New office tower for Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station

New office tower planned for Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station

Rize Alliance is building a 13-storey office building at 1296 Station Street, the current site of the Party Bazaar, next to Pacific Central Station in Vancouver. Called The Onyx, the Class-AAA tower will add about 260,000 square feet to the Vancouver office inventory and will also include about 8,700 square feet of retail at ground level.

Vancouver Sun

Katz Group seeks millions from city for Ice District plaza

Edmonton officials will start talking with the Katz Group about potential city funding for the Ice District plaza after a tense in-private debate Wednesday at city council. The debate at the closed-door meeting ended with a public 9-4 vote in favour of at least talking with the Katz Group about its multimillion-dollar pitch.

Calgary Herald

UPDATED: Blackstone enters Canadian multi-res, JV’s with Starlight

UPDATED with Starlight interview: Blackstone Property Partners (BPY-UN-T) might be the world’s largest private equity real estate investor, but its global portfolio has been lacking assets in a key Canadian sector. That deficiency is one factor which led to a partnership with Starlight Investments to purchase six Canadian multi-family buildings in Toronto and Montreal.

Property Biz Canada

Tricon creates $2B JV to buy rental homes in U.S.

Toronto-based Tricon Capital Group Inc. has announced a major American joint venture through which it plans to purchase up to 12,000 single-family rental homes for its Tricon American Homes division. The joint venture, involving an unnamed “sovereign wealth fund” and a U.S.-based state pension plan, will be capitalized with a total of US$750 million, with each of the three partners committing $250 million.

Property Biz Canada

Real estate transparency improves globally

Over the 20 years that JLL has been publishing its biennial proprietary Global Real Estate Transparency Index, increased regulatory requirements and greater data availability have driven incremental improvements. Since 2016, 85 of the 100 countries surveyed recorded an improvement, and the growing impact of technology may propel this positive trend in the future.

PR Newswire

JLL Canada aims to conquer CRE with a boost from tech

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s Canada division is out to become the top commercial real estate services company in the nation, tapping tech to propel growth. “Are we going to go to blockchain leases? We’re doing the research there,”  said Brett Miller, JLL Canada’s chief executive officer. “The whole process that used to be done manually, of identifying clients’ needs, coming up with a fit plan, surveying the market, touring the market, making offers — well, that’s got streamlined with all sorts of technology.”

Bloomberg

Brossard urban planners bet on transit-oriented development

In anticipation of the construction of three REM stations in the area, Mayor Doreen Assaad said Brossard has been proactive about creating policies and plans to concentrate development near light-rail and bus connections to limit urban sprawl. Devimco’s 2,500-unit Solar Uniquartier project to be constructed near the future Du Quartier station in Brossard is an example.

Montreal Gazette – Property Biz Canada

Sobeys parent reports higher profit, goes on offence

The executive team at Empire Co. Ltd. still has a lot on its plate, but it thinks dessert is on the way. Empire’s key business is the competitive food retailing sector. On Thursday, the company raised its dividend as it reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit. The Stellarton-headquartered parent company of the Sobeys grocery chain will now pay a quarterly dividend of 11 cents per share, up from 10.5 cents.

The Chronicle Herald – Property Biz Canada

Many businesses considering leaving Vancouver: study

A recent survey by the Vancouver Economic Commission found that the city’s industries identify their top challenges as: rising operational costs, finding or keeping qualified employees, and access to affordable workplaces. The study also found as many as 50 per cent of businesses are considering relocating in the next two years due to these issues.

Vancouver Sun

B.C., feds ink near-$1B bilateral affordable housing deal

A new federal and provincial bilateral agreement to fund affordable housing in B.C. to the tune of $991 million over 10 years was signed in Vancouver June 26. Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and B.C. housing minster Selina Robinson announced the agreement as part of the federal National Housing Strategy launched last year.

Vancouver Courier

New Westmount Village putting seniors’ housing in a strip mall

A highrise tower for seniors being built at a Westmount strip mall was touted Monday as one way to redevelop mature Edmonton communities and provide new housing options. The Village at Westmount will have 105 leased units and assisted living spaces when it opens next spring on one corner of the 1960s-era Westmount Village mall at Groat Road and 114 Avenue.

Edmonton Journal

Lennard Commercial moves to a new downtown office

Andrew Baker, a founding partner and broker of record for Lennard Commercial Realty, announced today that the firm is rebranding and moving to a new, larger head office in downtown Toronto. Lennard is an independent Canadian commercial real estate brokerage offering a complete range of real estate services to occupants, tenants, owners, and investors in the office, retail, industrial, land, and multi-family sectors.

Canada Newswire

Crunch time for Kitimat real estate with LNG decision pending

Real estate investors have Kitimat back on the radar but the prices and the potential are both much higher now than during the last boom at home to the biggest infrastructure project in Canada.  “It is crunch time for Kitimat,” said Graham Pitzel of Re/Max Kitimat Real Estate, noting that there is a lack of industrial and commercial property to meet the demand.

JWN Energy

Canada, Germany have high potential for global RE investment

Canada and Germany have the greatest potential to receive additional global real estate investment, and could attract a further $4.5 billion and $3.1 billion of real estate capital per year respectively, according to new analysis from Knight Frank. The analysis, part of Knight Frank’s Active Capital report, has been conducted using a bespoke ‘gravity’ model, based on the models used to forecast international trade.

Property Magazine International

Foreign capital inflows into Indian real estate market jump to $2.6B

Capital inflow into the Indian real estate market witnessed a jump of 31% to $2.6 billion in 2017, primarily on the back of the government’s reforms initiatives and new regulations, a Knight Frank report said. According to the global consultancy firm’s Active Capital: The 2018 Report, the robust growth has put India on the 19th spot among 73 countries.

Live Mint

Featured Column

Interesting times call for investor diligence, not inaction

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity …” I can’t begin to guess what Charles Dickens might make of the world today. As a real estate investor, will living through such interesting times prove a curse or a blessing? It all depends on how you chose to look at it.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

	RENX is taking a (short) summer break
	Summer has finally arrived and RENX will shut down for one week from July 2 to July 6 for a brief summer break. We will resume our regular publishing schedule on July 9. Happy Canada Day!

 

Retail

More Toys R Us properties hit auction block

More than 120 Toys R Us stores are now on the auction block, with the last of the company’s U.S. stores scheduled to close Friday.  A Virginia bankruptcy court on June 28 approved an initial bid date of July 16 for 123 Toys R Us properties owned by Toys R Us Property Co. II LLC. 

CoStar Group

Restaurants and Eateries

No issue with Restaurant Brands’ takeover of Tim Hortons: Ottawa

Ottawa has decided that Restaurant Brands International Inc. has honoured the commitments it made to gain federal approval to acquire Tim Hortons despite complaints from dissident franchisees that company infractions have led to safety and other concerns.

Globe and Mail

New Development

What does Amazon’s move to Ottawa mean for the city?

Ottawa might not be on Amazon’s short list for a second headquarters, but the online retail giant still appears to be interested in the nation’s capital. Amazon will be setting up a large-scale distribution centre in a rural area of Ottawa’s east end, CTV recently reported. And with that would come roughly 1,000 jobs.

Ottawa Citizen

Renovation and Restoration

CN Tower renos add accessibility, better views

Owner Canada Lands Company unveiled spectacular new features at the CN Tower observation level in Toronto recently, hosting a gala reception to showcase $16 million worth of renovation work undertaken by a team under PCL Constructors. The job included the reconfiguring of spaces, installation of a second glass floor, three new bistros and new “window walls”.

Construct Canada

Infrastructure

New Vancouver detox facility creates controversy

British Columbia’s largest facility to help people go through withdrawal from drugs and alcohol is proposed for a Vancouver site at the corner of First Avenue and Clark Drive. But the facility, which will also offer housing on the floors above the clinic, has stirred controversy among the renters and homeowners who live adjacent to the site.

Globe and Mail

Technology

Taking architecture app Driftscape for a stroll around Toronto

On my iPhone, there exists a graveyard for architecture apps. Going back almost a decade, these apps once held such interest they were carefully placed in a folder called “Cool Architecture/History Maps.” However, just as the sands that surround Las Vegas will reclaim that pulsating city with the absence of human intervention, that folder now has digital tumbleweeds blowing across those once-colourful logos.

Globe and Mail

Other

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