WeWork ups landlord ante

WeWork ups landlord ante

Bentall Centre, then the Bay: WeWork’s roll through downtown Vancouver office buildings seems set to continue, with scant attention paid to Regus and other providers of shared office space. Now approaching 250,000 square feet in three buildings, WeWork is gunning to be the leading provider of co-working space and the single biggest tenant in downtown Vancouver.

Business In Vancouver – Bloomberg

Foreign, institutional CRE investors holding fire

According to a recent report from broker Cushman & Wakefield, the amount of capital being deployed into commercial real estate throughout North America is down nine per cent so far this year compared to 2016. As of the end of the third quarter, the amount stood at $300 billion US compared to $329 billion as of the end of the third quarter last year, with the three-year average standing at $326 billion.

Globe and Mail – Bloomberg

Global property investors turn to secondary cities

Global commercial real estate investors are shifting their focus toward secondary cities as property prices soar in larger centres. “The share of transaction volumes happening in the larger cities has been diminishing around the world for the last year or two, “ said David Green-Mason, managing director, Asia Pacific for Real Capital Analytics, a global leader in the analysis of real estate transactions. He was speaking at Tuesday’s Global Property Market forum in Toronto.

Property Biz Canada

BOMA Earth Award winner profile: Nestle Building

Oxford Properties Group’s Nestlé Building received the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada Earth Award for light industrial buildings at the BOMEX 2017 conference and exhibition in Toronto in September. “Meeting the criteria for this category was a significant accomplishment, given the age of the building and the 24/7 warehouse operation of the tenant,” said Oxford head of industrial Jeff Miller.

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

True North acquires Halifax business campus

True North Commercial REIT (TNT-UN-T) announced it has agreed to acquire a 297,850-square-foot office property located at 120, 130, 134 and 140 Eileen Stubbs Avenue, Halifax. The purchase price for Bluefrog Business Campus is approximately $53.0 million, exclusive of closing costs. The closing expected to occur on or about Dec. 19. 

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

No shortage of tenants for new industrial space

Just east of Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, real estate company Bentall Kennedy is building its first speculative industrial project in the city in years. The 216,000-square-foot facility isn’t scheduled to open until next summer, but with Montreal’s industrial market undersupplied in the midst of an economic boom, potential tenants are already lining up to occupy the space.

Globe and Mail – Property Biz Canada

New condo development helps Markham develop city status

Markham is among the country’s fastest-growing communities, and one that became a city just five years ago. Among the latest markers of development are the Markham Pan Am Centre, where the city hosted sporting events at the 2015 Games; an incoming York University campus, which will offer classes to 4,000 students; and new condominium towers called Markham Square, by Ideal Developments and OnePiece Developments.

Toronto Star – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Ontario closing in on record land-claims settlement

The people of Ontario have watched the evolution of Aboriginal land claims from afar, with B.C. snatching the lion’s share of the headlines. But reality is about to set in as Ontario closes in on a treaty with the Algonquins of Ontario, the first modern-day treaty the province has ever signed. The treaty negotiation cover 36,000 square kilometres, 86 municipalities and 1.1 million residents in Ontario.

Financial Post

Universities as real estate developers

When Michelle Srdanovic and her family moved to the top of a mountain in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby 11 years ago, they became part of a grand experiment. The three-bedroom townhouse they settled into –was in a new development on leased land that belonged to a trust created by the adjacent Simon Fraser University.

University Affairs

B.C. farm sells for more than 100 times assessed value

A Richmond, B.C., farm property has sold for more than 100 times its assessed value, opening up a new potential development site in the booming suburb where home prices continue to skyrocket. The eight-hectare Richmond property was asssessed at $84,264 for 2017, a slight dip from the previous year. But, it sold for $9.2 million with the mortgage officially changing hands on Oct. 30.

CBC

Home Capital vows to defend against possible claim

Home Capital Group Inc. (HCG-T) said Tuesday it has received a draft statement of claim from a partnership managed by West Face Capital Inc. containing allegations of misrepresentation. The alternative mortgage lender said the draft, which has not yet been filed in court, is claiming damages of $70 million. “The company believes it has valid defences …” Home Capital said in a statement. 

Toronto Star – Financial Post – Canada Newswire

Trucking magnate wins battle over Windsor-Detroit bridge

In June 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder strolled outside the elegant former headquarters of Hiram Walker on the Detroit River waterfront of Windsor, to publicly announce the long-awaited agreement to construct a new six-lane bridge to the U.S. auto-manufacturing capital. “This is the single most important piece of infrastructure our government will complete while I am prime minister,” Harper declared.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Windsor’s brewing neighbourhood revitalized

One was an old chocolate factory in Glengarry. Another was an old railway maintenance building in Walkerville. Yet another was a rickety assortment of buildings constructed over a century and a half in Sandwich. Then there’s the derelict grocery store in Ford City. Now, they’re cool craft breweries, open or planned in historic buildings on core streets, bringing new life to struggling neighbourhoods.

Windsor Star

Couche-Tard Q2 profit surges to record on acquisitions

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-A-T) hasn’t given up hope of selling cannabis as some Western Canadian provinces turn to the private sector for over-the-counter sales, the convenience store operator’s CEO said Tuesday. Brian Hannasch said the large convenience store chain, which operates as Circle K outside Quebec, has a proven track record of selling age-restricted products like cigarettes and beer. 

Montreal Gazette – Canada Newswire

Tim Hortons owner sued by U.S. franchisee

A U.S. franchisee has closed two restaurants amid a dispute with Tim Hortons owner Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR-T), operating in the U.S. as Tim Hortons USA, Inc.  Show Me Hospitality LLC is suing Tim Hortons USA for $50 million US for failing to meet its obligations. The franchisee says RBI asked Show Me Hospitality to increase its obligations to develop restaurants in the St. Louis area.

Toronto Star – Financial Post – Baystreet.ca

Real Estate Companies

Molson moving, but not abandoning Montreal

After more than 200 years on Notre-Dame St. E., Molson Coors (TPX-B-T) is planning to move its brewery to St-Hubert, but the company said it’s not abandoning the city. “We’re not leaving Montreal,” said François Lefebvre, the director of corporate affairs at Molson Coors Canada. “We will redevelop the sector of Montreal where we are on Notre-Dame.” 

Montreal Gazette – CBC – CTV

CanniMed enacts poison pill to fend off hostile takeover

CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. (CMED-T) has slipped a poison pill into an attempted hostile takeover targeting the Saskatchewan-based medical marijuana company. Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB-T) has made the hostile all-stock offer, aiming to buy CanniMed for up to $24 a share. CanniMed, however, has rejected Aurora’s advances thus far.

Windsor Star – Globe and Mail – Ottawa Citizen – Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg wipes out funding for CentreVenture

The City of Winnipeg plans to stop funding for CentreVenture next year, but the mayor says there are no plans to wind down the arm’s-length downtown development agency. The 2018 budget calls for the city to reduce its annual operating grant to CentreVenture from $600,000 to zero. The move reduces total city funding for economic development to $1.5 million

CBC – Winnipeg Free Press

	RENX website page views up 35% in Q4 2017
	RENX 2018 media kit is now available. Enquire about our blended advertising rate that combines newsletter and website exposure. Advertising that reaches thousands of professionals in the commercial real estate industry every business day. Contact sales@renx.ca, 1-855-569-6300

 

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* European Commercial REIT, (ERE-UN-X), Marketwired  

* Nexus REIT, (NXR-UN-X), Canada Newswire 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Cominar REIT executing turnaround strategy

Cominar REIT (CUF-UN-T) equity units have enjoyed a steady 11.4% price recovery since the announcement of its proposed strategic refocusing plan on Aug. 22, and there could be more capital gains after management started implementing the first phase of the new business plan earlier this month. Cominar is currently one of Canada’s largest diversified REITs. 

Motley Fool – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

SmartCentres REIT named Top 25 dividend stock

SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T ) has been named as a Top 25 dividend stock, according to the most recent Canada Stock Channel ”DividendRank” report. The report noted that among the coverage universe, SRU.UN shares displayed both attractive valuation metrics and strong profitability metrics. For example, the recent SRU.UN share price of $29.53 represents a price-to-book ratio of 1.2 and an annual dividend yield of 5.93% . 

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

Online shopping disruption helps create two U.S. REITs

Two publicly traded REITs have moved forward with plans to shrink their real estate portfolios by spinning off properties into two new REITs with the moves ostensibly prompted by the shift in consumer shopping preference to online marketplaces. Select Income REIT (SIR-Q) announced its subsidiary, Industrial Logistics Properties Trust, filed plans for an IPO. It was joined by Spirit Realty Capital Inc. (SRC-N). 

CoStar Group

Restaurants and Eateries

Arby’s owner gobbles up Buffalo Wild Wings for $2.4B US

Roark Capital Group agreed to buy restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (BWLD-Q) for about $2.4 billion, adding to the private equity firm’s stable of eateries that includes Arby’s and Cinnabon. Roark will pay $157 a share in cash for the Minneapolis-based restaurant operator, representing a 34 per cent premium to the stock’s Nov. 13 closing price. Roark will also take on Buffalo Wild Wings’ net debt.

Bloomberg – Reuters

New Development

Planning committee buys time for Windmill development

Southminster United Church and the Windmill Development Group had a three-metre problem at council’s planning committee on Tuesday. A single storey is preventing a community buy-in on a development, but that extra floor could protect the future of the church in Old Ottawa South. The application calls for the demolition of Memorial Hall and the construction of four townhouses and a six-storey residential building with 14 units.

Ottawa Citizen

Infrastructure

Toronto on the verge of a transportation renaissance

The City of Toronto is seemingly going through a transportation renaissance – it may be too bold to say this just over a week into the King Street Pilot, but with the recent announcement about the city’s partnership with Waze, things are looking up. Waze is the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app.

Newinhomes.com – CBC

Privatizing Ontario electricity companies would lower rates: Report

One of the largest chambers of commerce in Canada is calling for wider privatization of electricity distribution companies to increase competitiveness in an attempt to drive down costly Ontario electricity prices over the long-term. In a report to be released today, the Toronto Region Board of Trade makes sweeping recommendations aimed at changing the province’s troubled energy sector.

Toronto Star

Other

	RENX has surpassed 10,250 Twitter followers
	Recent follower Lalu Canada is a Toronto developer of commercial & residential, luxury resorts & hotels.
	Follow RENXca, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian real estate professionals.