From job sites to boardrooms, Pier 4's founders turned general contracting grit into a high-performing investment platform
This article was produced in partnership with Pier 4.
Before Pier 4 became a Canadian real estate investment trust with over $220 million in assets, its leadership was gaining firsthand experience in the field. In the 1980s, Darrell spent his days renovating apartment buildings across the GTA, learning the cost of a roof, the value of timing, and why landlords would buy, fix up, and sell buildings they believed in.
“That time on-site, gave me two crucial perspectives,” Darrell recalls. “I wear two sets of shoes: work boots and dress shoes. I’ve had my feet in both.”
That knowledge would eventually shape the foundation of Pier 4, a real estate investment firm launched with his sons Adam and Michael. Today, as Pier 4 approaches its five-year anniversary, the family-run platform has grown its asset base and investor partnerships across Ontario and beyond, all while holding fast to a clear thesis: buy well-located, underperforming assets in overlooked secondary markets, and improve them through hands-on operational discipline.
“Our approach hasn’t changed — and it won’t,” says Adam Ashby. “We’re not chasing larger buildings just because we’ve hit year five. The guy next door is doing that. We’re focused on what we know works.”
A measured rise
That discipline includes in-house cost oversight, a background in renovations, and a tightly controlled approach to capital expenditures.
Pier 4 REIT launched in June 2020 with a single 17 unit building in London ON for $2.5 million. By the end of 2021, the REIT had eight properties and $20.4 million in assets under management. The momentum continued, and by the end of 2023, Pier 4 had crossed the $100 million mark and doubled its portfolio. Today, it owns and manages 33 properties across ten communities, with $220 million in assets.
Those communities include markets like London, ON, Moncton, NB, and Halifax, NS—cities that continue to show population growth and rental resilience. With sights set on surpassing $1 billion in AUM, the firm is laying the groundwork for its next phase of growth.
But that growth, they emphasize, isn’t just measured in assets. Today, the firm employs over 60 people across operations, property management, asset management, and support roles with an eye to scale their workforce in lockstep with their burgeoning business.
The slow and steady expansion is driven by the company’s strong roots. The Ashbys’ strategy hasn’t changed in five years, even as external pressures mounted. They didn’t pivot during COVID, and they didn’t reach for scale during the recent real estate run-up. What they did do was keep costs tight, stick to their underwriting, and manage each building with the same diligence as the first.
“We started at ground zero,” says Adam. “We didn’t come in because multifamily was trending. We learned this the hard way — first as contractors, then as private owners. It's like learning to walk, then to ride a bike. That slow, hands-on evolution is our real competitive advantage. We didn't just identify real estate as a good asset class. We understood it.”
In 2022, for instance, the firm slowed acquisitions rather than compromise its underwriting standards during a period of interest rate volatility and pricing uncertainty. As they move forward, the plan remains to harness growth in a measured and practical way.
Staying in their lane, deliberately
That consistency is one of Pier 4’s defining traits. That early experience in general contracting also means they don’t outsource judgment when it comes to building improvements, capital expenses, or underwriting assumptions.
“It helps to know exactly what something should cost,” says Darrell. “It’s the difference between overpaying and protecting investor capital. That’s not theoretical for us.”
And just as important as cost control, they say, is building trust with the residents who call these buildings home — from timely repairs to proactive communication and community-building, the family-first approach isn’t only about their own. It’s about doing what’s best for every family under one of their roofs.
Built to withstand
Pier 4’s strategy has always emphasized smaller, low- and mid-rise apartment buildings in high-growth potential, underappreciated markets outside the GTA. As rents in major cities softened over the past two years, several of those secondary markets continued to outperform; validating the firm’s decision to go against the grain.
This May, national rents dropped 3.3% year-over-year, after peaking at around $2,200, particularly in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver. By contrast, rent growth in Pier 4’s markets, including in Atlantic Canada, remained firm. Cities like Moncton and Halifax have recently experienced surging population growth, record-low vacancy rates, and strong rental demand.
Moncton, the fastest-growing CMA in Canada in 2024, saw population climb by 5.1%, driving tightening rental supply and upward pressure on rents.
Michael Ashby puts it plainly: “Toronto saw double-digit rent declines. Some of our markets saw the opposite.”
That divergence is validation of Pier 4’s original thesis. While others chased scale in overheated metros, the Ashby’s focused on, underappreciated communities with high growth potential.
But strong market selection is only part of the story. Internally, Pier 4 has prioritized team development—hiring regionally, investing in professional growth, and building systems that allow for efficient response to tenant and investor needs alike.
Half a decade in, Pier 4’s story doesn’t rely on hype or sudden shifts, it’s built on continuity, craftsmanship, and grounded family wisdom. Darrell still keeps one foot in the field and one in the boardroom. That balance—two shoes, two perspectives—is exactly what’s carried Pier 4 from its first London property to a multi-province portfolio poised for further growth.
With a brand refresh launched this summer and more acquisitions in the pipeline, the firm is doubling down on what’s made it resilient from day one: tight execution, trust in hard-won experience, and a refusal to chase scale for scale’s sake.
