Saudi Prince said seeking sale of Four Seasons Toronto

Saudi Prince said seeking sale of Four Seasons Toronto

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud is seeking to sell Toronto’s landmark Four Seasons Hotel for almost C$1 million ($780,000) a room in what would be the highest price for a hotel in Canada, according to people familiar with the matter. Kingdom Holding Co. put it on the market this year, according to the people, who asked not to be identified.

Bloomberg – Globe and Mail – Toronto Life

Bentall Centre management contract goes to Canderel Group

The Canderel Group of Companies, has entered into an agreement to act as both property and leasing managers for the Bentall Centre in Vancouver effective July 18, 2016. Located in the downtown core connected to the Burrard SkyTrain station, the complex comprises four Class A and AAA office towers totalling 1.4 million square feet of office area.

Marketwired

Thor Equities expands Montreal portfolio

Thor Equities has an extensive building portfolio on New York City’s Fifth Avenue, and it sees similar opportunities and potential on Montreal’s Sainte-Catherine Street.

Property Biz Canada

Slate Office REIT buys Markham office building

Slate Office REIT (TSX:SOT.UN), a leading owner of office properties in Canada, announced today that is has agreed to acquire Gateway Centre, a suburban office complex in Markham, Ontario for $57.5 million. The REIT is also exercising its option to increase its interest in three office properties located in St. John’s, Newfoundland from 30% to 49%.

Marketwired

InterRent sells portfolio in Southwestern Ontario

InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:IIP.UN) is continuing to execute on its capital recycling program by entering into an unconditional agreement to sell the REIT’s properties in Sarnia, Ontario and a property in Niagara Falls, Ontario. As previously announced, InterRent has been actively pursuing a strategy of recycling capital into core growth markets.

Marketwired

OneREIT exploring strategic alternatives

OneREIT (TSX:ONR.UN) announces that its Board of Trustees has formed a Special Committee of independent trustees to explore strategic alternatives. The Special Committee consists of Christopher J. Cann, Patrick J. Lavelle, Andrew Shapack, Robert Wolf and Hani Zayadi, and the Committee has engaged TD Securities as its financial advisor and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin as its legal advisor.

Marketwired

Ivanhoé Cambridge sells portion of units in Cominar REIT

Ivanhoé Cambridge announces that it has reduced its interest in Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE: CUF.UN) to slightly above 5% of the REIT’s trust units. “We are satisfied with our participation in Cominar since 2014,” said Claude Sirois, President, Ivanhoé Cambridge Retail. 

Canada Newswire

Chartwell to launch new retirement residence in Regent Park

Chartwell Retirement Residences (TSX: CSH.UN), Welltower Inc. and The Daniels Corporation have unveiled plans and broken ground for ‘The Sumach by Chartwell,’ a new urban rental residence for active retired adults located in the revitalized Regent Park neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.

Marketwired

Mortgage Finance Firm MCAP seeking IPO

MCAP Corp., a Canadian mortgage finance company, will seek to raise about C$275 million through an initial public offering as soon as next month, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans. The Toronto-based business, which has about C$55 billion of mortgages under administration, filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian regulators last month for an IPO.

Bloomberg

JLL to acquire UK-based property maintenance leader Integral

Building on its globally-recognised Integrated Facilities Management business, JLL (NYSE: JLL) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Integral UK Ltd., the UK’s leading provider of mechanical and electrical property maintenance, in a move that will make JLL one of the largest mobile engineering services providers for property worldwide.

Marketwired

Canaccord head real estate banker leaving firm for Scotia Capital

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. has lost another marquee investment banker.  Justin Bosa, who headed Canaccord’s real estate group, is leaving the firm to take a similar position at Scotia Capital Inc.

Globe and Mail

Lindsay Hockey and Oliver Kershaw join Avison Young in Ottawa

Avison Young Principal and Managing Director of the firm’s Ottawa office, announced Lindsay Hockey and Oliver Kershaw have become Principals of Avison Young with a mandate to grow the firm’s brand in the greater National Capital Region and, in particular, the Kanata technology sector.

Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH to open at Skyview Power Centre, Edmonton

Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH and Triovest Realty Advisors Inc. are pleased to announce plans to open a 30,000 square foot Saks OFF 5TH STORE at Skyview Power Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. The Company plans to renovate and convert the existing Home Outfitters store in the centre to the Saks OFF 5TH format within the same location. 

Businesswire

General Motors of Canada to announce 1,000 new jobs: sources

General Motors of Canada Ltd. is expected to announce 1,000 new jobs at its engineering centre in Oshawa on Friday, sources said Tuesday.  The company would say only that it will be making an important announcement at the engineering centre, which has received a mandate to help develop technology related to driverless and connected cars.

Toronto Star

Hines exploring potential sale of REIT holdings

Global real estate investment firm Hines is joining the ranks of major institutional investors seeking to cash in some of their longer-held investments and lock-in returns at today’s high property valuations.  The Houston-based developer disclosed it is exploring strategic alternatives for Hines Real Estate Investment Trust and Hines Global REIT.

CoStar Group

Market Trends and Research

Total investment volume in European commercial real estate down in Q1

Total investment volume into European commercial real estate in the first quarter of 2016 reached €36.8 billion, some 30% lower than the same period last year, the latest research shows.  However, several European countries analysed in the report from international real estate firm Savills are seeing increasing investment activity this year.

Property Wire

National Bank opens new Vancouver office

National Bank of Canada is pushing further into the western provinces with a new private banking office in Vancouver to serve wealthy clients on the West Coast.  Executives with National said the lender’s private banking business has amassed assets under management of $17-billion since it launched in 2009, almost entirely in Quebec.

Globe and Mail

Real Estate Companies

Parkit Enterprise Inc. changes annual meeting date

Parkit Enterprise Inc. (OTCQX:PKTEF) announced today that the scheduled annual general meeting of Parkit has been changed from June 21, 2016 to July 26, 2016 in order to allow time to fully consider the dissident circular sent by the group of dissident officers led by Richard Baxter and re-issue a management information circular.

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

H&R REIT nominates Stephen Sender as trustee at upcoming AGM

As a result of H&R Real Estate Investment Trust  (TSX: HR.UN) ongoing review of its corporate governance matters and in order to best serve unitholders, H&R has proposed to expand the size of the board of the REIT in order to nominate Stephen Sender as a trustee of the REIT. Mr. Sender has over 30 years of experience in the investment banking industry.

Canada Newswire

Pure Industrial REIT increases amount of public offering

Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (TSX:AAR.UN)  has increased the size of its previously announced public offering to 25,800,000 Units, at a price of $5.05 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds to PIRET of approximately $130 million. PIRET has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets. 

Marketwired

This REIT has a stable distribution, 4.8% yield

The S&P/TSX composite index looks like it may cross into double-digit return territory on a year-to-date basis today. On Monday, the Index advanced 49 points or 0.35 per cent and is now up 9.73 per cent year-to-date, with all sectors, except the health care sector realizing gains. One hundred and twenty-two members in the TSX Index advanced, 103 declined, and 9 were unchanged.

Globe and Mail

Retail

Lululemon’s profit narrowly misses forecasts as costs rise

Lululemon Athletica Inc’s (LULU-Q) quarterly profit narrowly missed analysts’ estimate due to higher costs, a week after its founder Chip Wilson criticized the Canadian yoga-wear retailer’s leadership for failing to keep up with market trends. Wilson has said the company was losing ground in the lucrative “athleisure market”.

Wall St. Journal

Retailer Giant Tiger looks to ‘elevate’ brand with new fashion lines

With their bright yellow signs, grinning cartoon mascot and discount ambience, Giant Tiger stores do not necessarily project an image of a fashion destination. But a new advertising campaign is attempting to change that, and it also represents a major change to the 55-year-old retailer’s marketing strategy.

Globe and Mail

New Development

Cellular concrete building credibility in the industry

Greg Baker has seen the future of concrete block and it’s light — half the weight with double the bang for the buck over traditional block. Litebuilt Concrete Canada has licensed an Australian formula and manufacturing system and has been working with the National Research Council to prove the credibility of their cellular concrete product.

Daily Commercial News

Halifax developer receives backlash over proposed residential building

One Nova Scotia developer is hoping to build a new residential building in Mahone Bay but is receiving backlash from residents who fear the demise of serene waterfront views and historic landscapes. In 2014, developer Dover Holdings Inc. purchased the old, abandoned property at 629 Main Street.

The Chronicle Herald

Infrastructure

Flawed Scarborough subway numbers could cost taxpayers millions

Staff miscalculations on the ridership of the Scarborough subway will leave taxpayers on the hook for millions more, after city council voted to settle a dispute with developers. City’s lawyers advised councillors to accept a settlement with the group representing developers, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).

Toronto Star

Popular woodlot threatened by Scarborough subway plans

It’s survived seven decades, suburban sprawl and encroaching condominiums, but it may not survive the Scarborough subway. A section of historic woodlot near the Scarborough Civic Centre may need to be cut down to make way for the transit project, according to TTC staff who have identified the parkland as a potential location for the subway’s tunnel mobilization site.

Toronto Star

Technology

ARGUS delivers new level of real estate development assurance

Altus Group Limited (TSX:AIF) a leading provider of independent advisory services, software and data solutions to the global commercial real estate industry, announces the launch of ARGUS Developer 7.5. The newly incorporated finance and accounting enhancements of Developer 7.5 provide powerful flexibility to project management.

Marketwired

Other

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