HIC

Homestead

Investment Co-operative

co-operatively owned co-work building. Jasper Ave.

Building Alberta
One Investment at a Time

Join the movement to redefine local investment and create a brighter future for Alberta businesses with Homestead Investment Co-operative.

Invest in the first building in a portfolio of co-operatively owned
Alberta real estate assets.

We’re building a Community Investment Co-operative that will help drive social, business and economic impact in Alberta. Starting with Edmonton, we’re investing in sought-after real estate assets that will help support and grow local businesses and entrepreneurs while building wealth for our investors.

About The Building

• Outstanding cultural heritage • Recent deep retrofit • High Value

Performance

  • A fixture on Jasper Avenue for finance, music, arts, and now for entrepreneurs

  • Currently leased with high occupancy

  • Add additional revenue by developing the rooftop patio and additional spaces

Your Opportunity

Commercial real estate vacancies in downtown Edmonton are getting harder to find, here's your chance to participate in ownership of commercial real estate in Edmonton!

Projected annual returns of at least 6% as well as long-term gains in the building’s equity.

How Will We Build Revenue?

• Tenant rent revenue & growing businesses

• Ticketing for premium professional development events

• Space rentals on future amenities

• Future real estate acquisitions


A $9.0M Deal

We are raising funds through private investment.

Early commitment benefits!


I’ve heard enough, let’s invest!


I’m interested in learning more


I’d like to talk to someone

Live online meetings Nov 27, Dec 4, Dec 11 at noon.


Your role as an investor:

● Join our mentor community and help the next generation of leaders, creators and innovators thrive (plus get first look at investment opportunities with them)
● Refer like-minded potential tenants, mentors & investors
● Participate in one member one vote general meetings to make key strategic decisions with the co-op community

Founders, Incentives & Governance

• The Founders are serving as the initial board • They have fronted all costs to date and have committed to more share purchases • Founders and directors will not receive management fees for putting the deal together.


Build your wealth

Our initial investment in the Alberta Block building on Jasper Avenue is forecasted to provide solid returns.

Support entrepreneurs

One of the key drivers of the Homestead Investment Co-operative is to provide spaces that support entrepreneurs and help them grow their businesses with access to expertise and peer advice.

Own a piece of Edmonton’s mainstreet

Jasper Avenue is the nerve-centre of downtown Edmonton, and owning a piece of it right in the city's core will not only help you build wealth, but build our city and support entrepreneurs.

To learn more, add your email to our mailing list and get the pitch deck.


Who's Behind This?

Three people committed to making Edmonton thrive through unleashing the ingenuity of this place and its people.
These are the founding directors:

Tegan Martin-Drysdale

Tegan Martin-Drysdale

Founder of the original Homestead business, sustainable real estate developer and operator of a number of social impact-focused for-profit companies.

Tegan has 24 years of experience in structural engineering and project management for mixed use, commercial and residential projects. Before forming RedBrick Real Estate Services in 2012, Tegan was a project manager with ProCura Real Estate Services and worked with Read Jones Christofferson as a Structural Engineer. Over the past 12 years, Tegan has built residential, mixed use commercial, retail, and office buildings in Edmonton and the surrounding area, and is now also working with First Nations in Northern Alberta to develop housing solutions in and outside their communities. Tegan co-founded Homestead Coworking in 2015 and established a new co-working space in Edmonton’s downtown in the Alberta Block building. This is where RedBrick’s offices are located, as well as where Tegan continues to contribute to the business and entrepreneurial community in Alberta.

In 2010, Avenue Magazine named Tegan one of its Top 40 Under 40. She founded the Infill Development in Edmonton Association in 2013 to promote and advocate for high quality infill development in Edmonton. Tegan also Co-Chaired past City of Edmonton Initiatives such as the NextGen Committee and Make Something Edmonton.

Don Iveson

Two-term former Mayor of Edmonton and now Principal of Civic Good, a consultancy delivering social impact, governance and environmental leadership guidance for companies and communities.

Don founded Civic Good in December of 2021, a practice that provides strategic advice on climate, housing, civic innovation and complex governance issues. As Principal, he is currently engaged primarily with Co-operators as Executive Advisor, Climate Investing & Community Resilience, where he supports the CEO and key executives in advancing initiatives that will support climate adaptation projects and climate-resilient infrastructure in communities across the country. He also advised governments, NGOs and startups in areas ranging from modular housing to social impact assessment.

He was recently Federally appointed Chair of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation – the nation’s sixth largest financial institution. Don brings wide-ranging governance experience to the board, including eight years as Mayor of Edmonton.

 
 
 

Our board is growing

New board members that have joined our movement:

  • Ahmed is an entrepreneur co-founding, advising, and engaging with start-ups and enterprises changing the future of work.

    With 10 years of human capital consulting and business advisory experience via international firms like Ernst & Young and launching his own firm, Ahmed has gained deep knowledge and expertise in helping start-ups, small-to-medium businesses, and enterprises identify the skills they need to realize their goals, find the right talent model for them, and advising them on a path forward.

    He is currently the Co-Founder & COO of solace, a fractional talent marketplace that connects growing businesses with fractional executives and professionals.

    Prior to co-founding solace, Ahmed’s consulting experience immersed him in 100+ enterprise-level projects across North America and Europe and also across various public and private sectors. These projects were primarily focused on organizational design and governance (including workforce planning), post-merger integration, strategic planning and business planning, and change management.

    He finds most fulfillment and happiness in professional capacities by supporting clients in realizing their greatest potential and aspirations.

  • Jacquelyn Cardinal's expertise in community-driven investment and Indigenous entrepreneurship brings vital perspective to HIC.

    As co-founder of Naheyawin and former Impact Analyst at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, she has a proven track record of integrating diverse worldviews into successful business models.

    Jacquelyn's governance experience, including her roles with the Edmonton Community Foundation and Edmonton Unlimited, informs her approach to ethical, community-focused investment strategies. Her insights have been sought by the Standing Senate of Canada Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, underscoring her ability to bridge Indigenous and non-Indigenous economic interests.

    Recognized as one of Avenue Magazine's Top 40 Under 40 and with the UN Women SHEInnovator Award, Jacquelyn brings innovative leadership to HIC's mission of fostering high-impact local investments with strong social and financial returns.

  • Kyla Kazeil is an Edmonton-based Entrepreneur with 19 years experience. Currently Kyla is the co-owner and director of 4 corporations (The Bamboo Ballroom, The Common, Fu’s Repair Shop, Dolly’s Cocktails) with yearly gross combined revenue of $5.85 million and more than 150 employees.

    Her passion is developing world-class, award-winning establishments which are equitable and inclusive for all.

    She excels in communications, events, team development particularly with female empowerment, problem solving, efficiency, time management, and interpersonal skills. Currently she sits on two additional boards; as the Communications chair at Strathcona Nursery School and on the board for the CCMA Legacy Committee.

  • Adam Rozenhart is a communications strategist with over 17 years of experience in marketing and communications strategy, planning, and execution.

    He is a Partner and co-founder at Adverb Communications and one of the original founding partners of OilersNation.com and Nerd Nite Edmonton. His extensive board experience includes serving as the current President (past Vice-President) of the board of the Advertising Club of Edmonton, and former board member for the CKUA Radio Foundation (chair of the nominating committee), Knight's Cabin Wellness Retreats (President), and Gateway Student Journalism Society (Staff Representative).

    Adam also brings valuable political campaign experience, having served as the Head of Digital on Don Iveson for Mayor 2013 and Co-Lead for Communications on Amarjeet Sohi for Mayor 2021. Additionally, he has extensive digital marketing and communications campaign experience, working in communications and ad agencies since 2007.

    Over the last decade and a half, Adam has been recognized for his professional, community and volunteer work in Edmonton. In 2011, Adam was named as one of Alberta Venture’s Next 10. In 2013, Adam was named one of Avenue Magazine’s (now EDify) Top 40 Under 40. In 2014, he received the Alumni Horizon Award from his alma mater, the University of Alberta. And in 2022, Adam was recognized by the Edmonton chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators as the Inspired Communicator of the Year.

  • Heather has been a life-long entrepreneur, having started two businesses in the Fairview area while operating and expanding a third-generation family farm and raising a family of four children. 

    The first was a retail store which was sold to the current owner after operating it for ten years.  Along with her husband, she was also an integral part of building an international forage seed processing and marketing business, which has been constantly growing during the past four decades. 

    Heather is currently the CEO and lead Forage Seed Marketer for Golden Acre Seeds, their well-respected international wholesale and retail business. 

    On the farming side, their now fourth-generation family farm has grown to encompass over 30,000 acres, growing high-quality grains and oilseeds, along with many types of forage seeds.

    Heather has also served more than 30 years on multiple boards, including positions as Chair of the national Forage Seed Canada board, as well as Treasurer of Peace Region Forage Seed Association and Organic Alberta.  She was an inaugural board member of the PRFSA, and also served on numerous local boards.  She has recently been reappointed to the board of Northwestern Polytechnic for an additional three-year term. 

    She has been involved in community sports, coaching senior high school volleyball for many years.  A personal achievement was earning the honour of Valedictorian for her high school, and always achieving excellence in all her endeavours. 

    Heather brings much knowledge, energy, and enthusiasm as well as an abundance of entrepreneurial experience to HIC.

 

Want talk to someone at Homestead Investment Co-operative?
Book an in-person tour.


Frequently Answered Questions

  • Description text goes hereAfter 4 months from the date of purchase, you can sell your shares at any time to another co-op member or someone outside of the co-op, following an approval process. The parameters to how you can do this are outlined in our Offering Memorandum. We have limited the purchase of shares by HIC, or a sale of the building, to after 5 years from the date of closing so we have time to get operations stabilized and fully realize our plans for the building.

  • While the pandemic certainly impacted all downtowns of all cities, Edmonton is now seeing a shift back to people working and living downtown. Government workers are now required to work 3 days out of 5 in the office, and new residential towers are under construction 1 block away that will bring hundreds of residents downtown. Depending on the type of work and industry, many employers are now realizing that productivity is better in the office or with a hybrid model, resulting in mandated back to work requirements for many companies.

    Also, the Coworking model provides the flexibility that many companies are looking for now with regards to lease terms and office space options for their hybrid work culture. Homestead Coworking provides many options for larger companies looking to convert to flexible office rental options to accommodate their in office and remote workers.

    Edmonton.ctvnews.ca downtown-edmonton-recovers-80-of-foot-traffic-from-pre-pandemic

    www.cbc.ca news edmonton-s-population-is-booming-city-councillor-wonders-if-we-re-ready

  • The building has a 96% occupancy and long term tenancies. The Offering Memorandum provides the listing of the leases in place and terms.

  • There is an annual AGM where the board is elected and held accountable to its membership. It is up to the membership to vote for the board they think is qualified to manage and oversee operations and implementation of the strategic plan. Before any major decisions get made, members will have options presented and be able to vote on their preference.

  • The building is a historic building (built in 1909) but is not a “heritage” site with restrictions from government based on financial support. The building has not received any designation that restricts its use or development and has recently undergone a major update and retrofit.

  • If you need to sell your shares, there are pathways to doing so after 4 months from the purchase date. The projected 6% dividends do not include any increase in property value over that 10 year period, so it is difficult to compare to a GIC. Also when you invest in a GIC, how is that money being invested? In what companies and industries? You don’t have control over exactly where the bank invests those funds, and in what locations. Your money is no longer in your local economy or community and you don’t get to vote or have any influence on where it is invested. With this opportunity you know exactly where your funds are invested and you get a say.

  • Alberta wide entrepreneurs, business owners, investors, doers, builders, and innovators. People that get things done and solve problems instead of waiting for others to solve them.

  • With a REIT you don’t get to vote annually and have a say or an opportunity to be on the Board of Directors. With a REIT you don’t usually know the exact details of where your money is invested and in which properties. You also don’t get an opportunity to get added perks such as access to the building spaces and events, or benefits for being an early investor.