HBC, RioCan in talks to redevelop Vancouver property

HBC, RioCan in talks to redevelop Vancouver property

Hudson’s Bay Co.’s prized Vancouver retail property is no longer for sale and the department store chain is now considering redeveloping the prime real estate with its joint owner, RioCan. HBC and RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI.UN-T) had been in talks to sell the property to Chinese billionaire Zheng Jianjiang, the chairman of Chinese manufacturing firm Ningbo Sanxing Electric, The Globe and Mail reported in May.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Property Biz Canada

Brigil wants extra height for Ottawa towers

Developer Brigil is proposing four new high-rises along the Ottawa River in Orléans, arguing their proximity to a future light rail station warrants extra height. Brigil has submitted an application to build four more towers at its Petrie’s Landing I development, the highest of which would reach 32 storeys. The new towers would surround an existing one built a decade ago and a second building that’s currently under construction.

CBC – Property Biz Canada

Commercial property tax ratio remains high in Canada

Commercial property tax rates are almost three times as high as residential rates across Canada, according to Altus Group’s newly released 2018 Canadian Property Tax Rate Benchmark Report. Ideally, in a perfect property tax system, the ratio would be one-to-one,” said Terry Bishop, Altus Group’s president of property tax for Canada.

Property Biz Canada

Calgary industrial construction hits near-record level

The pace of industrial real estate construction in the Calgary region is the second-highest in the city’s history as the robust market continues to see high demand. With all the new development taking place and in the pipeline, one might think older industrial buildings will be overtaken in popularity by new shiny structures with all the amenities. Not necessarily.

Property Biz Canada

Alberta commits $1.04B to Edmonton’s LRT expansion

The province is investing $1.04 billion in Edmonton’s west Valley Line LRT expansion, marking a 40 per cent stake in the massive transit project. The cash comes from carbon revenue through the province’s climate leadership plan, said Premier Rachel Notley at a Thursday news conference held at the Lewis Farms Transit Centre in the city’s West End.

Edmonton Journal – CBC

Colonnade BridgePort’s Ottawa property Wired Certified

Colonnade BridgePort announced 130 Slater Street is Wired Certified Silver, making it the first office property in Ottawa to achieve the international standard of digital connectivity for commercial properties. The 13-storey downtown office building is owned by KingSett Capital and managed by Colonnade BridgePort. Wired Certification is an internationally recognized standard that proves a commercial building has strong, competitive internet capabilities.

Globe Newswire

Ottawa student housing building acquired by ASH REIT

Alignvest Student Housing REIT (ASH) has an agreement to acquire its second property, a former hotel converted into a 357-bed student accommodation at 111 Cooper St., in Ottawa. Financial terms were not released, but Alignvest said the two properties combine to bring its asset value to $125 million. “We are very excited about entering the Ottawa market with the addition of 1Eleven to our portfolio,” said Alignvest managing partner Sanjil Shah.

Property Biz Canada

Starlight Investments Capital creates ‘unique’ new fund

Starlight Investments Capital‘s new Starlight Hybrid Global Real Assets Trust will help fill a niche in the marketplace by giving retail investors access to a type of fund usually accessible only to institutions, says Starlight Capital’s CEO and CIO Dennis Mitchell.  The real assets trust will combine investments in global real estate and infrastructure and require a minimum investment of only $1,000. Its management fee will be 1.25 per cent.

Property Biz Canada

Romspen sells minority interest to TIG Advisors

Romspen Investment Corporation, a premier non-bank alternative credit manager focused on North American real estate, announced  it has sold a minority interest in the firm to TIG Advisors, LLC, a leading US$3-billion alternative asset management company founded in 1980, which provides capital, comprehensive infrastructure support and management to investment teams. Romspen is the manager of the Romspen Mortgage Investment Fund, a $2.5-billion fund.

Canada Newswire

Fronsac REIT announces first Nova Scotia acquisition

Fronsac Real Estate Investment Trust (FRO-UN-X) announced the acquisition of a property located in Dartmouth, N.S. The property is a fast food restaurant operated under the Pizza Hut banner and is located on Portland Street, a highly trafficked artery at the exit of Highway 111. This represent Fronsac’s first acquisition in the province. Total consideration paid for the property was $1,550,000 (excluding transaction costs) and was settled in cash.

Globe Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Avison Young acquires Edmonton-based Veritas

Avison Young, the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firm, announced Thursday it has acquired Edmonton-based Veritas Management Services Inc. Founded in 2009 by Tarek Merhej, Veritas is a commercial real estate management company specializing in property management, acquisition due diligence and consulting. Effective immediately, Veritas is rebranded as Avison Young and nine new members join the firm. Merhej becomes a principal of Avison Young.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

L.L. Bean expands into Canada

U.S. retailer L.L. Bean is looking to sell more parkas, sweaters and mittens in Canada as part of its strategy for a return to sales growth. The 106-year-old retailer’s iconic boot will be sold in 24 stores in Canada this holiday season, and in L.L. Bean-branded stores opening over the next decade. The company also has launched a dedicated Canadian website that smooths out duties and currency fluctuations.

Globe and Mail

Restaurants turned co-working spaces spread to Vancouver

Restaurants turned co-working spaces have spread from San Francisco to New York, and the trend is exciting tech workers and “solopreneurs” in Vancouver, too. For Ron Oliver, owner of Mamie Taylor’s located in Vancouver’s Chinatown, the idea of turning his restaurant into a co-working space during the day when it’s closed until dinnertime was worth exploring because of how expensive it is to operate in the city.

Toronto Star

Brookfield ready to double down on Brazil

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T)  is pretty pleased with the political shift in Latin America’s largest economy, underscoring the potential for a Brazilian private equity boom under the right-wing administration of Jair Bolsonaro. The Toronto-based alternative asset manager has been investing in Brazil for more than 100 years and expanded when the recent recession prompted cash-strapped companies including Petroleo Brasileiro SA to sell assets.

Bloomberg – Property Biz Canada

Ex-CEO in real estate Ponzi scheme fined $120M

Robert Shapiro, the former CEO of Woodbridge Group of Companies, agreed to pay $120 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle allegations he defrauded investors in a $1.2 billion real estate Ponzi scheme that drove his company into bankruptcy, according to court papers. Shapiro didn’t admit or deny the allegations.

Bloomberg

Featured Column

Successful first year for Saskatoon’s Remai Modern

Say what you like about it, but more than 450,000 people fed their curiosity and took in Saskatoon’s new public art gallery, the Remai Modern, during the past year. That’s more people than comprise the proper City of Saskatoon population (which stood at 246,376 according to 2016 census data).

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Bank of Canada wants rates back to normal

Today’s interest rates are still at jaw-dropping, forehead-slapping, eye-popping lows if you judge by historical standards. So when the Bank of Canada talks about bringing rates back to more normal levels, you better listen up. Rates have already risen in the past 15 months and it now looks like there’s a fair bit more to come.

Globe and Mail

U.S. demand for retail space continues to deteriorate

Ten-X Commercial, the nation’s leading online and only end-to-end transaction platform for commercial real estate, Thursday released its latest U.S. Retail Market Outlook, which includes the top five ‘Buy’ and ‘Sell’ markets for retail real estate assets. The report shows a U.S. retail market grappling with the continued rise of e-commerce and hikes in rent cost.

PR Newswire

Real Estate Companies

Starlight No. 5 Core Fund announces debt refinancing

Starlight U.S. Multi-Family (No. 5) Core Fund (STUS-A-X) announced it has strategically repositioned its debt structure through the refinancing of the Fund’s outstanding debt secured by its properties. The fund has fixed the interest rate on approximately 80% of its mortgage financings while reducing the Fund’s weighted average interest rate on its mortgages by approximately 52 basis points and extended the weighted average term to maturity to 6.1 years.

Canada Newswire

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, (BIP-UN-T), Globe Newswire

* Brookfield Property Partners, (BPY-UN-T), Globe Newswire

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Artis REIT, (AX-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* City Office REIT, (CIO-N), PR Newswire

* Melcor REIT, (MR-UN-T), Globe Newswire

* Morguard REIT, (MRT-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

AHIP completes $2.3Million renovation at Embassy Suites Cincinnati

American Hotel Income Properties REIT (HOT-UN-T) announced  it has completed approximately US$2.3 million of renovations at its Embassy Suites Cincinnati, located across the river from downtown Cincinnati in Covington, Ky. Key aspects of the Embassy Suites Cincinnati renovation project included updates to all 227 guestrooms, where new bathrooms, TV units, furnishings and artwork were installed.  In addition, significant renovations occurred in most common areas of the hotel. 

PR Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Partners announces agreement to settle class action

Partners Real Estate Investment Trust (PAR-UN-T) announced the parties to the class action against, among others, certain former trustees and a former officer of Partners REIT, have signed minutes of settlement and will seek approval of the settlement by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and to have the class action dismissed. A hearing for court approval of the settlement is scheduled for Dec. 14, 2018.

Globe Newswire

Retail

Indigo Chapters gets a Vancouver sequel on Robson

Almost four years after Chapters left Robson Street, the bookstore is back with a new flagship Indigo (IDG-T) store on one of Vancouver’s most prestigious shopping strips. The two-level, 29,000-square-foot store at 1033 Robson St. is hosting a grand-opening event this weekend. CEO Heather Reisman opened the first Indigo location in 1997. Four years later, Chapters and Indigo officially merged to form the largest book retailer in Canada.

Vancouver Sun – Canada Newswire

Canada Goose steps into footwear, global expansion hits Vancouver

Canada Goose Holdings Inc. is slowly expanding beyond its parka roots, entering the footwear realm on Thursday with a $32.5 million acquisition that comes as it continues to grow its roster of flagship stores around the world. The deal to acquire Baffin Inc., is part of a transition that CEO Dani Reiss says has seen the company  morph into a full-fledged “three-season lifestyle brand.”

Financial Post – Winnipeg Free Press

New Development

Feds announce funding to build nuclear medicine hub in Vancouver

PM Justin Trudeau announced federal funding on Thursday to build a hub for nuclear medicine at Canada’s national particle accelerator at the University of B.C. Trudeau made the announcement after meeting employees and touring TRIUMF, which is a joint venture of several universities. He said the Institute for Advanced Medical Isotopes will provide a first-of-its-kind facility in Canada.

Vancouver Sun

Philadelphia’s uCity Square kicks off major expansion drive

On Nov, 9, 3675 Market — a 14-storey, 343,465-square-foot office building with space for lab, clinical, educational, and retail tenants — will open within uCity Square, a 14-acre innovation centre in Philadelphia that, over the next decade, plans to more than double its leasable space to 6.5 million square feet across 11 city blocks, from 2.5 million today. 3675 Market “is the first step in a 10- to 12-year process,” says Steve Zarrilli, CEO of the Science Center.

Building Design & Construction

Other

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