Brookfield Property shopping in Calgary, Houston

Brookfield Property shopping in Calgary and Houston

Brookfield Property Partners LP is shopping for buildings in North American cities hardest hit by the oil slump, as pressure on the local economies creates discounts.  Alberta is one place where Brookfield can find low prices on properties and energy-related businesses, chairman Ric Clark said in an interview in Dubai this week.

Financial Post – Financial Post

RioCan unveils Silver City redevelopment plan

As part of a plan to revitalize its malls in major Canadian cities, retail leasing giant RioCan is proposing to build a 30-storey residential tower at its Silver City Gloucester development.  The country’s largest real estate investment trust has filed plans with the city for the first phase of a “multi-building residential development” at the property south of Ogilvie Road and north of Regional Road 174 near the Blair transitway stop.

Ottawa Business Journal

Major shake-up in Ottawa commercial real estate firms

The Ottawa commercial real estate business witnessed a major shake-up this week as five members of the Colliers International sales team joined Cushman & Wakefield.  While the new employees are expected to land new listings right away, Cushman & Wakefield is already involved in the leasing and sales of several prominent Ottawa area properties.

Property Biz Canada

Foreigners set to buy record CRE in Canada

Foreign investors will account for a record amount of commercial-property purchases in Canada this year according to CBRE. Acquisitions by international investors in 2016 will surpass the previous record in 2007, when 7.5 percent of all deals over C$10 million ($7 million) were from foreign buyers and C$32.2 billion in commercial real estate traded hands.

Bloomberg

Prepare for next downturn: LaSalle Investment Management

As concerns about the global economy weigh on stock markets, real estate investors are being advised to prepare for the next downturn in their sector. LaSalle Investment Management has published its latest strategic note, advising investors “to take out cycle insurance” to safeguard against the advent of falling or plateauing values.

IPE Real Estate

Ivanhoe Cambridge buys Blackstone shares in French office landlord

Ivanhoe Cambridge became the largest shareholder in Gecina SA, the French office landlord, after agreeing to buy shares from affiliates of Blackstone Group LP. Gecina shares rose the most since August. Ivanhoe Cambridge will now own about 23 percent of Gecina, making it the company’s largest shareholder.

Montreal Gazette

IntraUrban Business Park open for small Vancouver firms

PC Urban is launching Vancouver’s first new industrial strata development in five years with the three-building IntraUrban Business Park.  Vancouver has seen a 30-per-cent decline in its supply of industrially zoned land over the past four decades, and the average price of industrial strata increasing by 90 per cent over the past 10 years.

Property Biz Canada

JLL buys Metro firm with focus on apartments

JLL has acquired a Vancouver real estate firm that specializes in commercial apartment buildings.  JLL CEO Brett Miller said the acquisition of Bill Goold Realty will allow the company to grow its Canadian operations by attracting more “regional, national and international capital into British Columbia’s commercial real estate market.”

Vancouver Sun

Iconic hotel in Toronto expected to fetch record price

Iconic downtown Toronto waterfront hotel the  Westin Harbour Castle could fetch $350-million to $400-million,  price tag expected to set a record for a sale of a Canadian hotel due to its location on 3.5 acres of prized Toronto lakefront at the foot of Yonge Street, and the potential for additional buildings on the site.

Globe and Mail

Job creation main goal of Quebec’s FTQ fund

After a hugely active 2015 in which Quebec’s Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ kept adding to its growing portfolio of development projects, the labour investment fund looks poised to repeat the performance in 2016. The Fonds immobilier, includes 41 buildings under management and 18 million square feet of land for development.

Daily Commercial News

The untold tale of Target Canada

The grand opening of Target Canada was set to begin in one month, and Tony Fisher needed to know whether the company was actually ready. In February 2013, about a dozen senior-level employees gathered at the company’s Mississauga, Ont., headquarters to offer updates on the state of their departments.

Canadian Business

New partner, new name for outlet mall in Edmonton

There’s a revised name for the outlet shopping centre being built at Edmonton International Airport.  The project’s new name is Premium Outlet Collection — Edmonton International Airport. The partners behind it are now Ivanhoe Cambridge, which is based in Quebec, and U.S.-based Simon Property Group.

Edmonton Journal

Ikea to build store in Halifax

Ikea has announced plans to build a full-size store in the Halifax area, the first of 12 new stores the Scandinavian furniture chain will roll out across Canada over the next decade.  Stefan Sjostrand, president IKEA Canada, said the 328,000 square-foot store will be located in Dartmouth Crossing and will include a showroom, playroom and restaurant featuring the company’s signature Swedish meatballs.

Montreal Gazette – The Chronicle Herald – Winnipeg Free Press

DIRTT and NMG build two-level structure in four days

DIRTT (TSX:DRT) and its Middle East partner NMG Solutions will install a two-story structure with state-of-the-art medical interior in less than four days at Arab Health Congress and Exhibition, reinforcing DIRTT’s continued expansion into the international healthcare market. 

Marketwired

Crowdfunding real estate ventures being reviewed by BCSC

The B.C. Securities Commission is reviewing at least two real estate organizations and their related crowdfunding companies which are soliciting Chinese investors to pool their money and buy into expensive commercial, industrial and recreational real estate. 

Vancouver Sun – The Province

Featured Column

Thoughts on 2015 and 2016

Now that 2015 has ended and we begin 2016, we can wonder what lies ahead for this year. Before we take a look at the possibilities, let us review what 2015 produced. A review of the preceding year allows us to look for trends that occurred throughout the year which may hold true in 2016 or create other possibilities.

Read more

My commercial property is worth what?!

Like so many material things in the world, the value of commercial real estate can often be in the eye of the beholder. There are two sides to this story; the hard truth is, the value to an owner user can outweigh what the market may be prepared to pay.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

‘Chaos’ lurks beneath Nova Scotia property assessment data

The average assessment increase for commercial property owners seems fairly moderate, but a real estate consulting firm says averages don’t tell the whole story. “There’s lots of chaos sort of broiling under the surface and under those averages and probably some inequitable distribution of the tax burden,” Giselle Kakamousias, vice-president of the property tax division for Turner Drake & Partners Ltd.

The Chronicle Herald

Non-residential projects to drive construction activity in Saskatchewan

Last year marked a turning point in the Saskatchewan construction industry, as non-residential projects overtook residential construction activity, and 2016 will likely see that trend continue, according to the latest labour market forecast released Tuesday by BuildForce Canada.  

Leader Post

Real Estate Companies

Aviva Canada Inc. to buy RBC General Insurance Company

Royal Bank of Canada is selling its home and auto insurance business to Aviva Canada Inc. for $582 million in a deal that includes a 15-year distribution arrangement allowing the bank to continue selling a “full suite” of insurance products.

Financial Post – Bloomberg

Is lease accounting overhaul in the U.S. finished?

After more than a decade of stops and starts, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is again scheduled to release changes to financial reporting standards that will require companies to capitalize their real estate and equipment leases, potentially adding $3 trillion in debt to the balance sheets of U.S. companies.

CoStar Group

REOC Financial Reports

	REITs & REOCs – Third-quarter 2015 report
	RENX has prepared a table with a convenient list of the companies and a summary of links to their reports that will be updated quarterly. Fourth-quarter results will be available at the end of January, 2016. Canadian REITs & REOCs – Third-quarter 2015 report

 

Retail

Canada’s retail sales climb in November on new car purchases

Canadian retail sales jumped far more than expected in November due to higher sales at new car dealers and Black Friday purchases, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday, pointing to some needed vigour for a struggling economy.  Sales rose 1.7 per cent, handily topping economists’ forecasts for a gain of 0.2 per cent.

Globe and Mail – Reuters

Restaurants and Eateries

Starbucks U.S. sales jump over holiday quarter

An alleged war on Christmas by Starbucks apparently didn’t dampen the coffee chain’s holiday sales, but the company’s outlook going forward fell short of Wall Street expectations.  The Seattle-based company says sales rose 9 per cent in its flagship U.S. market and 8 per cent globally during the final three months of the year.

Toronto Star

Association News

Real Estate Forums 2016 – Winter / Spring Program
Quebec Investment Apartment Conference	Montreal	February 9, 2016
RealCapital	Toronto	February 23, 2016
Vancouver Real Estate Forum	Vancouver	March 30, 2016
Montreal Real Estate Forum	Montreal	April 5, 2016
Quebec City Real Estate Forum	Quebec City	April 27, 2016
Land and Development	Toronto	May 10, 2016
Edmonton Real Estate Forum	Edmonton	May 12, 2016
Winnipeg Real Estate Forum	Winnipeg	May 17, 2016
Calgary Real Estate Strategy and Leasing Conference	Calgary	June 2, 2016

 

New Development

Vancouver secondary schools eyed for closure

As many as three of Vancouver’s secondary schools may close by 2030 as part of a plan to get schools safe in the event of an earthquake. The provincial government has refused to pay for seismic upgrades unless the Vancouver school board boosts enrolment to 95-per-cent capacity from its 84.6 per cent.

Vancouver Sun

New proposal for Scarborough subway plan includes fewer stops

A major revamp of the contentious $3.5-billion Scarborough subway is heading to council.  The plan drafted by city staff would lower the cost of the subway project by having fewer stations – one stop instead of three – by running the train directly from Kennedy station to Scarborough Town Centre and then stopping.

Globe and Mail

International

Canada helps build West Bank courthouses

It isn’t every day that a firm of Canadian architects Kleinfeldt Mychajlowycz Architects Inc.  lend a hand in courthouse development in the West Bank.  The recently completed courthouse in the city of Toulkarem is one of two such facilities being constructed under a Canadian government-funded program.

Daily Commercial News

Mesa West Capital lends a hand to John Hancock Center

Mesa West Capital provided a $210 million loan to a partnership, led by Chicago-based Hearn Co., to refinance the office and parking spaces at the iconic John Hancock Center in Chicago, including a $35 million in mezzanine debt that was placed with an institutional lender.

CP Executive

Other

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