Canadian Tire shifts spending focus to e-commerce

Canadian Tire shifts spending focus to e-commerce

Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. is scaling back its capital spending significantly this year and next as it looks to invest less in its physical stores in a digital age. Stephen Wetmore, Canadian Tire’s CEO said he did a “deep dive” into the retailer’s capital-spending initiatives and found that his priority will be to invest in e-commerce and digital efforts.

Globe and Mail – Montreal Gazette – Canada Newswire

Macy’s gives Brookfield dibs on 50 stores

Macy’s (M-N) has reached an agreement with Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-T) giving the Canadian firm first rights on 50 department store properties. Under the agreement, Brookfield will have exclusive rights for up to 24 months to create a “pre-development plan” for each of the properties.

CoStar Group

TOBY winner profile: London City Centre

Consistent improvements over the past five years, with more still to come, helped earn London City Centre a The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award for buildings ranging from 500,000 to one million square feet from Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada on Sept. 22 as part of its BOMEX 2016 conference and exhibition.

Property Biz Canada

China’s Singles’ Day rakes in record sales

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. broke its Singles’ Day sales record with room to spare, offering assurances about the strength of the Chinese consumer despite the nation’s economic slowdown. Sales on its e-commerce platform reached  US $15 billion shortly before 8 p.m. in China with about four hours left to run.

Financial Post

CRE industry begins to assess ‘Trump effect’

Like many business sectors, the U.S. real estate industry on Wednesday began to grapple with the unexpected economic and regulatory impact of an upcoming Trump presidency after the famous reality TV star and Manhattan real estate mogul defied pundits and pollsters to defeat Hillary Clinton and become president-elect of the United States.

CoStar Group

Global bond market rout one of worst in 20 years

More than US$1 trillion has been wiped off the value of bonds around the world this week as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies are seen boosting spending and quickening inflation. The capitalization of a global bond market index slid by US$450 billion Thursday, a fourth day of declines.

Financial Post – Barrons

Nonprofits must make more efficient use of space

Many nonprofit organizations and charities aren’t making the most effective use of their office space, which may also be contributing to rising employee churn rates. “While it’s hard for nonprofits to compete on salary, they can use real estate to create spaces that keep employees engaged and motivated,” said CBRE vice-president and broker Dominic Dostie.

Property Biz Canada

CBRE Exec see mixed results in CRE for Vancouver

A surprise tax slapped on foreign property buyers by the provincial government. A severe shortage of industrial space across Metro Vancouver. A stronger than expected downtown office market. Any way you look at it, 2016 has been a mixed-bag for commercial real estate in this city and the province.

Vancouver Sun

CMLS Financial releases in-depth November 2016 commentary

CMLS Mortgage Analytics has released their latest Commercial Mortgage Commentary, an in-depth analysis of the commercial mortgage market in Canada. CMLS Analytics’ November 2016 commentary looks at the tightening of commercial mortgage spreads from the first quarter of 2016.

Marketwired – Commercial Mortgage Commentary

Doyle Block to start rising opposite Halifax Central Library

A new building will start rising next week on one of Halifax’s most prominent downtown corners. Westwood Developments has been planning to develop the city block between Spring Garden Road, Doyle, Queen, and Brunswick streets. It used to be the site of the Bank of Montreal and Rogue’s Roost.

CBC

Two residential towers proposed for Ottawa motel site

The site is currently zoned for buildings of up to 14 storeys. The property is occupied by the Ottawa Plaza Inn Downtown, a motel-style lodging.  The plan for site consists of a half-dozen buildings, ranging in height from six storeys to 18 storeys, that include 607 residential dwelling units as well as 300 square metres of retail area.

Ottawa Business Journal

Carleton University to spend building retrofits, new environment institute

Carleton University is preparing to launch a $50-million initiative to reduce its carbon footprint by making its facilities more energy efficiency, retrofitting several building as well as creating a new institute aimed at developing and researching clean technologies.

Ottawa Business Journal

New science and engineering facility coming to Lakehead University

Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. has announced it will create a new multi-million dollar research facility geared towards science and engineering.

A number of dignitaries, including Thunder Bay-area MPs and MPPs, were on-hand at Lakehead on Thursday to announce $9.5 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments for the project.

CBC

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and USS to acquire Westerleigh Group

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Universities Superannuation Scheme announced the acquisition of Westerleigh Group  the UK crematoria developer and operator, from Antin Infrastructure Partners.  Founded in 1991, Westerleigh Group has grown to become the leading developer and operator of crematoria and cemeteries in the UK.

Canada Newswire

Hines REIT completes sale of office assets

Hines Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. completed the sale of seven West Coast office assets to a Blackstone affiliate for $1.162 billion and the sale of another in Bellevue, Washington to an affiliate of AEW Capital Management for $193 million shareholders approved a board-recommended plan to liquidate and dissolve Hines REIT.

CoStar Group

Featured Column

Buyer beware

Property owners need to be on top of environmental regulations It’s a challenging time in the commercial property development industry. The present economic uncertainty means everyone is looking for ways to save costs. Add the myriad of government environmental regulations introduced in recent years and there are many companies running hard just to keep up.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

IMC completes seventh CMBS transaction

Institutional Mortgage Capital announces the successful completion of its seventh Canadian CMBS issuance. With this transaction of approximately $352.4 million, IMC has now issued a total of $2.02 billion of new Canadian CMBS bonds since 2011.

Canada Newswire

CPPIB posts investment gains as assets top $300-billion

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the largest pension fund in the country and manager of the Canada Pension Plan’s portfolio, posted investment gains of 4.8 per cent after factoring in all costs in its second fiscal quarter of 2017, which ended Sept. 30.

Globe and Mail

Real Estate Companies

Brookfield CEO says cash is king

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM.A-T) is selling off assets and paying down bank lines after an eight-year bull run in stocks and with bonds near highs, joining investors like Warren Buffett and Canada’s Prem Watsa in accumulating cash. Brookfield’s cash and cash equivalents have increased almost 58 percent this year to $4.37 billion at the end of September.

Bloomberg

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Firm Capital Property Trust Q3 financial report, portfolio growth

Firm Capital Property Trust, FCD.UN-X

Canada Newswire

True North Commercial REIT Q3 financial results

True North Commercial REIT,  TNT.UN-T

Canada Newswire

	RENX 2017 media kit now available
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Retail

Hudson’s Bay lowers 2016 outlook after Q3 sales fall

The company that owns the Bay, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue says sales across most of its retail business have fallen below expectations and it’s revising estimates for the 2016 financial year. Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) says sales at stores that have been open for at least a year in its third quarter fell by 3.6 per cent.

The Chronicle Herald – Montreal Gazette

Is online shopping on the wane?

A few years ago, I was sitting with friends and talking about a job offer that one of them had just received. It was with a new online retailer of “everything gardening.” I laughed. Then choked (elegantly) on my drink as we learned that our friend had already accepted the new position.

Globe and Mail

New Development

CIPs a municipal mechanism to foster growth

This is the second article of a DCN series delving into community improvement plans in various municipalities across Ontario. The series will examine brownfield initiatives and suburban redevelopments, looking at how different municipalities are adapting and changing their local footprint to accommodate future growth.

Daily Commercial News

Infrastructure

Canadian companies shortlisted for Montreal rail project

Several large Canadian and foreign firms will battle to win contracts for a new $5.5-billion light rail project to be built in Montreal and its surrounding area by the Caisse de depot. The network will provide service across much of the island of Montreal to the downtown, along with Trudeau International Airport, the South Shore and Two Mountains.

The Chronicle Herald – Toronto Star

Toronto transit plan clears major hurdle at council

Mayor John Tory’s signature rail plan cleared a major hurdle on Tuesday when council endorsed a controversial agreement with the province to advance its completion. The terms of the agreement set out cost-sharing arrangements between the city and the Ontario government for more than $11 billion worth of transit projects.

Toronto Star

Quebec companies step forward with restitution plans

More than a dozen Quebec companies stepped forward ahead of a deadline Nov. 1 with restitution plans for having obtained public contracts through fraud or other questionable means. Those wanting to participate in the provincial voluntary reimbursement program had until just before midnight.

Daily Commercial News

Sustainability

Onyx Solar’s unique panels come to Canada

While Elon Musk is busy perfecting Tesla’s solar roofs, Spain’s Onyx Solar Group has already installed its flexible, energy-generating solar glass into dozens of iconic buildings world-wide.  That same revolutionary glass that has won a number of awards and wide-spread architectural recognition will soon find its way into Canadian buildings.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Other

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