Trump pushing travellers to Canada: Marriott CEO

Trump pushing travellers to Canada: Marriott CEO

Divisive language and policies from President Trump are helping push business travellers north of the border, the head of Marriott International Inc. said last week. Large groups of travellers are changing reservations “with the view that bringing in an international group would be more hassle-free in Canada and maybe a little bit riskier in the U.S.,” CEO Arne Sorenson said. Revpar growth, based on revenue per available room, will be in the “mid- to high single digits” in Canada this year. 

Bloomberg

Saudi arrests put Canadian hotels in spotlight

The arrest of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal leaves the future of his global investments up in the air, including the Toronto-based Four Seasons luxury hotel chain. Prince Alwaleed was detained on the weekend, along with other princes and dozens of current and former government officials.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Bloomberg

Massive Calgary Taza development valued at $4.5B

A massive commercial real estate development on the Tsuut’ina Nation, bordering Calgary city limits, will be named Taza, it was revealed during the recent Calgary Real Estate Forum. The development is on 1,200 acres of land and will eventually include 17 million square feet with a real estate value in the neighbourhood of $4.5 billion.

Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Suburban office vacancy rates drop: Colliers

Vacancy rates have declined in all major suburban office markets in Canada and the children of baby boomers might be to blame, says Craig Hennigar, the Vancouver-based national research director of Colliers International. “That group is between 25 and 44 years old and they’re aging into a different stage of life,” Hennigar told RENX in an interview.

Property Biz Canada – Edmonton Journal

Fresh, ready-to-go food fuels Farm Boy’s growth

Businesses can sometimes plug along for decades in relative obscurity until that perfect moment when consumer taste aligns with the business model and, with some clever leadership, the company shoots to prominence. Ottawa-based grocery chain Farm Boy Inc. is having one of those moments.

Globe and Mail

Indigo planning first U.S. expansion next summer

Indigo Books and Music is expanding into the competitive U.S. market at a time when many retailers are scaling back on square footage. The Toronto-based company, which has managed to mitigate the effects of Amazon on its core categories over the last decade, will open its first store next summer in New Jersey. “We are going to open three to five stores over two years and test the market response to the concept,” CEO Heather Reisman said.

Financial Post – Toronto Star

Miniso might just be a Dollarama disruptor in Canada

Bright lights, clean minimalist design and flat-screens playing sleek promotional videos advertising the life you wish you had greets customers at the first Ontario location of Miniso, a Japanese-style value retailer that’s planning a 500-store expansion into Canada over the next few years. There will be a total of at least eight locations in B.C. and two in Ontario by the end of this year.

Maclean’s

City staff chart ‘smart city’ blueprint for Ottawa

Digital initiatives could soon be hitting Ottawa’s streets with the goal of turning the capital into a “smart city,” according to a report going before the city’s Finance and Economic Development Committee this week. Smart city strategies have been gaining momentum worldwide, says the report prepared by city staff, and Ottawa is well-suited to build on its existing infrastructure in developing a connected city.

Ottawa Business Journal

TO waterfront won’t be a ‘tech enclave:’ Sidewalk Labs CEO

The head of the technology company hoping to redevelop part of the east waterfront says he sees housing affordability as the biggest challenge facing Toronto, but anti-poverty activists say they don’t buy the idea that a Google sister company will be the one to fix it. Sidewalk Labs has struck a deal with Waterfront Toronto to spend the next year planning the development.

CBC

Google parent chair says company owes Canada

The head of Google’s parent company contrasted divisive U.S. politics against Canada’s innovation and immigration-friendly policies Thursday, adding his company owes this country a favour — one the prime minister said he’d be sure to call in. Alphabet Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt said during an onstage chat with Justin Trudeau in Toronto his company is “enormously thankful to Canadians” for the country’s artificial intelligence innovations.

Toronto Star

Does internet quality impact office leasing decisions?

A majority of leasing decision makers say a lack of reliable internet connections is a factor affecting their office rentals, according to The Value of Connectivity: What’s the Cost of Poor Digital Connectivity for Commercial Real Estate, a study that cites a building’s connectivity as a top factor in evaluating future office space. 

CP Executive – Property Biz Canada

Edmonton’s landmark BMO building could be history

Since 1984, the striking Bank of Montreal building on Rice-Howard Way has been a downtown Edmonton landmark. Today, the once-proud building sits empty. The bank, its anchor tenant, moved out Oct. 6. Just two weeks later, on Oct. 20, the building’s new owners applied for a demolition permit. The city planning office says there’s no reason to turn down the application.

Edmonton Journal

Winnipeg’s Inglis Building will soon shine brightly

The restoration of one of downtown Winnipeg’s hidden gems is almost complete. The first phase of the multi-year restoration project involved extensive renovations to the interior of the two-storey structure. The second phase was the restoration of the building’s striking terracotta facade, which features six lion heads topped by a massive shield and crest on the parapet.

Winnipeg Free Press

Ivanhoe appoints Chakravarti to India, Growth Markets

Ivanhoé Cambridge today announced the appointment of Chanakya Chakravarti as managing director, India, Growth Markets. “I am very pleased to welcome Chanakya to our team at an important time for our growth in India,” said Rita-Rose Gagné, president, Growth Markets, Ivanhoé Cambridge. “We aim to deploy capital strategically in new investment opportunities alongside our partners Piramal and LOGOS and to develop new strategic partnerships in the country.”

Canada Newswire

Chinese developers flourish in soaring market

Nowhere is wealth being created faster than in China’s mainland property market. The collective net worth of the country’s richest developers has rocketed upward since the start of the year, adding US$44.3 billion to the fortunes of seven real estate tycoons. As China’s regulators move to tame a frenzied property market, investors are betting the largest companies will squeeze out smaller competitors and extend their dominance.

Financial Post

Featured Column

A whole new world: Understanding the value of CRE Tech

NEW COLUMN: RENX welcomes VTS (View The Space) founder and CEO Nick Romito, with his first instalment of CRE Tech: Riding the Digital Wave. “Today’s commercial real estate professionals are faced with an opportunity unlike anything that has come before – rapid innovation that will fundamentally change the way our industry operates. This explosion in CRE Tech has already been embraced by many early adopters …”

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Hotel tax coming to Mississauga

The city of Mississauga is introducing a four per cent hotel tax next summer and says the money will go toward attracting more visitors and boosting tourism. The tax is consistent with a four per cent rate also under consideration by the City of Toronto, and could be the first wave in a tax change right across the Greater Toronto Area.

CBC

Investors show confidence in Calgary CRE: Barclay Street

Investors continued to demonstrate confidence in the Calgary market through the third quarter of 2017. Approximately $450 million was invested in commercial real estate with land and retail properties being the major contributors. ICI land proved to be in high demand, rising from 29 sales at mid-year to 50. Residential land sales also rose significantly to 38 sales from 21 at mid-year. To September 30., total dollar volume invested reached $1.49 billion.

Barclay Street media release

Real Estate Companies

Reynolds closing Toronto Alcan foil plant

A Toronto plant that makes the Alcan brand of aluminum foil used in millions of kitchens across Canada will be closed despite performing “exceptionally well.” Reynolds Consumer Products Inc. will close a plant formerly owned by Alcan by the end of next year, confirming fears employees expressed when Canadian regulators approved the takeover. Reynolds bought the factory in 2014. The decision will eliminate about 100 unionized jobs.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Hyatt begins efforts to sell $1.5 billion in hotel properties

Having met its goal of becoming a net seller of hotel properties in 2017, Hyatt Hotels Corp. has decided to extend that strategy for another three years. The international hotelier intends to dispose of at least $1.5 billion of properties in that time, and just this month completed the first sales toward that goal. This month, Hyatt sold two of its Phoenix-area hotels to Orlando-based REIT Xenia Hotels & Resorts for $305 million, or about $498,000 per room.

CoStar Group

	RENX 2018 media kit now available
	A blended ad program, take-over advertising, writing services and a second weekly edition of Property Biz Canada in 2018. Advertising that reaches thousands of professionals in the commercial real estate industry every business day. Contact sales@renx.ca, 1-855-569-6300

 

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Mainstreet Health Investments Inc., Canada Newswire

* Melcor Developments Ltd., Marketwired

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Slate Retail REIT, Globe Newswire

Retail

Tims, Gateway Newstands, Cacao 70 join Edmonton Tower

Edmonton Tower tenants and visitors can now enjoy more exciting amenities as Tim Hortons, Gateway Newstands and Cacao 70 have joined the growing list of ICE District occupants in the 27-storey tower. This week, ICE District Joint Venture formally welcomed both Tim Hortons and Gateway Newstands to celebrate the recent openings of these popular businesses in Edmonton Tower, which is already 86.5 per cent occupied. 

Marketwired – CBC

Superstore most-trusted grocery retailer: Survey

Loblaw-owned Real Canadian Superstore is the most trusted brick-and-mortar grocery brand in Canada, while Walmart is the most trusted for online grocery shopping, according to new research from BrandSpark International. The findings come from a survey of 5,000 Canadian shoppers who were asked for their unaided, top-of-mind preferences in retail and service categories.

Canadian Grocer – Canada Newswire

Loblaw could be stoking another supplier showdown

The friction between grocers and their suppliers could heat up again after Loblaw Cos. asked its vendors to pay a new supply chain fee. Suppliers who use Loblaw’s distribution centres will have to pay a new fee of 0.79 per cent on the cost of goods for all shipments made after Dec. 31, while those who directly distribute goods to Loblaw-owned stores will pay 0.24 per cent.

Financial Post

Restaurants and Eateries

Winnipeg’s 10 oldest restaurants remain ready to serve

According to a study conducted by the Restaurant Brokers, a commercial real estate firm, 90 per cent of newly-opened, independent restaurants in North America will close sometime during their first 12 months of operation. Of those places fortunate enough to last until their one-year anniversary, 70 per cent will have shuttered their doors by Year 5, the report added.

Winnipeg Free Press

New Development

Edmonton buildings getting new life as fitness centres

Life is coming back to two large vacant downtown Edmonton buildings that are being transformed into fitness centres. The former Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) store will become the city centre’s flagship Evolve Strength facility, location owner Johnny Wacko said Friday. The 25,000-square-foot space will include 21 offices for chiropractors, massage therapists, dietitians and other health and welfare practitioners.

Edmonton Journal

Renovation and Restoration

Revamped Cinesphere breathes new life into Ontario Place

Ontario’s largest Imax theatre is once again open for business. The Cinesphere at Ontario Place will now be open on weekends year round. Eleanor McMahon, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, officially made the announcement Thursday night at a special VIP event, just before a screening of two Imax films: Dunkirk and North of Superior.

CBC

Infrastructure

$453M Manitoba Hydro line to Minnesota could face delay

A recommendation from the National Energy Board could push back the construction start date of a $453-million hydroelectric transmission line from Manitoba to Minnesota. In a letter to federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, the regulatory agency recommends using a “certificate” approval process, which could take more time than the simpler “permit” process Manitoba Hydro favours.

CBC

Human Resources

Grue celebrates first year at convention centre

A year has passed quickly for Clark Grue following his appointment as president and CEO of the Calgary Telus Convention Centre. Over the past 12 months, Grue has reorganized his team and developed a new strategic plan aimed at having the convention centre become a leader for digital events in North America and a hub of activity downtown.

Calgary Herald

Other

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