Vancouver commercial property deals reach new record

Vancouver commercial property deals reach new record

Massive commercial property deals in Vancouver in 2016 signaled a new wave of transformative investment similar to that of the city’s residential market in the 1990s, says the managing director of Macdonald Commercial Real Estate Services.  By the mid-point of 2016, Vancouver’s commercial property market had already reached a record high in overall deal volume marked by huge trophy purchases of downtown office towers.

Property Biz Canada

Canadian real estate investors shifting strategy in China

As Chinese commercial real estate investors sent a wave of capital to North America’s property markets this year, some Canadian investors were heading in the opposite direction. From warehouses to shopping malls, Canadian institutions such as large pension funds struck partnerships and took stakes in properties poised to benefit from China’s continued, albeit slowing, economic growth cycle.

Globe and Mail

Amazon calls 2016 holiday season its ‘best-ever’

Amazon.com Inc. said it shipped more than 1 billion items worldwide this holiday season, which the top online retailer called its best ever, and its shares rose 1.5 per cent in afternoon trade. The Amazon Echo home assistant and its smaller version, Echo Dot, topped the best-sellers list, said Jeff Wilke, chief executive of Amazon’s worldwide consumer division, in a press release.

Globe and Mail

Shift to online shopping will transform retail in 2017

The coming year will be one of transformation for retailers as they’re forced to adapt to the new reality of more online shopping and fewer visits to the mall. Amid the shift, retailers will need to invest in upgrading their digital and e-commerce capabilities even as they feel the pinch of a weaker Canadian dollar.

Globe and Mail

Est. 120,000 shoppers visit Yorkdale for Boxing Day deals

For some, it was all about the deals; for others, it was a holiday tradition. But for many on Boxing Day, it meant a whole other level of mall traffic and long lines. Yorkdale Shopping Centre reckoned that more than 120,000 shoppers paid a visit on Monday, a 50-per-cent increase from last Boxing Day.

Toronto Star

Fights, disturbances shut down malls across U.S.

Fights, disturbances and false reports of gunfire caused chaotic scenes and shut down several malls across the United States on Monday during the typically busy post-Christmas shopping day. Eight to 10 people suffered minor injuries during a melee in the food court at The Mills at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the mayor there said on Twitter.

Globe and Mail

For airport restaurants, keeping costs down is a challenge

Phoebe Fung had already opened Calgary wine bars Vin Room, Vin Room West, and VR Wine, a boutique wine store. “I started thinking, ‘I’d love to open a wine bar that provides an oasis for travellers,’” Ms. Fung said. Four years later Ms. Fung’s new wine bar, Vin Room YYC Airport, opened in the Calgary International Airport.

Globe and Mail

Major Saskatoon landlord granted creditor protection

A group of companies that owns almost 1,000 apartment units in Saskatoon and more than 300 in Regina is in creditor protection after telling a B.C. court it didn’t have enough money to continue operating and pay its debts, many of which are owed to local firms.  The group consists of 45 companies administered and sometimes financed by Vancouver-based New Summit Partners Corp..

The Star Phoenix

Winnipeg to hire real-estate transaction watchdog

The City of Winnipeg is looking for an independent contractor to ensure municipal real-estate transactions are open, transparent and fair. The city has issued request for proposals for a fairness commissioner to review and comment upon city real-estate purchases, sales, leases, exchanges and expropriations.

CBC

Canada’s payphones ‘an endangered species’

Maybe you used one at the airport to break it to your mom that your flight was delayed one stormy Christmas Eve. Or you relied on one at the subway station when you were stranded with a dead smartphone. Like Coca-Cola and JPMorgan Chase, TD canned voice mail for 17,000 of its 55,000 Canadian employees this summer as part of its plan to modernize the workplace.

Financial Post

The Bluenose Boondoogle: A gold plated management contract

How does an Ottawa company with no shipbuilding experience get a job managing the rebuild of the world famous two-masted schooner Bluenose II in Lunenburg? Start with prominent and successful businessmen. Add a genuine need to rebuild or replace the vessel and match it with a federal infrastructure stimulus fund looking for projects to back.

The Chronicle Herald

City of Montreal trys again to save heritage greystones

The City of Montreal is heading back to court in the New Year in a bid to save what remains of a pair of derelict heritage buildings. The case is a continuation of an injunction the city sought in 2013 against Guy Desrosiers, who owns the buildings on de l’Esplanade Avenue near Mont-Royal Avenue.

CBC

Firm Capital Organization completes JV acquisiton of NY apartments

The Firm Capital Organization, since 1988, is a Toronto-based boutique private equity real estate capital bank, focused on debt and equity investments in the private and public marketplace. Through its managed entity Firm Capital American Realty Partners Corp. it has acquired a $37 million multi-family rental building portfolio in Central Harlem in partnership with a local New York’s Rhodium Capital Advisors, LLC.

Firm Capital news release

Deutsche Bank settles U.S. mortgage probe for $9.75B

Deutsche Bank AG said it reached a $9.75-billion agreement to resolve a years-long U.S. investigation into its dealings in mortgage-backed securities, removing a legal hurdle that fuelled investor angst. Deutsche Bank will pay a $4.2-billion civil penalty and provide $5.55 billion in relief to consumers under a settlement in principle with U.S. authorities.

Toronto Star

Iconic Park Tower trades for $80M in Tampa CBD

New York-based Sterling Equities has announced the sale of Park Tower, a 36-story, 476,000-square-foot office building located in Tampa’s Central Business District. The asset sold to a joint venture between City Office REIT, Tower Realty Partners and Feldman Equities for $79.8 million.

CP Executive

Market Trends and Research

Even realtors think Canadian housing prices will fall in 2017

Even real estate brokers – a group of people not renowned for the objectivity – believe domestic housing prices will fall in 2017.  The Ottawa-based Canadian Real Estate Association, which represents about 100 boards across the country, says 2017 will see a 3.3 per cent drop in sales and the average price of a home is expected to fall by 2.8 per cent to $475,900 after reaching a record $489,500 in 2016.

Globe and Mail

The year in business: Sorry seems to be the fitting word

Sorry. That word, above all others, seemed to capture the spirit of 2016 on the business beat in Montreal. Tourisme Montreal used it in a “friendly and cheeky” way in an ad campaign to confuse — sorry, intrigue — Toronto residents about the city’s 375th birthday festivities in 2017 (as in, sorry we’ll be stealing your thunder and sorry about all “the racket” — not to mention the racketeering).

Montreal Gazette

Real Estate Companies

Temple Hotels Inc. announces insider participation in rights offering

 Temple Hotels Inc. (TPH-T) is pleased to announce additional information regarding the participation of the insiders of Temple in the rights offering of Temple that closed on December 14, 2016. Pursuant to the basic subscription privilege under the Rights Offering, 45,207,688 common shares of Temple were distributed at a price of $0.6769 per Common Share.

Canada Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP completes bought deal

American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP (HOT.UN-T) completed the previously announced public offering of 11,281,500 limited partnership units, on a bought deal basis, at a price of Cdn$10.20 per Unit, for total gross proceeds of approximately Cdn$115.1 million.

Marketwired

Restaurants and Eateries

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Renovation and Restoration

Historic Westdale Theatre put up for sale for $1.8M

The iconic 1930s era Westdale Theatre is officially on the market, and Coun. Aidan Johnson wants it to be saved before it’s sold. The movie house at 1014 King St. W. was put for sale on Dec. 22 and is listed at $1.8 million.

CBC

Infrastructure

Ottawa builds a bridge for infrastructure investment

At first glance, Bay Street and the federal Liberals seem miles apart when it comes to infrastructure. The finance crowd sees investors lining up to put private money into public projects. BMO Nesbitt Burns confidently predicts the coming year will see private investors commit a record $8.7-billion of debt financing to Canadian projects, up from approximately $7-billion in both 2016 and 2015.

Globe and Mail

Kathleen Wynne hedges on approving tolls for Gardiner, DVP

Premier Kathleen Wynne is signalling she won’t give Toronto a blank cheque on its proposal to levy tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway.  The tolls — already endorsed by Toronto City Council earlier this month — require provincial authorization to become a reality.

CBC

Other

The undoing of a Montreal mural raises questions

It looks like any other tagged-over abandoned building in Montreal, but just a few years ago, the Dépanneur Peur fermé 24 sur 24 was a major work of art in Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood, painted by one of the city’s best-known street artists. “I was sad about what some people did to it,” says the artist known as Zilon, when asked how he felt about the graffiti and tagging that now covers his artwork.

CBC

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