BCIMC takes real estate into its own hands

BCIMC takes real estate into its own hands

British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is creating a real estate company with plans to increase exposure to the hot asset class. The Vancouver-based pension fund heavyweight’s new platform called QuadReal Property Group will develop and manage buildings in Canada, the U.S., Asia and Europe, starting with $18-billion in its own real estate assets.

Globe and Mail – CoStar Group – Benefits Canada – Canada Newswire

GWL Realty Advisors supports bcIMC as it launches QuadReal

Today, the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) announced the creation of QuadReal Property Group, which will begin managing bcIMC’s real estate assets in 2017. As a trusted advisor and real estate developer to bcIMC for over 25 years, GWL Realty Advisors will continue to support bcIMC in its natural evolution of consolidating its real estate assets under QuadReal.

Canada Newswire

Bentall Kennedy leadership changes due to QuadReal

Remco Daal, former President of Bentall Kennedy Canada, will join QuadReal to lead its domestic Canadian operations. Gary Whitelaw will continue as Bentall Kennedy Group CEO. Vancouver based Tony Astles will replace Mr. Daal as President of Bentall Kennedy’s Canadian property services operations. Mr. Astles has been Bentall Kennedy’s Executive VP responsible for property services operations in Western Canada. Paul Zemla and Malcolm Leitchwill continue in their roles as CIO and COO of Bentall Kennedy’s Canadian Investment management operations. 

Canada Newswire

LaSalle acquires The Junction for investment fund

LaSalle Investment Management has a new plan for The Junction shopping centre in the District of Mission, B.C. after recently acquiring it on behalf of LaSalle’s flagship Canadian Income & Growth Fund IV (CIG IV). The shopping centre was purchased from RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust and Kimco Realty Corporation for $68.05 million in April.

Property Biz Canada

Manulife investing in Toronto property management firm

Manulife Asset Management Private Markets today announced that Manulife has acquired a 49% equity interest in QMLP, the multi-family asset and property management platform of Conundrum Capital Corporation, a privately owned real estate investment firm focused on the rental residential property sector in Ontario.

Canada Newswire

Canada’s TD bank poised to grow stateside

Foreign lenders have a reputation for homing in on glitzy trophy properties such as Manhattan skyscrapers, but TD Bank tends to be more modest. Most of its commercial real estate loans are relatively small ones of under $10 million, many of which go toward multifamily properties with only about 10.0 percent of its 2015 loans going toward more substantial deals.

NRE Investor

Burnaby high-tech hub takes shape at Eastlake

Stakeholders in the latest phase of a massive high-tech business hub are claiming that the Silicon Valley-inspired Eastlake Campus in Burnaby should help propel the city further toward its vision of becoming a leading technology hub.  The Eastlake Campus is expanding and will soon comprise six multi-tenant buildings, totalling about 310,000 square feet.

Vancouver Sun

Third party reports

As part of the underwriting process lenders look at all aspects of risk in their analysis. One way to mitigate their underwriting risk is to obtain independent third party reports on the property.

Read more

Caisse de dépôt headquarters renamed in honour of Jacques Parizeau

The head office of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, in the heart of the Cité internationale de Montréal in Old Montreal, now bears the name of Jacques Parizeau.  The decision to rename the headquarters of the Caisse de dépôt was made the day after his death last year. Parizeau died on June 1, 2015.

Montreal Gazette

Farm Boy looks to southern Ontario and Toronto for growth

Shoppers in Ottawa have headed to Farm Boy grocery stores for years, fans of its high-quality fruits and vegetables, locally produced artisanal cheeses and private-label soups and tourtieres.  With Farm Boy’s commitment to both local farmers and products made by local suppliers, as well as the growing line of store-brand products, the retailer has a loyal following in Canada’s capital region.

Financial Post

Loblaw Companies Ltd shuts down last U.S. Joe Fresh

Add Joe Fresh to the list of Canadian retailers that entered the U.S. with a bang only to retreat after failing to catch on in the brutally competitive apparel market.  The Loblaw Cos.-owned brand, which at its U.S. peak in 2013 had six prime locations in New York City and a vast distribution deal with J.C. Penney at nearly 700 stores, recently closed its final store.

Financial Post

Mainstreet Health plans senior housing deals after Canadian listing

Mainstreet Health Investments Inc (HLPu.TO) is looking to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire senior housing and care properties in Canada and the United States after tapping the Canadian equity market, a top executive said.  The company, which owns a portfolio of U.S. seniors housing and care properties, on Thursday raised about $95 million and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Reuters

CBRE finds investors flocking to healthcare sector

In the first quarter of 2016, there were 163 transactions of medical office buildings totaling more than $1.8 billion in volume, according to estimates by CBRE in its latest “National Healthcare Real Estate Investor Update.”  By far the largest a joint venture between Chicago-based Heitman Capital and Denver-based NexCare Group.

BDC Network

Cushman acquiring Atlanta-based multi housing advisors

Cushman & Wakefield further raised the stakes in the broker wars this week with its acquisition of Atlanta-based Multi Housing Advisors (MHA), making the global CRE firms an instant player in the Southeast U.S. multifamily investment market and adding a major plank to its U.S. apartment sales platform. 

The CoStar Group

LaGuardia Airport’s massive redevelopment begins construction

The public-private partnership LaGuardia Gateway Partners has signed a 35-year lease agreement and has negotiated the financing to begin the redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport’s Central Terminal B in New York City. The members of LaGuardia Gateway Partners—Vantage Airport Group, Skanska Infrastructure Development, and Meridian—signed the lease with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

BDC Network

Featured Column

5 ways to get your commercial property leased

Location and demand stand out as the major leasing drivers of commercial property however they are not the only factors. Here’s a few tips.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

	Fort McMurray wildfire news
	RENX will be summarizing news regarding the Fort McMurray wildfire and its consequences for the real estate industry in the following section of the newsletter.

 

You can’t charge more than before the fire, Fort McMurray hotels, landlords cautioned

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, has a warning for hotels, work camps and landlords as thousands return to the community: no price gouging.  “Operators must maintain the prices that were in effect on April 30,” the regional municipality said in sternly worded statement Thursday

CBC.ca

Temple Hotels Inc. – Fort McMurray property update

Temple Hotels Inc. has received preliminary structural, mechanical, physical inspection and environmental, health and safety assessment results on its properties located in the Fort McMurray area.  Seven properties have been identified as having light to moderate impacts from the Fort McMurray wildfires and two additional properties, Merit Hotel & Suites and Radisson Hotel & Suites Fort McMurray, sustained greater fire, smoke and water damage.

Canada Newswire

Northview welcomes its residents back to Fort McMurray

Northview Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:NVU.UN) announced today that all of its 17 buildings in Fort McMurray sustained no major damage from the fires, and only minimal restoration will be required. In addition, Northview residents have successfully begun to return to their homes, in accordance with the Province of Alberta’s re-entry schedule.

Marketwired

Boardwalk Rental Communities – update on Fort McMurray

Boardwalk Rental Communities (TSE: BEI.UN) would like to provide an update on its Communities in Fort McMurray.
– No major damages to any of its nine Communities in Fort McMurray
– Precautionary environmental testing of soil and ash is underway
– Boardwalk’s team has been on location since last week remediating and ensuring its Communities are safe
– Over 500 evacuated families have found new homes in Boardwalk’s Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary Communities

Canada Newswire

Real Estate Companies

Parkit suspends executives, engages advisors

Parkit Enterprise Inc. (TSX-V:PKT) announced today the immediate suspension with pay of each of Richard Baxter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Parkit, Patrick Bonney, the Chief Investment Officer of Parkit and Simon Buckett, the Chief Financial Officer of Parkit who are attempting to take control of the board of directors of the Company at the upcoming annual and special meeting of shareholders.

Marketwired

REOC Financial Reports

	REITs & REOCs – First-quarter 2016 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. First-quarter results are now arriving. Canadian REITs & REOCs – First-quarter 2016 report

 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

3 great REITs you could buy right now

Investing in real estate investments trusts (REITs) is a great way to diversify your portfolio while adding a reliable stream of monthly income. If you’re interested in doing these two things, then take a look at these three REITs with high and safe yields of 4% or more that you could buy right now.

Motley Fool

Killam Apartment REIT closes public offering of trust units

Killam Apartment REIT (TSX:KMP.UN) has closed its previously announced public offering on a bought-deal basis, of trust units  to the public at a price of $12.00 per Unit.  Killam issued 8,165,000 Units, including 1,065,000 Units on the exercise of an Over-Allotment Option (as defined in the release), for gross proceeds of approximately $98 million.

Marketwired

Retail

Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson lashes out

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (Q-LULU) founder Chip Wilson criticized the Canadian yogawear retailer’s board on Wednesday, calling for an annual election of the entire board to make directors more accountable for the company’s performance.  Wilson, who is the company’s largest shareholder with a 14.2 percent stake, said the board should be declassified to make it more effective.

Financial Post

Wal-Mart Stores Inc tests drones in U.S. distribution centre

Inside a 1.2 million-square-foot Wal-Mart Stores Inc. distribution centre near its headquarters, a buzzing sound — like a swarm of bees — comes from an aisle of shelves laden with merchandise from diapers to microwaves.  Flying up and down the seemingly endless aisle is a drone with a custom-built camera that takes 30 pictures a second.

Financial Post

Scotiabank unveils two new customer-centred branch formats

Scotiabank unveiled the first of two new branch formats designed to provide customers an experience that best meets their evolving banking preferences. The first ‘Scotiabank Express’ branches are now open to customers in both Montreal, Quebec and Guelph, Ontario. 

Marketwired

New Development

Kingston Pen visioning exercise to coincide with prison tours

News – Alcatraz North? Sailing centre? Waterside condos? The public will finally have a chance to provide comments this month on the future of Kingston Penitentiary and Portsmouth Olympic Harbour lands.  Mayor Bryan Paterson says the future of the prime waterfront real estate will depend, in part, on what residents have to say. 

Kingston Region

Burnaby wins BC planning award

The City of Burnaby and Shape Properties Corp. have been awarded the Planning Institute of British Columbia’s (PIBC) 2016 Award for Excellence in Planning Practice for the reconceptualization of a suburban shopping district into a pedestrian and transit-connected mixed-use community, the plan includes diverse housing, employment, service and recreation opportunities.

Journal of Commerce

International

Cachet Hotel Group announces strategic partnership with Arjomand Group

 Cachet Hotel Group (CHG), a leading, international hospitality branding and management company, today announced that Arjomand Group has made a strategic investment into CHG’s enterprise.  Arjomand Group is a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based investment management platform with offices across Europe & Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Canada Newswire

Sustainability

Sale of FirstOnSite Restoration to Interstate Restoration finalized

FirstOnSite Restoration G.P. Inc. (the general partner of FirstOnSite Restoration L.P.), Canada’s largest independent disaster restoration services provider, today announced that the sale of the company to U.S.-based Interstate Restoration has been approved by all parties and finalized. The combined assets of both companies make this the second largest independent restoration company in North America.

Marketwired

Human Resources

CT REIT announces new executive appointment

CT Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: CRT.UN) announce Kevin Salsberg is joining its Executive Team as Senior Vice-President, Real Estate, effective June 7, 2016.  Mr. Salsberg was previously Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Plaza Retail REIT (TSE: PLZ.UN), and was Chief Operating Officer of Key REIT prior to its acquisition by Plaza.

Canada Newswire

Other

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