Teachers seek buyers for stake in Vancouver portfolio

Teachers seek buyers for stake in Vancouver portfolio

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is seeking buyers for a minority stake in its $4 billion real-estate portfolio in Vancouver, including office towers and shopping malls, according to people familiar with the matter. Cadillac Fairview, the real-estate unit of Canada’s third-biggest pension fund, is looking to raise about $2 billion from the sale.

Bloomberg – Financial Post

Brexit represents opportunity for Avison Young

Mark Rose, chairman and chief executive of Avison Young isn’t concerned about Brixet. “Is Brexit financially a good thing for the U.K., EU and the global markets in the short term? At this point, no one knows. What we do know is that the smart money, as it always does, will look into the path that will derive the highest profit,” he said.

Financial Post

AY office report shows shifting Canadian market

While Canada’s office market was fragmented over the past year, with some cities far outperforming others, there was still almost 1.9 million square feet of positive absorption.  That absorption momentum may be at risk in the future, however, as new supply starts coming on the market and densification becomes a growing trend.

Property Biz Canada

Retailer Aritzia files for IPO

Aritzia LP, the Canadian women’s fashion retailer, filed for an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Private equity backer Berkshire Partners LLC will sell shares in the IPO, as will Aritzia founder and Chief Executive Officer Brian Hill, the company said in a filing Wednesday. 

Globe and Mail – CBC

CMHC bond sale significantly exceeds goal

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. launched a bond sale Tuesday with a minimum goal of raising $3-billion and ended up raising $5.25-billion on Wednesday from a financing that caught the attention of yield-hungry investors. The CMHC tapped its triple-A rated Canada Mortgage Bond program and sold $2.5-billion of 10-year bonds.

Globe and Mail

Chief concerned about policing Rogers Place area

Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht says he doesn’t think there are enough resources in place to deal with expected Rogers Place crowds, despite hundreds of private security guards being trained and double the number of police officers working downtown.

Edmonton Journal

Calgary businesses worried about vacant buildings as crime climbs

With new city police statistics showing downtown crime is on the rise, some businesses are concerned about office building vacancies playing a role in commercial break-and-enters.  Maggie Schofield, executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association, said their members meet with police regularly meet to discuss crime related issues.

Calgary Herald

Fronsac REIT announces two acquisitions

Fronsac REIT (GAZ.UN-X) announced the acquisition of two (2) real estate investment properties located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. One of the properties is a freestanding Mike’s restaurant located in the heart of the Trois-Rivières commercial retail sector on Boulevard Des Forges.

Wix News Release

Cineplex shows off entertainment centre at South Common

Edmonton was once described as Canada’s boiler room, but Cineplex Entertainment hopes the city will become known as Canada’s recreation room instead.  The company is building its first Rec Room beside its South Edmonton Common cinemas.

Edmonton Journal

CNIB’s new Edmonton tower for all of the senses

Creating unique, visually striking and affordable residential developments is one of the biggest challenges faced by architects. So imagine: a design proposal that includes not only the visual aspects of the building but also touch, acoustics, smell and feel, all of which must combine to create an affordable residential product with mass appeal.

Globe and Mail

Canderel plans 160-unit retirement home for the Glebe

A developer is asking the city for permission to build an eight-storey retirement residence on the site of a former Beer Store in the Glebe. The Bank Street building, proposed by Canderel Realties, would have 160 residential units in a retirement home operated by Toronto-based Amica.

Ottawa Business Journal

The U.S. government is phasing out use of private prisons

In what is already having a devastating impact on publicly traded prison operators the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would be phasing out its use of private prisons. Corrections Corp. and GEO stock values plunged immediately more than 45% on news of the DOJ announcement.

CoStar Group – CBC – CBC

Pension funds primed for real estate investment

Prominent asset managers for Canadian pension funds appear poised to take an even bigger position in the commercial real estate market.  British Columbia Investment Management Corporation’s (bcIMC) recent move to launch an independent real estate arm, QuadReal Property Group and legislation in Ontario opens the way for another national player.

RemiNetwork

US investors to globalise exposure as domestic property slows

Core US real estate returns have plateaued above 2% for four consecutive quarters, MSCI revealed. The latest quarterly results from the country’s $194bn open-ended fund sector is likely to provide more impetus for US pension funds seeking international and higher-return strategies.

IPE Real Estate

Brexit triggers UK property writedown by Norwegian sovereign fund

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has written down the value of its UK property holdings by 5% following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, citing market uncertainty. The Government Pension Fund Global has significant exposure to UK property, with 16% of its real estate portfolio in London and 23% in the UK.

IPE Real Estate

Featured Column

Facts about Saskatoon and Regina DT parking rates

In both Saskatoon and Regina there are varied opinions about the pros and cons of bike lanes and their impact when parking stalls are eliminated to create those bike corridors.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Canadian retail sales unexpectedly fall in June

Canadian retail sales unexpectedly fell in June on weaker sales of food and alcohol, while fewer consumers shopped at general merchandise stores, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday. The 0.1 per cent decline was well short of the 0.5 per cent gain economists had forecast.

Globe and Mail

Perpetual Energy offers its assets to cover property tax bills

Calgary-based Perpetual Energy Inc. has proposed donating its interests in assets and resource rights to an Alberta county as part of a desperate attempt to cope with a property tax bill the company says far outstrips its ability to pay.

Calgary Herald

Airbnb to become World’s 4th largest online travel company

Airbnb will likely become the world’s fourth-largest online-travel intermediary by the end of the year, as the peer-to-peer accommodations service continues to boost demand from its core leisure sector and more nascent business contingent, according to research firm Phocuswright.

Hotel News Resource

Global economic volatility torpedoes port cargo numbers

The Port of Vancouver took it on the chin from a number of global market forces in 2016’s first half. Total cargo shipped through the port dropped 5.9% to 66 million tonnes compared with the same period in 2015.

Business in Vancouver

Real Estate Companies

Apex Casino being bought by U.S.-owned Century Casinos

St. Albert’s Apex Casino is being bought by multinational Century Casinos Inc. for $28 million.  The locally owned facility at 24 Boudreau Rd., which opened in 1994, features 382 slot machines, 11 live table games, a restaurant, a bar, a lounge with live entertainment and a banquet centre.

Edmonton Journal

REIT Financial Reports

PROREIT second quarter 2016 results

PRO Real Estate Investment Trust, PRV.UN-X

Marketwired

Edgefront REIT second quarter 2016 results

Edgefront Real Estate Investment Trust,  ED.UN-X

Marketwired

Real Estate Investment Trusts

InnVest REIT and Bluesky Hotels and Resorts complete transaction

InnVest REIT and Bluesky Hotels and Resorts Inc., a privately-held Canadian company, are pleased to announce the completion of the previously announced plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta), pursuant to which Bluesky has acquired all of the issued and outstanding units of InnVest for $7.25 in cash per unit for an aggregate of approximately $974,504,697.

Canada Newswire

Retail

Trendy outdoor chain Cabela’s to open Kanata location

Outdoor equipment retailer Cabela’s, known for its elaborate stores, plans to open a location in Ottawa on Sept. 22. The 70,000-square-foot store on Palladium Drive in Kanata will be just the company’s second location in Ontario.

Ottawa Business Journal

Walmart Canada’s sales gains slowed in second quarter

Walmart Canada’s (WMT-N) share of the grocery market grew in the second quarter, but at a significantly slowed rate, as key players including Loblaw and Sobeys fought back with their own price cuts. Net sales rose 2.9 per cent at Walmart Canada in the period ended July 29.

Financial Post

Apparel retailer Gap’s profit forecast misses estimates

Gap Inc forecast a full-year profit below analysts’ estimates as the apparel retailer struggles to attract shoppers to its Banana Republic stores. Gap forecast a full-year adjusted profit of $1.87-$1.92 per share. The company had earlier forecast a profit of about $1.92.

Globe and Mail

Infrastructure

Waterloo LRT on track, while second stage kicks into gear

As work continues on the first stage of the light rail transit (LRT) system that will serve the Waterloo Region, municipal officials are laying the groundwork to support the system’s second stage of development.

Daily Commercial News

Tunnel under Ottawa neighbourhood will require more studies

The provincial and federal governments will be asked to spend more money on studying a truck-diverting tunnel if Ottawa city council directs the mayor to ask for help. The city and province split the $750,000 cost for the first study, which has concluded a tunnel through Sandy Hill and Lowertown is possible at a construction cost of up to $2 billion.

Ottawa Citizen

EDITORIAL: Time to test commuter rail pilot project?

Anyone who has been stuck in the rush-hour Bedford Highway crawl, or the BiHi bunching of vehicles of all shapes and sizes, would find it hard to turn down a commuter rail plan for Halifax. HRM Councillor Tim Outhit, a long-time commuter-rail proponent, is convinced the time is right for a three-year commuter rail pilot project.

The Chronicle Herald

International

Chinese developer Greenland California biotech site

The U.S. unit of Shanghai-based Greenland Group and a group of equity partners have acquired a 42-acre development site at Oyster Point along the waterfront in South San Francisco, one of the world’s pre-eminent biotechnology hubs with a plan to develop the $1 billion life sciences complex.

CoStar Group

Other

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