrepreneurs will have with accounts receivable, inventory. And your business is not tied to the economic cycle. It’s very resilient in times of recession.”