Facebook to open second office in downtown Vancouver

Facebook to open second office in downtown Vancouver

Social media giant Facebook will be opening a new major corporate office in a highly centralized area in downtown Vancouver’s business district. A source who wished anonymity told Daily Hive Facebook will occupy a significant space at Waterfront Centre office tower at 200 Burrard Street – the southeast corner of Burrard Street and Canada Place Way.

Daily Hive Vancouver – Financial Post

Performance lag lowers office building classifications

When tenants move into a new office tower, they expect the most current building finishes, amenities and a level of performance that measures up to existing standards, such as the LEED program for environmental sustainability and the newer Well standard for building health. But for the design team and consultants charged with specifying the equipment that will deliver on those aspirations, it’s a tough gig.

Business In Vancouver

ICE District leads Edmonton downtown CRE revival

The ICE District  is leading a rejuvenation in downtown Edmonton — and making a major impression in the city’s office market. “The concept is resonating with everybody,” says Glen Scott, president of Katz Group Real Estate, which is developing the 25-acre, mixed-use site. “It’s the reboot of the downtown of Edmonton.”

Property Biz Canada

Ottawa to build 100,000 new affordable units

The federal government was set to outline the details of its highly anticipated national housing strategy later today, including how it wants to create up to 100,000 new affordable housing units across the country Radio-Canada, CBC’s French-language service, has learned on top of those new units, Ottawa will target 300,000 existing units for renovation.

CBC – Toronto Star – Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Downtown Vancouver office space a ‘landlord’s market’

Downtown Vancouver is entering an extended period without any major office tower openings, even as demand for workspace continues to rise, say local commercial property stakeholders. The downtown office vacancy rate is forecast to drop below five per cent, with no new buildings expected in the next three years, said Jeff Rank, a senior vice-president of leasing with Vancouver-based QuadReal,

Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

B.C.’s largest property managers expand their holdings

The square footage of property managed by B.C.’s largest property management firms has increased steadily over the past five years, according to BIV’s Biggest Commercial Property Managers in B.C. list. Since 2013, the largest firms have expanded their portfolios by an average of 16.7 per cent, with the total area under management rising by an average of 553,500 square feet.

Business In Vancouver

PCI’s Marine Gateway in Vancouver wins ULI award

Marine Gateway, a prominent mixed-use development on the Canada Line SkyTrain route in South Vancouver, has won an Urban Land Institute (ULI) 2017-2018 Global Award for Excellence.. The multi-tower project by Vancouver-based PCI Developments opened at the end of 2015. It’s one of the 13 recipients of the 2017-2018 global award.

Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

TTC CEO Andy Byford stepping down in favour of NYC

Toronto Transit Commission CEO Andy Byford is stepping down in mid-December to take a job as president and CEO with New York City Transit. Byford, who starts his new job in mid-January, made the announcement at the TTC headquarters on Tuesday morning.  He told reporters his new job is “arguably the toughest job in transit right now.”

CBC – Globe and Mail – Toronto Star – New York Post

WPT Industrial acquires Reno distribution property

WPT Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (WIR-U-T) announced it has waived diligence conditions and plans to acquire a 98,270-square-foot distribution property located in Reno, Nevada. The property, which is 100 per cent leased to a single tenant, is under contract for US$6,375,000 (exclusive of closing and transaction costs), representing a going-in capitalization rate of 7.2 per cent.

Globe Newswire

Estimated costs for Toronto’s Rail Deck Park $1.66B

The plan for a signature park backed by Mayor John Tory over the downtown rail corridor is now estimated to cost $1.66 billion. City staff are looking to push forward with design of the 21-acre park, which is now at a preliminary stage, saying a financing plan could see charges the city collects from new development and funds already collected from developers pay a significant portion of the costs.

Toronto Star – CBC

Jumbo Glacier Resort ruling ray of sunshine: Opinion

The recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to deny a B.C. First Nation de facto religious veto power over a ski-resort proposal – the reserve’s government claimed a “spirit bear” exists – was positive insofar as the court finally circumscribed the heretofore ill-defined and thus endless duty to consult First Nations.

Globe and Mail

$272M field house part of Calgary’s potential Olympic bid

New figures accidentally released by City Hall Monday show a $272-million field house as part of plans for a potential 2026 Olympic Games, spurring advocates to wonder if the mega-sporting event is what’s needed to finally bring such a facility to Calgary. A field house has long been the city’s top unfunded recreation priority.

Calgary Herald – Calgary Herald

Strong tech infrastructure vital for building owners, managers

Technology infrastructure has become a critical part of commercial real estate, and representatives involved in the sector discussed it with two members of WiredScore at its recent Canadian launch event  at Toronto’s The Globe and Mail Centre. “If you’re a real estate company, you’re a tech company.”

Property Biz Canada – Globe and Mail

Peter Kim named QuadReal’s managing director, Asia

QuadReal Property Group Tuesday announced the appointment of Peter Kim as managing director, Asia. Kim will be responsible for building QuadReal’s international portfolio, with an emphasis on QuadReal’s strategy in the Asia Pacific region. Kim brings 20 years of increasingly senior roles in the global real estate industry, having lived and worked in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Canada Newswire

China could surpass U.S. REIT market if barriers were removed

China’s REIT market could potentially be worth more than US$1.8 trillion, surpassing the U.S. REIT market’s size, if legal and tax barriers were removed, according to a Peking University report. The report, released by the university’s Guanghua School of Management on Tuesday, based its estimation on China’s gross domestic product and total property market value relative to those in developed economies.

South China Morning Post

Market Trends and Research

B.C., Alberta to lead economic growth this year and next

Alberta’s economy is set to lead the country this year, with robust economic growth of 6.7 per cent. Next year, however, the province will take a back seat to British Columbia, who will emerge once again as the provincial growth leader, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s Provincial Outlook: Autumn 2017.

Canada Newswire – Edmonton Journal

Chinese outbound investment falls to 14-quarter low

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s recent report “China Outbound Investment,” Chinese outbound real estate investment fell 51% year-over-year to US$2.5 billion in Q3, the lowest total in 14 quarters. The decline came amid new outbound investment restrictions and investor caution prior to the 19^th Party Congress meetings in Beijing. Development sites won out by a wide margin, recording a 58% share of Chinese outbound investment by asset category.

Marketwired

Real Estate Companies

Former Edmonton Sobeys gets new lease on life

The vacant Sobeys space on Jasper Avenue and 104th Street is getting a new lease on life, and the first tenant to move into the prime retail spot is a fast-casual Indian restaurant. Tiffin India’s Fresh Kitchen has signed a deal to lease a 5,000-square-foot bay in the once-popular grocery stop. Now called Cecil Place, the building has been vacant for more than three years.

CBC – Edmonton Journal

Starwood buys Portland’s tallest office tower

Starwood Capital Group has acquired Wells Fargo Center, a 40-storey skyline office tower and an adjacent five-story former data processing building in downtown Portland, Ore., from Wells Fargo. Together, the deal amounts to a little more than 725,000 square feet of class-A and creative office space. Trevor Kafoury and Michelle Franceschi of CBRE will lease the tower. A purchase price was not disclosed.

CP Executive

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Real Estate Investment Trusts

Piedmont REIT selling 14 U.S. office buildings

As part of its ongoing strategy to focus on owning class A office properties in select submarkets primarily within eight major Eastern U.S. office markets, Piedmont Office Realty Trust (PDM-N) said it is in the process of selling 14 office buildings across the country to two different buyers for a total minimum gross sales price of approximately $425.9 million. The properties total 2.6 million square feet.

CoStar Group

PIRET is at a discount to tangible book value

Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (AAR-UN-T) management has done a fantastic job in diligently researching each transaction before entering it. The result of such a high level of diligence was an incredible return for PIRET investors who have enjoyed a run in the share price of more than 25 per cent over the past year. 

Motley Fool

Payouts from CAPREIT, Boardwalk aren’t as safe as you may think

Investors who dig into CAPREIT‘s (CAR-UN-T) and Boardwalk REIT‘s (BEI-UN-T) third-quarter disclosures will get a better understanding of why both are the target of short sellers, who profit when stocks decline. Boardwalk has been among the most-shorted stocks on the TSX, according to IHS Markit, and CAPREIT remains a target of a New York hedge-fund manager who’s been negative on the shares for more than a year.  

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Retail

HBC pays dearly for Competition Bureau’s pricing probe

Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) says it has spent more than US$425,000 to date to comply with demands for documents from Canada’s competition watchdog as it investigates alleged deceptive pricing practices. The retailer says in a filing with the Competition Tribunal it has invested more than 6,500 person-hours to produce 37,000 documents in response to the Competition Bureau’s February complaint. 

Vancouver Province

Metro reports fourth-quarter profit jump

Metro Inc. (MRU-T) says it earned $154.9 million in its fourth quarter up from $145.0 million a year ago. The grocer says the profit amounted to 66 cents per diluted share for the quarter which included an extra week compared with the fourth quarter last year when it earned 60 cents per diluted share. Sales totalled $3.23 billion, up from $2.93 billion, while same-store sales gained 0.4 per cent. 

Globe and Mail – Canada Newswire

George Weston to close unprofitable U.S. bakery

George Weston Ltd. (WN-T) says it will close an unprofitable frozen cake factory in the United States by the end of the first quarter of 2018 as it reviews its strategy in light of challenges in its frozen food business. The underperforming frozen foods segment contributed to a decline in earnings at the company’s Weston Foods division.

Globe and Mail – CBC – Canada Newswire

Reitmans’ COO Walter Lamothe departing immediately

Reitmans (Canada) Limited Monday announced Walter Lamothe, president – retail and chief operating officer, will be leaving the company effective immediately after six years of service. During Lamothe’s tenure, the company achieved key milestones including enhancing its e-commerce business and significantly reducing the number of its store locations to respond to a shift in consumer shopping behaviour.

Canada Newswire

Technology

High-speed internet coming to rural Quebec towns

The wait for high-speed internet access in 360 rural towns and villages in Quebec is over. The federal and provincial governments have teamed up with private businesses to bring long-awaited high-speed access to remote regions at a cost of $290 million over the next five years. Ottawa is investing $86.4 million, with Quebec putting in $104.6 million and the telecom companies pitching in an additional $99 million.

CBC – Montreal Gazette

Other

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