Edmonton developers propose two downtown towers

Edmonton developers propose two downtown towers

Three prominent local Edmonton developers are proposing ask city council to rezone 60,000 square feet of land at the northeast corner of Jasper Avenue and 108 Street to allow construction of two high-rise towers set atop retail podiums. The preliminary design shows a 35-storey tower facing Capital Boulevard and an even taller 45-storey tower facing Jasper Avenue. There would be 1,050 residential units.

Edmonton Journal

In Edmonton, commercial infill doubles as city building

As commercial infill developers begin to mix uses in projects in northern Alberta, the role they are playing in building their cities is being transformed as well. Margaret Knowles, a vice-president with Mississauga-based Morguard, says her project in Bonnie Doon is a rare example in her career when a commercial-infill developer in Alberta gets to rebuild an entire city block into an urban village.

Globe and Mail

Fonds JVs on new Montreal commercial centre in Beauharnois

A 48,000 square foot office building has opened in the first phase of a $55 million commercial development located on a strategic site in a trucking corridor on Montreal’s South Shore. The Espace 30 Beauharnois in Beauharnois just off Highway 30, will become a regional commercial centre with a planned hotel, second office building, several shops and services, car dealerships and services for truckers.

Property Biz Canada

Minto Apartment REIT updates IPO, seeks $500M valuation

A share offering filed Friday for the new Minto Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust values the REIT’s initial 22 Canadian properties and 4,279 apartment units at about CAD$500 million. Minto updated the initial public offering prospectus via Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The REIT will offer 13,794,000 shares at a price of $14.50 per unit, for gross proceeds of just over $200 million.

Property Biz Canada

Surrey City Centre acquisition for Anthem

Anthem Properties Group Ltd. has acquired another site in the heart of Surrey City Centre – an area designated by city planners as the future commercial, cultural and social hub of Surrey. The 4.4 acre site at 10232 Whalley Boulevard sits directly across the street from Georgetown, Anthem’s 10 acre master planned mixed use community that includes seven residential apartment towers and 120,000 square feet of restaurants, offices and retail space.

Canada Newswire

Calgary Husky Tower celebrates 50th anniversary

On May 15, 1967, Poole Construction (now PCL) began work on the shaft of the Husky Tower, drawing lots of attention as it rose above 9^th Avenue in a continuous seamless pour of concrete. Opened to the public on June 30, 1968, it was twice as high as any other building scraping the skies around it. Now, 50 years later, owner Aspen Properties is holding a community block party on Saturday.

Calgary Herald

Fortress investors could face ‘significant losses’

Syndicated mortgage loans for real estate projects developed by Fortress Real Developments Inc. are “under considerable stress,” and lenders could face “significant losses,” according to a new report from a court-appointed receiver. FAAN Mortgage Administrators Inc. said some of the largest loans provided for Fortress projects are at risk because senior mortgage lenders are moving to foreclose on the properties.

Globe and Mail (Requires subscription)

Logistics giant opens Halifax location

If they are trusted to transport the Mona Lisa, chances are you can trust them to transport just about anything, which is exactly what customers say about Nippon Express, the largest global logistics company in Asia. With offices in 45 countries worldwide, this is their eighth in Canada and the June 1 launch of the Halifax office, completes a coast-to-coast presence.

The Chronicle Herald

Remington opens Marriott in downtown Markham

Marriott Hotels has announced the official opening of its Toronto Marriott Markham Hotel, the latest addition to the multi-billion-dollar Downtown Markham project from the Remington Group. Marriott is billing the new 209-room facility as York Region’s first premium hotel. A June 12 media release noted the 192,000-square-foot hotel is owned by the Remington Group and managed by Marriott International.

Construct Canada

Industrial land shortage looms in Abbotsford

The Agricultural Land Commission’s recent decision denying the City of Abbotsford’s request to remove almost 200 hectares from the agricultural land reserve for industrial development “tightens the vise” on companies already struggling to find space. “They’ll have to get creative,” said Kyle Dodman, a commercial broker with Frontline Real Estate Services.

Vancouver Sun

Commercial property data portal eyes expansion to Canada

Fresh from securing an additional $30 million in a recent round of fundraising, commercial real estate information firm Reonomy is looking to expand to Canada and Western Europe. The latest round bought the company’s total fundraising to $68.4 million, after a 3-year pause in fundraising activity during which Reonomy expanded to 3,000 counties and 20,000 municipalities across the United States.

Mortgage Broker News

Williams Scotsman to acquire ModSpace

WillScot Corporation (WSC-N) the leading specialty rental services provider of innovative modular space and portable storage solutions across North America, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Modular Space Holdings, Inc., the parent holding company of Modular Space Corporation, for an enterprise value of approximately $1.1 billion.

GlobeNewswire

JLL secures $251M in equity, debt for CBSK Ironstate

JLL’s Capital Markets experts have raised $251 million in equity and debt for CBSK Ironstate for the acquisition and development of 646 11th Ave., a luxury condominium development planned for the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. The firm raised $70 million in equity from an institutional investor and secured $181 million in construction financing from Deutsche Bank AG.

PR Newswire

Allianz joins Greystar and PSP’s UK student housing JV

Allianz Real Estate has joined Greystar Real Estate Partners and the Ontario Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s (PSP Investments) UK student housing partnership with a £350m equity investment. Allianz said it is making the investment, on behalf of various Allianz insurance companies, to help grow the Chapter brand. Greystar will continue to manage this portfolio.

IPE Real Estate – CoStar Group – PR Newswire

IKEA makes the leap in India

LaPresse

Market Trends and Research

Flair Airlines moving HQ from Kelowna to Edmonton

Flair Airlines Ltd. has found a new place to roost. The low-cost carrier says it is moving its headquarters from Kelowna, B.C., to Edmonton. Flair CEO David Tait say the change makes sense because most of the company’s flights already go through Edmonton International Airport.

Calgary Herald

Real Estate Companies

Groupe Germain opens new Alt+ hotel in Brossard, Que.

Groupe Germain Hotels announced the official opening of its new Alt+ Hotel Quartier DIX30 located in Brossard, on Montreal’s South Shore. The facility features 168 studio style rooms, six multipurpose rooms and a workout centre and is located at the intersection of highways 10 and 30. The hotel occupies 11 of 15 floors in the building. It’s Groupe Germain Hotel’s second property in the area.

Daily Commercial News

REOC Financial Reports

Timbercreek Financial announces ATM offering

Timbercreek Financial Corp. (TF-X) has established an at-the-market equity program which allows the company to issue common shares from treasury, having an aggregate gross sales amount of up to $70 million, to the public at the company’s discretion. The ATM Program is being established pursuant to a prospectus supplement.

Globe Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

AHIP REIT CEO Rob O’Neill purchases more shares

American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP  (HOT-UN-T) discloses that Rob O’Neill, CEO, purchased 12,000 additional units during the past  week through open market purchases. Since January 1, 2018, O’Neill has acquired 149,174 additional units of AHIP, including 11,274 units provided as part of his agreement with the company to take 100 per cent of his 2018 compensation in the form of equity.

Canada Newswire

Cannabis industry news

Shopify to run B.C.’s online cannabis sales

Shopify Inc. has doubled its bet on cannabis, with British Columbia announcing that the e-commerce company will run the province’s legal online marijuana sales channel as well as sales from a provincially run warehouse to private retailers. In Ontario, in February Shopify inked a deal to manage Ontario’s online cannabis sales along with the in-store point-of-sale system for provincially-owned stores.

Financial Post

Gatineau pot producer Hydropothecary graduates to TSX

Hydropothecary is moving up to the Toronto Stock Exchange with a new brand to tackle the soon-to-be-legal recreational cannabis market.  The company made its public debut in March of 2017 on the TSX-V when it announced plans in December of that year to develop an $80-million, one-million-square-foot pot production facility in Gatineau.

Ottawa Business Journal

New Development

Developer asks court to revisit Jumbo Glacier proposal

The developers behind one of B.C.’s longest running land-use battles — the Jumbo Glacier ski resort near Invermere — are back in court on Monday trying to resurrect the failed project.  The decades-old proposal to build a year-round ski resort in the Purcell Mountains in southeastern B.C. was killed three years ago by the B.C. Liberal government.

CBC

Infrastructure

Quebec to give McGill the old Royal Vic site

A portion of the abandoned Royal Victoria Hospital will become part of McGill University’s downtown Montreal campus. Quebec has committed to ceding part of the property over to McGill along with $37 million so the school can begin planning the site’s transformation with its heritage in mind. The site’s transfer will be managed by the Société québécoise des infrastructures.

CBC

Other

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