Self-storage facilities expand, add new perks

Self-storage facilities expand, add new perks

Boardrooms, a wine-storage centre, an on-site sommelier, a lounge are just some of the perks Ottawa-based Dymon Group of Companies is promising as it builds a massive self-storage facility in Toronto. The sprawling site highlights a shift in the self-storage industry where some companies are moving from only offering lockers to providing multi-functional spaces.

Hamilton Spectator – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Anbang pressured to sell offshore assets

Chinese authorities have asked Anbang Insurance Group Co., the insurer whose chairman was detained in June, to sell its overseas assets, according to sources.The government has also asked Anbang to bring the proceeds back to China after disposing of holdings abroad, said the sources, who said it is not yet clear how Anbang will respond.

Bloomberg

Toronto-Dominion Centre on top of its game at 50

Toronto’s iconic Toronto-Dominion Centre has just turned 50, but it hardly needs to worry about going through a midlife crisis. TD Centre recently won The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International. BOMA describes the awards as the commercial real estate industry’s highest honour for excellence in building management and operations.

Property Biz Canada

CF Shops at Don Mills completes renovations

Cadillac Fairview has completed major renovations to a large number of its shopping centres over the past four years, and can now add Toronto’s CF Shops at Don Mills to that list. Cadillac Fairview spent $21 million on the revitalization of the 40-acre site, which also includes residential and office components.

Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Rain, flooding will cost Ont. farmers ‘hundreds of millions’

The full extent of the damage caused by this summer’s wet conditions won’t be fully known until the fall harvest — but the Ontario Federation of Agriculture estimates it will easily be in the “hundreds of millions” across the province, especially in eastern Ontario and the Holland Marsh area.

Hamilton Spectator

Canadian pension funds among world’s largest

Canadian pension funds rank among the world’s largest and most efficient, thanks to the “Canadian model.” These funds not only invest in diverse asset classes, including significant allocations to real estate and infrastructure, they also manage their own portfolios, often spinning off their real estate investment activities into standalone subsidiaries.

IPE Real Estate – Property Biz Canada

Airbnb major threat to Saskatchewan hotel industry

Saskatchewan Hotels and Hospitality Association president Jim Bence says Airbnb is one of the biggest threats to his industry. “They’ve been eating our lunch for a while now. They’ve been incredibly creative and adaptive, adjusting themselves into the process and creating in the consumer’s market a need for their services,” he says, calling the homes listed “illegal hotels.”

Regina Leader-Post

Airbnb decimates Vancouver’s home rental stock: Study

McGill University’s study Short-term cities: Airbnb’s impact on Canadian housing markets study, found an estimated 3,888 Vancouver units that would ordinarily be included in the city’s rental stock have been removed as their owners have turned instead to short-term rentals on Airbnb.

Business In Vancouver – CBC – Business In Vancouver

Victoria investigating 18 complaints about short-term rentals

A couple in Victoria says living next to an Airbnb rental is causing all kinds of headaches and they want the city to do more to stop short-term vacation rentals from operating in residential areas. But city clerk Chris Coates says building a case and enforcing the rules is a growing challenge. Bylaw officers are currently dealing with 18 complaints.

CBC – CTV – Global News

Montrealer sole full-time resident of condo building

Andrew Chapman lives in a nine-unit condo building converted from a boutique hotel in downtown Montreal, a desirable home in a desirable area of an internationally popular city. So much so Chapman has found himself to be the building’s only full-time resident — because the rest of the units are being rented on services like Airbnb. 

CBC

German RE companies dominate Airbnb sector

Just as in Canada, rental of apartments by Airbnb has become a profitable business model for German real estate companies, revealed newspaper The Süddeutsche Zeitung. The paper analyzed more than 37,000 Airbnb assets in 10 major cities in Germany and found approximatelyt 1,290 homeowners offer more than one property to rent through the platform, resulting in a rise in rental rates.

Jewish Business News

	B.C. wildfires’ impact on real estate, residents
	The following section of the RENX newsletter is dedicated to news about the wildfires in British Columbia and their impact on real estate.

 

100 more Edmonton soldiers sent to battle wildfires

Fire-fatigued crews in British Columbia are getting more help from the Canadian Armed Forces as 100 military members from the Edmonton garrison arrived in Williams Lake on Saturday morning. The B.C. government requested the extra soldiers, Lt.-Col. Derek Prohar, commander of the military land task force, said Saturday from Williams Lake.

CBC – Global News – CTV

Walmart beating Amazon on Wall Street

Traditional retailer Walmart (WMT-N) is coming back big time. And it is beating on-line retailer Amazon (AMZN-Q) in the last three to six months. On Wall Street, that is. Walmart’s shares have gained 6.55 per cent in the past three months and 19.71 per cent during the past six months, compared to 6.55 and 15.67 per cent of Amazon.

Forbes

Gildan has lofty hopes for American Apparel

Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL-T) has big plans for American Apparel. Since buying the iconic L.A. brand at a bankruptcy auction, the Canadian firm has rebuilt inventory and ramped up shipments to wholesalers. It’s now preparing to relaunch the e-commerce website. “At the end of the day, we will do very well with this brand,” CEO Glenn Chamandy said. 

Montreal Gazette

Saje Natural Wellness putting down roots in Vancouver

Vancouver’s geographic gifts are a large part of the reason Saje Natural Wellness is staying put and deepening its local roots with a massive new headquarters set to open late next year, out of PC Urban Properties Corp.’s new Lightworks Building in Mount Pleasant. Saje will be the anchor tenant for most of the six-storey, 54,000-square-foot development, which includes a major heritage restoration.

BCBusiness – Property Biz Canada

Vancouver’s Bench Accounting gets comfy at work

Bench Accounting, a fast-growing five-year-old Vancouver startup recently ranked as one of the country’s best workplaces for new university grads, is demonstrating a fashionable impulse to snuggle up. Its new 55,000-square-foot office, occupying three floors of Telus Garden, makes bold statements with concrete floors and exposed ducts and piping, tempered with domestic touches like fireplaces and quilted cushions.

BCBusiness

Market Trends and Research

U.S. tax change proposals anger builders, RE agents

Proposed changes to the personal tax code have already stirred opposition from U.S. real estate agents, home builders, mortgage lenders and charities. The National Association of Realtors issued an “August Recess Talking Points” circular imploring members to remind lawmakers “Homeowners must be treated fairly in tax reform” to avoid “another housing crash.”

CNBC

Concrete Canvas wrapping up sales across North America

B.C.’s Nuna Innovations Inc. continues to roll out sales of its innovative concrete-embedded cloth across a wide variety of applications.  Nuna   first brought Concrete Canvas to Canada seven years ago, importing it from the British manufacturer. It’s a PVC material embedded with cement that can be draped, laid or anchored into or on top of any form or structure.

Daily Commercial News

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Northview Apartment REIT, (NVU.UN-T), Marketwired     

* NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT, (NWH.UN-T), Canada Newswire  

* Plaza Retail REIT, (PLZ.UN-T), Canada Newswire  

* Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (PIRET). (AAR.UN-T), Marketwired     

* Pure Multi-Family REIT, (RUF.U-X), Canada Newswire  

* Summit Industrial Income REIT, (SMU.UN-T), Canada Newswire  

* True North Commercial REIT, (TNT.UN-T), Canada Newswire    

* WPT Industrial REIT, (WIR.U-T), Marketwired    

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Check out undervalued Cominar REIT

Cominar REIT (CUF.UN-T) has been recently hit by two significantly negative events, and contrarian investors may be interested in checking out the prospects for a cheaper investment in the REIT’s units, which are trading at a deep discount to their net asset value (NAV), both for potential capital gains and for the 9.2 per cent annualized payout yield going forward.

Motley Fool – Property Biz Canada

Legal Corner

Court strikes statements of claim in proposed class actions: Fortress

On Aug. 10,  Justice Perell of the Ontario Superior Court struck out the statements of claim in four proposed class actions against Fortress Real Developments Inc. and other defendants.  Justice Perell dismissed the claims against Jawad Rathore and Vince Petrozza, the founders of Fortress, on the basis the statements of claim did not disclose any legal causes of action against them.

Canada Newswire

Retail

High-end furniture business sitting pretty

Taking cues from art and haute cuisine, the luxury furniture industry in Canada has long looked to Europe for inspiration. But for those who make a living at it, patience is the operative word. “There’s always been amazing product out of Europe that we wanted to bring in,” says Paul Sidi, who runs Kiosk Design Inc. in downtown Toronto.

Globe and Mail

How Uniqlo hopes to win over Vancouver shoppers

Generally, Vancouver has two gears when it comes to clothing: lounge wear and workout wear, both with an emphasis on technical fabrics and comfort. So, when Japanese retail juggernaut Uniqlo announced it would land here in late September, it felt almost overdue. Since 1984, the Japanese company has evolved from a tiny unisex casualwear store in Hiroshima to global cult-fave phenom.

BCBusiness

Macy’s, Kohl’s results renew fears for U.S. retail

A fresh round of sales declines at Macy’s Inc. (M-N) and Kohl’s Corp., (KSS-N) is renewing concerns the U.S. department-store industry can’t pull out of a crippling slump. Shares of both retailers declined Thursday after quarterly results failed to assure investors a comeback was taking hold. Same-store sales dropped 2.5 per cent at Macy’s and 0.4 per cent at Kohl’s. 

Bloomberg – Bloomberg

Renovation and Restoration

Cyclone Manufacturing expanding plant, investing in new technology

Cyclone Manufacturing has announced plans to create 80,000 square feet of new production space at its Mississauga facility with a longer-term goal of building a new facility. Cyclone will invest $59.69 million of its own capital and the provincial government will contribute $5.19 million through the Jobs and Prosperity Fund.

Daily Commercial News

Infrastructure

Husky to buy U.S. refinery for $435 million

Husky Energy (HSE-T) is buying a refinery in Wisconsin for US$435 million in cash. The refinery at Superior will increase the Calgary-based energy company’s processing capacity by 50,000 barrels per day. The purchase, which is subject to regulatory approval, will bring Husky’s total downstream capacity to 395,000 barrels per day and add to its asphalt production. 

Regina Leader-Post

Technology

Ottawa tech giants thrive

Perhaps the best way to look at the National Capital Region’s $5-billion-a-year tech industry is that it survived the very worst that could be hurled at it. Bruised by the collapse of Internet share prices in 2000, the sector was brought to its knees by the telecom crash that followed.

Ottawa Citizen

Massive meal-delivery system getting even bigger

The temperature in Washington’s Columbia Heights is pushing 100 degrees F as Armaye Ejigu swaddles space blankets around two precious scoops of Baskin-Robbins ice cream. Ejigu, a driver for the third-party food delivery firm DoorDash, has fleeting minutes to move the ice cream from the Baskin-Robbins’s counter to his car to a customer’s door — all in record-setting summer heat.

Toronto Star

Other

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