From managing a single student rental near Queen's University to becoming a leader in real estate investment and management across Southern Ontario, KEILTY has always focused on delivering exceptional value to our residents, clients, and investors. Our story is one of continuous growth, thoughtful innovation, and a lasting commitment to building strong communities.
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‍Hospitality Roots.
‍KEILTY began with a simple idea: real estate could be more than just bricks and mortar — it could deliver exceptional experiences. In 2003, A.J. Keilty, a recent graduate of the Queen's University School of Business, founded Varsity Communities in Kingston, Ontario with an assignment to manage a seven-bedroom student house at 407 Earl Street. With forward-thinking marketing strategies — high-quality photography, internet-inclusive leases, biweekly housekeeping, and a unique rental auction system — A.J. exceeded revenue expectations by 50% and demonstrated how pairing the right services with prime locations could drive outsized returns for both renters and investors.A.J.'s understanding of hospitality stems from his upbringing. His parents owned and operated The Gananoque Inn & Spa — one of Ontario's Finest Inns — for more than twenty years. This background taught him that small, empathetic gestures can make the biggest difference, a value still embedded in our approach today.Early exposure to Howard Schultz's company practices through our Starbucks tenancy heavily influenced KEILTY's culture. We embraced the idea that investing in people — whether residents, team members, or partners — generates two kinds of ROI: Return on Investment and Return on Individual. That philosophy drove everything we built.

‍Early Growth and Milestones.
‍In 2004, KEILTY acquired the historic Louise House at 329 Johnson Street in Kingston, converting it into premium one- and two-bedroom residences and securing Starbucks Coffee Company as our first commercial tenant. More Starbucks locations would follow.

In 2005, Teresa Gagnon joined as KEILTY's first full-time housekeeper, building a culture of caring for residents with in-unit cleaning services. She got a lot of hugs when her residents graduated, and she set a tone of warmth and personalized service that became part of the company's DNA.

In 2006, A.J. partnered with former housemates Oskar Johansson and Bernard Luttmer of Podium Developments to form Varsity Realty, a company focused on investing in new development projects. The first office was in Oskar's den in his downtown Toronto condo. The close relationship remained in place for years.

In 2007, A.J. Keilty was elected President of the Kingston Rental Property Owners Association for a two-year term. That same year, KEILTY completed construction and leasing of the 16-bed Earl Town Homes.

In 2008, KEILTY completed the 24-bed Liberty Terrace and occupied our first official leasing office on the ground floor.

In 2009, we completed the renovation and leasing of the 56-bed Bakery Suites, grew our property team to 10 people, and started on-campus marketing events.

In 2010, we doubled the size of our Kingston home office to 1,100 square feet at 337 Barrie Street, Kingston and grew our team by 50%.

In 2011, we completed construction and leasing of the 55-bed Park Lane I and continued to refine our 24-hour turnover process.

In 2012, we completed the 110-bed Albert Terrace.

In 2013, we completed the 185-bed Park Lane II and started construction in Oshawa, Ontario beside Durham College and Ontario Tech University.

In 2014, Varsity Communities introduced a new logo and began using Matterport to offer 3D virtual tours. We completed the 210-bed Phase 1 of Taylorwood Town Homes in Oshawa.

‍Regional Expansion and Large-Scale Projects

‍In 2015, we completed Phase 2 of Taylorwood (110 beds) in Oshawa and recruited an amazing team to operate it. We broke ground on Simcoe Town Homes in Barrie, Ontario.

In 2016, we completed the 380-bed Simcoe Town Homes in Barrie, serving Georgian College students. Move-in day was a big success. Following the sale of 1,000 beds, our team received a well-earned surprise bonus.

In 2017, we completed Phase 3 of Taylorwood (110 beds), bringing the Oshawa total to 430 beds, and put up our first crane to build University Studios. That same year, KEILTY hosted its first company-wide All Hands Summit in Kingston to build team connection and enhance our skills.

In 2018, we completed the 393-bed University Studios in Oshawa, directly beside Durham College and Ontario Tech. The ground floor opened with our second Starbucks location. We launched the Community Academy (later Varsity Academy) for internal learning and development, and purchased our new four-storey home office building at Queen and Barrie in Kingston.

In 2019, we completed the 438-bed University Towns in Oshawa. Our General Manager and his team got to play air hockey with the Mayor of Oshawa. We began working with Blue Vista Capital Management to operate institutional-scale management assignments, and after eight years of effort, secured a building permit for the 204-bed Unity Point in Kingston.

In 2020, Queen's Alma Mater Society awarded KEILTY the Golden Key as Kingston's best housing provider. We deepened our relationships with Peak Campus and Blue Vista to jointly pursue Canadian on-campus management assignments. We were ready early with Zoom for virtual meetings, which helped the team transition quickly to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, we completed construction and leasing of the 350-bed Unity Point, serving downtown Kingston near Queen's University, achieving 100% occupancy. We broke ground on the 350-bed Unity Place and founded Portsmouth Residential to make and manage build-to-rent family homes in Eastern Ontario. Brandon Ackerman joined as Vice President, Rental Management.

‍Condominium Corporation Management
‍Also in 2017, KEILTY launched Alwington Communities, a management platform for not-for-profit condominium corporations. The platform helped boards govern responsibly, communicate effectively, and steward funds with care. Alwington managed over 100 corporations across Southern Ontario before being sold to Bendale Property Management in 2024.

‍KEILTY Realty Corporation

a In 2017, KEILTY Realty Corporation was formed to give team members ownership in our real estate investments. It has since evolved into a full-scale private equity real estate investment firm. As general partner in multiple limited partnerships, KEILTY Realty invests alongside our limited partners in office, residential, and express car wash properties across Eastern Ontario.

‍Carrying Forward
‍Over more than two decades, our team built something we're proud of — from a single student house to thousands of beds, from Kingston to communities across Ontario. The lessons learned along the way, in hospitality, in caring for people, in building real value for investors, continue to guide everything we do at KEILTY today.