Cadillac Fairview selling stake in Vancouver property

Cadillac Fairview selling stake in Vancouver property

Cadillac Fairview Corp., the Teachers’ real estate arm  is selling a minority stake in its Vancouver real estate portfolio to the Ontario Pension Board and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, according to multiple sources. Tenants at 701 West Georgia were issued an estoppel certificate this month, indicating there had been a change in ownership at the building.

Financial Post

London’s CF Masonville continues redevelopment

The recent redevelopment of CF Masonville Place has paid major dividends, so Cadillac Fairview aims to keep that momentum going with further investment in the London, Ont. mall. “Food, entertainment and leisure activities are a growing part of the mix in modern centres, and we are committed to delivering on these experiences,” said Cadillac Fairview senior vice-president of development Finley McEwen.

Property Biz Canada

Why Canadian malls are thriving while American ones struggle

A spate of pending department store closures has many industry watchers fretting about the future of shopping malls, but in Canada, the picture looks quite a bit brighter than it does in the United States, according to a new study. An analysis from the Retail Council of Canada reveals malls in this country are significantly more productive, on average, than malls in the United States.

Financial Post

Office vacancies on the rise, but globally Canada is in demand

Canada’s office market is facing too much new supply and demand can’t keep up, according to a new forecast out Thursday which predicts the 2017 market will get even softer. Despite the weakening fundamentals, real estate company Avison Young says Canada will continue to see capital chasing property because of global uncertainty.

Montreal Gazette

Sobeys parent Empire Co. names Michael Medline as new CEO

The owner of troubled grocer Sobeys Inc. has named former Canadian Tire Corp chief executive Michael Medline as its new CEO, effective immediately. Mr. Medline, who worked at Canadian Tire Corp. for more than 15 years in a number of senior leadership roles before he was replaced as CEO last summer by his predecessor, has a big job ahead of him at Empire Co. Ltd.

Globe and Mail – The Chronicle Herald – Financial Post

Burrard Place tower will be Vancouver’s third tallest building

Work is underway on Vancouver’s latest multi-tower office and residential project on Burrard Street, which will add nearly 250,000 square feet of office space to the downtown market that has maintained a low vacancy rate, surprising experts amid a rush of new office projects over the past two years.  Burrard Place is set to eventually become a four-tower complex set around Burrard, Hornby and Drake streets. 

Vancouver Sun

Condo king Bob Rennie sues Vancouver developer

Condo king Bob Rennie has been the target of many lawsuits, but for over four decades, the power broker says he has never taken action to sue anyone himself. Until now. Rennie Marketing Systems is suing Vancouver-based Shape Properties Corp. for more than $16 million in real estate marketing fees related to the sale of more than 1,300 condo units at developments near Brentwood Mall in Burnaby.

Vancouver Sun

Vancouver high-rise complex application not filed yet

No rezoning or development applications have been made yet on a proposal to build a 30-storey residential, hotel and commercial complex adjacent to the Terry Fox Plaza downtown. The development firm Amacon bought the property in 2012 for a reported $32.55 million, according to investment news blog Real Estate News Exchange.

Vancouver Sun

Calgary’s empty downtown spurs push for economic summit

Amid a glut of empty skyscrapers in Calgary’s core, two inner-city councillors want to “look at every possible option to strengthen downtown.” Nearly one-third of downtown office space is vacant, a major issue impacting everything from parking to transit to taxes, with the busy city centre previously generating 40 per cent of non-residential tax revenue and 25 per cent of city-wide employment.

Calgary Herald – CBC

Ottawa is newest Canadian market for BOXX Modular

BOXX Modular continues to move into new markets with its range of modular buildings, with an Ottawa branch now being the latest to open. “We are interested in any markets with a demand for ongoing public infrastructure and construction growth,” said Trevor Haynes, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of BOXX Modular’s parent company, Black Diamond Group.

Property Biz Canada

Proposal calls for drastic overhaul to Elgin Street

Ottawa Business Journal

Ottawa’s urban design panel balks at Claridge proposal

The panel of urban design experts charged with reviewing development proposals for Ottawa expressed unanimous concern Thursday over a 55-storey condominium tower Claridge Homes hopes to build on the eastern portion of LeBreton Flats. “The height of that tower blows me away,” said panelist John Stewart, a landscape architect. “You’ve got flat, flat, flat, then this thing in the middle. We need to understand Ottawa as a special place.”

CBC

Troubled Trump Toronto hotel put on the block

Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto is looking for a new owner, with creditors hoping that strong investor interest in Canadian hospitality properties can rescue a development that proved to be a money pit for its original backers. The court-appointed receiver for the Trump hotel formally launched the sale of the 65-storey tower on Tuesday, with CBRE Ltd. and a $298-million minimum price tag.

Globe and Mail

Tax reform proposals creating suspense for CRE investors

With President-elect Donald J. Trump preparing to take office next week and the Republican-controlled 115th Congress already in session, the newly reconstituted House Ways and Means Committee met for the first time this week to discuss the GOP’s tax reform “blueprint” released last summer calling for sweeping changes to federal tax law. The Real Estate Roundtable and other industry lobbying groups have been working with Ways and Means committee staff since last fall.

CoStar Group

L.A. future home of George Lucas Museum

Los Angeles has prevailed over San Francisco and Chicago as the site for a $1 billion, 275,000-square-foot museum financed by filmmaker George Lucas expected to create thousands of construction and permanent jobs. The board of directors of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art revealed the museum will be built in Exposition Park adjacent to the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles.

CoStar Group – L.A. Times

Featured Column

Canada at the mercy of every twitch and grunt in 2017

It’s time for cautious investors to tread carefully and even the most daring to check and recheck their facts before signing on the dotted line. The more I look around to better gauge what direction fickle economic winds might blow, the more it all comes back to political uncertainties.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Condo King Bob Rennie’s abdicated as chief Liberal fundraiser?

If money is the necessary oxygen for a political campaign, Bob Rennie has been the life-saving tank for the BC Liberals.  Rennie, the Vancouver-based real estate marketer and poster boy for the industry’s growth in this market, has been working as the BC Liberal Party’s chief fundraiser for nearly four years.

Business in Vancouver

U.S. holiday shopping took bite out of same store sales

It’s hard to find the winners from the 2016 holiday shopping season except for e-commerce sites. The numbers being reported by publicly held retailers look pretty abysmal, particularly in light of the bullish national numbers being reported by retail associations. The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) released its post-holiday Shopping Survey.

CoStar Group

Vancouver’s historic Railway Club finally leased

After sitting empty for nine months, the space that used to house the Railway Club has been leased. But whether it will re-open as a live music venue or retain its historic character is anyone’s guess. “It’s been leased, but that’s all I can tell you,” said Sadru Parpia of Team 3000 Realty, whose family owns the building.

Vancouver Sun

Canadians favour fitness over finances

One in three Canadians say improving their personal fitness and nutrition is their top new year’s resolution, compared with only 21 per cent who chose to focus on financial goals, based on a recent Ipsos survey conducted on behalf of GoodLife Fitness. 

Canada Newswire

Real Estate Companies

Former McCain french fry plant has new owner

The former McCain french fry plant in Borden-Carleton, P.E.I. has a new owner. MacDougall Steel Erectors will take over the facility, which closed in October 2014. MacDougall already has a plant in Borden-Carleton, and is calling this an expansion.

CBC

Retail

Ikea Canada names company veteran president

Ikea Canada has named a new president who will take over next month. Marsha Smith will assume the position Feb. 6 after a 13-year career with the company, where she started as a customer service manager in Birmingham, England.

The Chronicle Herald

New Development

Federal government urged to pay for Centre Block display

Next year was always going to be a challenge for Ottawa tourism, given the hangover from the splashy events happening throughout 2017 for Canada’s 150th birthday. But 2018 comes with its own massive problem: One of the city’s prime attractions, Parliament Hill’s Centre Block, will start renovations that will take at least 10 years, and probably more like 15.

Ottawa Citizen

A teenaged building that’s already a local landmark

It’s not quite 20, but it doesn’t look a day over 90. That’s because the Morgan condominium, which was designed in 1998, was all about context. And Spadina Avenue, south of Queen Street, has a great deal of that, and most of it vintage.

Globe and Mail

Infrastructure

Two decades of inspiring growth for city’s community-based airport

When the Winnipeg Airports Authority releases its 2016 year-end results in the coming days, it will record another record passenger year, surpassing the four-million mark. Twenty years ago, the federal government got out of the airport ownership business, and in Winnipeg, ownership was passed on to the community-based, non-share capital corporation called the Winnipeg Airports Authority Inc. (WAA).

Winnipeg Free Press

Technology

HipChat-maker Atlassian acquires Trello

Atlassian Corp., (TEAM-Q) maker of work collaboration software Jira and HipChat, has agreed to acquire Trello, which offers a popular project management app, for $563 million Cdn. The purchase price consists of $477 million in cash and the rest in restricted stock and options, said Atlassian president Jay Simons.

Montreal Gazette

Other

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