TSX REIT index outperforms U.S. counterpart

TSX REIT index outperforms U.S. counterpart

For the first time in four years, 2016 saw the Toronto Stock Exchange’s index of Canadian real estate investment trusts outperform its American counterpart, generating a total return of 14.8 per cent. That put the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index far ahead of the MSCI U.S. REIT index, which gained 8 per cent, and also the NAREIT Global REIT index at 4.1 per cent.

Financial Post

Long road nearly over for BoC revamp

Famed Canadian architect Arthur Erickson isn’t around to see the $460-million overhaul of one of his signature works – the Bank of Canada’s Ottawa headquarters. But Mr. Erickson, who died in 2009, would like most of what has been done to turn his 1970s modernist creation into a secure, energy-efficient and wired 21st-century office building, former associates say.

Globe and Mail

Montreal’s new CBC HQ could help right an old wrong

Incredible as it may seem, there was a time in recent memory when cutting-edge urban planning could include replacing a bustling residential neighbourhood with parking lots. If the CBC and two private developers have their way, a notorious result of that kind of raze-and-pave mentality in Montreal’s east end may be partly reversed.

Globe and Mail

Feds to sell site of Ottawa warehouse

A chunk of land in Ottawa’s Little Italy neighbourhood that was once home to a federal munitions warehouse has been deemed surplus land by the government and is being sold off. The former Plouffe Park warehouse complex extended from Somerset Street West to Gladstone Avenue, and from the O-Train green corridor/multi-use path in the west to Plant Bath and Plouffe Park in the east.

CBC

Colliers plan to double its size by 2020

In 2015 as the current real estate cycle began approaching its peak, Colliers International unveiled an ambitious plan to double the size of the company by 2020 through a combination of internal growth and select acquisitions. A key component of the plan was to “roll up” Colliers affiliate and franchise offices in the U.S. and around the world.

CoStar Group

JLL snaps up three more Integra Realty offices

After snapping up the Dallas and Houston affiliates of Integra Realty Resources (IRR) in short order, Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) has pounced again, adding a third IRR affiliate covering the Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis offices of the independent commercial real estate valuation, counseling and advisory network in less than three months.

CoStar Group

CPPIB’s Liberty Living expands into Europe

Liberty Living, a student housing platform owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), is extending its business beyond the UK by buying assets from Blackstone. The company said it paid £460m (€540m) for 13 student residences in 12 cities in the UK, Germany and Spain.

IPE Real Estate

Angels to help a new generation of real estate developers

A group of angel investors and the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ have teamed up to help create a new generation of real estate developers in Quebec.

Angels – FTQThe deal with investor group Anges Québec “will allow for the emergence of a generation of rising developers and support existing developers who need more liquidity,” says Normand Bélanger, president and CEO of the Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ.

Property Biz Canada

Ground contamination clean up for new Ottawa hospital site

The government agency that has control over the former Sir John Carling Building is developing estimates for the cost of removing a large amount of concrete left over from when the building was imploded. Metro reported earlier this week on documents that show groundwater on the site has been found to contain phenol.

Ottawa Business Journal

Cervus completes sale and lease back of real estate portfolio

Cervus Equipment Corporation (CVL-T) has completed the long term sale and leaseback of approximately $55.7 million of real estate owned by the company.   Pursuant to the transaction, Cervus sold the land and buildings where it operates 11 dealerships and leased back those properties with initial lease terms ranging from 15 to 20 years.

Canada Newswire – Skyline Commercial REIT buying Cervus portfolio

Dalfen America acquires U.S. industrial properties

Dalfen America Corp. has acquired two industrial properties located in Cincinnati and Rogers, Minn., totaling approximately 450,000 square feet. Located adjacent to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, the Turfway Road Distribution Center is a 165,515-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility built in 1990.

CP Executive – Marketwired – Property Biz Canada

Deutsche, Credit Suisse to pay billions over mortgage bonds

Deutsche Bank has agreed on a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over its dealings in mortgage-backed bonds — risky securities that helped start the global financial crisis. Under the deal, which isn’t yet final, Germany’s biggest bank agreed to pay $3.1 billion in fines and $4.1 billion in compensation through such measures as easing loan repayment terms for homeowners and borrowers.

Vancouver Sun

Japan: Unleashing the beast

The country’s giant institutions could transform global real estate markets when they finally move. Florence Chong reports  The Godzillas of global property investment – Japanese pension funds, banks and insurance companies – are waiting at the gate. They could, if they wish, alter the global real estate investment landscape almost overnight.

IPE Real Estate

Reykjavik’s building boom transforms Iceland

Set against a vista of sea and mountains, the city’s modern concert hall and convention centre, with its kaleidoscopic facade of multicoloured glass, averages more than 140,000 visitors each month. The thriving complex, which plays host to fans of Bjork and enthusiasts of yo-yoing, is a symbol of how the country has recovered from the economic crisis.

Globe and Mail

Tokyo Olympics estimated to cost up to $15 billion

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics estimate the total cost of hosting the 2020 Games will be between 1.6 and 1.8 trillion yen ($13 to $15 billion). The official cost estimate announced Dec. 21 was below the promised 2 trillion ($17 billion) cap, while organizers said they will try to come down further.

Daily Commercial News

Featured Column

When science fiction becomes science fact

Duncan Stewart, the Director of Telecommunications, Media and Technology at Deloitte, is predicting the future. With a background in science and investment, Duncan forecasts the impacts of technology across a variety of industries, and his message will change your mind.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Asbestos ban praised by construction leaders

The federal government has announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, promising to create new regulations that will prohibit the manufacture, use, import and export of a mineral that was once commonly used in construction and has ravaged the health of thousands of construction workers for decades.

Daily Commercial News

For Eaton’s building in Thunder Bay pays $50K fine

The City of Thunder Bay says a building owner in the downtown north core has been slapped with $50,000 in fines, plus court costs, after being found guilty of a pair of fire code violations. The court ruling, which was handed down on Wednesday, comes about two years after the former Eaton’s building on Park Avenue was the subject of an inspection by Thunder Bay Fire Rescue.

CBC

Real Estate Companies

Firm Capital MIC closes bought deal financing

Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corporation (FC-T) has closed its previously announced bought deal prospectus offering of $22,500,000 aggregate principal amount of 5.20% convertible unsecured subordinated debentures of the Corporation due December 31, 2023 at a price of $1,000 per Debenture.

Canada Newswire

Equitable Group Inc. completes $50 million private placement

Equitable Group Inc. (EQB-T) has completed a previously announced private placement of 809,585 common shares of the Company with OMERS, the pension plan for Ontario’s municipal employees.

Canada Newswire

Retail

Why Lululemon has stayed sweet: Olive

Discounter Target Corp. sells activewear. So does the K-mart division of Sears Holdings Inc. So do specialty apparel marketers Under Armour and Nike Inc. Even Beyoncé has an activewear line. With almost every general merchandiser and specialized apparel marketer selling activewear, Vancouver-based Lululemon Athletic Inc. should by now have been left in the dust.

Toronto Star

Birks Group announces amendments to its senior credit facilities

Birks Group Inc. (BGI-N), which operates 47 luxury jewelry stores across Canada, Florida and Georgia, announced an extension and favorable amendments to its senior credit facilities. The Company’s $110 million senior secured revolving credit facility has been extended to November 2021.

Canada Newswire

Should retailers pay for customers to return merchandise?

Before Jérôme Gagnon-Voyer launched his online retail startup Cambio Market with business partner Gelaine Santiago, he spent many hours researching what other retailers were doing when it came to implementing return policies. He knew if Cambio Market was going to be successful, it had to have a solid return policy in place.

Globe and Mail

Restaurants and Eateries

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New Development

Asbestos delays demolition of old Whitehorse high school

Demolition of the old F.H. Collins High School in Whitehorse is behind schedule and over budget.   The demolition project was expected to be complete this past fall, but now it will be next summer before it’s all done.  Crews had expected some asbestos, but were surprised at the amount they discovered. 

CBC

Infrastructure

Confederation Bridge tolls increase by 50 cents in 2017

The annual adjustment of tolls on the Confederation Bridge has been announced by Strait Crossing Bridge Limited.  The round trip tolls for two axle vehicles will go up 50 cents to $46.50 on the bridge linking Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

CBC

International

Carl Icahn will be ‘rallying against overregulation’ in U.S.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he will be “rallying against overregulation” in his role as a special adviser to President-elect Donald Trump. The corporate raider-turned activist shareholder said Thursday on CNBC that he’ll continue giving Trump advice on regulatory appointments and overhauls.

Financial Post

Sustainability

Ski resort has cool idea to beat global warming

Ski resort executives tend to hate climate change, for obvious reasons. Then there’s Les Otten. It’s not that he’s a fan, just that he’s looking to turn the global warming equation on its head. How so? By carving out slopes in a remote spot in northern New Hampshire that’s frigid enough to out-snowpack rivals.

Globe and Mail

Human Resources

Talent gap looming for facility managers

With numerous retirements of facility managers on the horizon, the industry is intent on filling the looming talent gap. “We are not unlike any other profession,” says Geoff Williams, general manager of the Centre for Health & Safety Innovation at the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). “We are about to experience, or are already experiencing, a talent gap.”

Daily Commercial News

Other

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