Choice provides sneak peek at TO development

Choice provides sneak peek at TO development

A 431,000-square-foot monument to myopic city planning came one step closer to a mega-makeover on Saturday. More than 100 attended the second public consultation held by developer Choice Properties to gather input on the future of the site at the southeast corner of Dundas Street West and Bloor Street West. Right now, it’s home to a Loblaws, LCBO, and an expansive parking lot.

CBC – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Calgary downtown office sector shows signs of life: CBRE

CBRE says Calgary’s downtown office space got a little less empty in the last quarter for the first time since the sector was gutted by the oilpatch downturn. The commercial realtor says the vacancy rate dropped by 30 basis points to 27.4 per cent in the three months to the end of September, the first dip since the same quarter back in 2014 before the downturn hit.

Calgary Herald – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Strathallen hits ‘critical mass’ with OneREIT acquisitions: Spence

The acquisition of 44 former OneREIT properties by Strathallen Capital Corp. has moved the company into the big league among Canadian property owners and managers. Strathallen completed its $702.9-million acquisition from OneREIT last week. Brian Spence, chairman of the Toronto-based real estate management company, told RENX he believes the transaction will open the door to further growth.

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

GWLRA, HOOPP set to start work on Vancouver Centre II

Downtown Vancouver’s declining office vacancy rate has the developers of the city’s latest office tower confident they’ll fill up the 33-storey Seymour Street building, which is being built on spec. On Wednesday, GWL Realty Advisors and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) held a ceremonial demolition at the site of their jointly-developed, class-AAA, 371,000 square foot Vancouver Centre II tower.

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

Hydropothecary breaks ground on Gatineau pot greenhouse

The high ambitions of Gatineau marijuana producer Hydropothecary won’t stop at Quebec, says company co-founder and CEO Sébastien St-Louis. “When (the federal government) legalizes marijuana for the adult-use recreational market, we intend to continue to be a leader and we’re targeting a 10 per cent market share in Canada, before launching internationally,” says. St-Louis. 

Ottawa Business Journal – Marketwired

GrenEx licensed as first Edmonton cannabis company

After years of preparation, an Edmonton company has finally received a licence to start operating the city’s first medical cannabis grow op. GrenEx Pharms Inc. has spent about $4 million developing a 930-square-metre marijuana cultivation facility inside a former south Edmonton warehouse, but Health Canada only issued a licence Sept. 29 after initially approving the proposal in 2013.

Edmonton Journal

New Emily Carr driving new development

The relocation of B.C.’s most notable art school yields opportunity not just for employees and students, but developers as well. Emily Carr University of Art + Design’s move from its longtime home on Granville Island to 520 East 1st Avenue will be a “catalyst” for the industrial area, said Ana Maria Llanos, project architect.

Business In Vancouver

Larger stations or more trains for Canada Line?

As Metro Vancouver’s population grows, its transit authority is facing more SkyTrain struggles. TransLink’s CEO is admitting they were short-sighted when building the Canada Line — and now faces a tough choice about how to combat the problem. The service has taken a step towards addressing demand by ordering at least 22 new train cars specifically for the Canada Line.

Global News

It’s official: Court grants Sears Canada complete liquidation

An Ontario Superior Court justice on Friday approved a motion to liquidate all remaining Sears Canada stores, ending a retail empire that served generations of Canadians. Liquidation sales are scheduled to begin Thursday and finish no later than Jan. 21. “It is difficult to find the right words at times such as this,” said Susan Ursel of Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson, the law firm representing Sears employees.

Toronto Star – Winnipeg Free Press – Sudbury.com – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Popup shops going global

With average lease times for retail continuing to compress and leading brick-and-mortar companies facing bankruptcy and mass store closings, popup spaces are, well, popping up more often. While there is little dedicated research on the niche, the fact popup stores are no longer a Halloween season staple has become evident in the past couple of years.

CP Executive

Ivanhoe appoints Brazil, Mexico executives

Ivanhoé Cambridge announced the appointments of Adriano Mantessoas senior vice-president, Brazil, Growth Markets and Jorge Margain as vice-president,  Mexico, Growth Markets. Mantesso and Margain are mainly responsible for implementing investment and asset management strategies in their respective countries.

Canada Newswire

Facebook launches U.S. food order and delivery service

Facebook Inc Friday launched a service through which its U.S. users can order food for take-away or delivery directly through its app or website.  Facebook said it has partnered with restaurants including Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc and Five Guys. The company said in a blog post it has also signed on food ordering services such as EatStreet, Delivery.com, DoorDash and Olo.

Reuters

Kushner plan for Fifth Avenue tower blocked by Vornado

An ambitious plan by Jared Kushner’s family to recast its indebted Fifth Avenue office building as a luxury architectural trophy is collapsing, setting off a chain of events that may imperil the Kushners’ ownership of a property central to their real estate empire. Their partner, Vornado Realty Trust, is telling brokers to plan for a much more mundane renovation that would leave the property as an office building.

Bloomberg

Weinstein company agrees to Colony Capital rescue investment

The Weinstein Company said Monday it had agreed to a financial lifeline from Colony Capital, securing vital cash as the embattled studio reels from the growing scandals surrounding its co-founder, Harvey Weinstein. In a short statement, the Weinstein Company said it had a preliminary agreement from Colony for an immediate cash infusion. The amount was not disclosed.

New York Times – Bloomberg – Reuters

Keppel, KBS forming new REIT to acquire U.S. office portfolio

Singapore-based Keppel Corp. has received approval to launch a new REIT on the Singapore Exchange and has reached a deal for that REIT to acquire 11 U.S. office properties from Newport Beach, Calif.-based KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT, a nontraded REIT. However, KBS currently values the portfolio at $800 million US with $400 million in outstanding debt, according to a KBS bondholder filing in Israel. 

CoStar Group

Market Trends and Research

U.S. industrial developers, investors not slowing down

Bridge Development Partners, LLC has just agreed to sell a 10-building industrial portfolio totaling 3,424,732 square feet to Duke Realty Corp. for about $515 million. The Chicago-based Bridge recently put the finishing touches on each of these state-of-the-art facilities, located in the nation’s top infill markets of Southern California, New Jersey and South Florida.

GlobeSt.com

Real Estate Companies

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Legal Corner

B.C. casinos knowingly accepted ‘banned’ cash: Report

River Rock Casino in Richmond knowingly accepted millions in suspicious cash that was provided to VIP gamblers by lenders who were banned from B.C. casinos, an internal audit obtained by Postmedia News alleges. The June 2016 audit was performed by the B.C. gaming policy and enforcement branch.

Vancouver Sun

Retail

Nordstrom family suspends attempt to take retailer private

Nordstrom Inc said on Monday its founding family had suspended attempts to take the upscale retailer private for the rest of the year due to difficulties in arranging funds for the deal ahead of the holiday season. The company’s shares were down five per cent in early trading, valuing it at about $6.7 billion US.

Reuters

U.S. malls pursue local startup Zavazone

Zavazone is a startup retailer which hasn’t even launched its second location yet — doors will open on Nov. 4 — but that hasn’t stopped malls from around the country from contacting the company about opening a location in their retail center. The outreach is a testament to Zavazone’s interesting concept but it is also illustrative of how eager malls are to attract retailers that provide an experience to shoppers.

GlobeSt.com

How to increase ROI in grocery-anchored retail

Brick-and-mortar infrastructure has historically evolved based on the needs, utility and technological innovation of the populations it serves. Commercial retail is currently in the midst of a significant downturn. But grocery stores have an opportunity to increase ROI and become retail anchors of the future by adapting infrastructure to a rapidly changing consumer model.

National Real Estate Investor

Restaurants and Eateries

Good Earth adds Winnipeg to its daily grind

Good Earth Coffeehouse has big plans brewing for Winnipeg. On Saturday, the Calgary-based restaurant chain celebrated the grand opening of its first Winnipeg outlet at the Seasons/Outlet Collection Winnipeg at Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway. Company co-founder Michael Going said the Seasons coffeehouse is the first of as many as six streetfront coffeehouses the 26-year-old chain expects to open in the city.

Winnipeg Free Press

Shrinking workforce leaves B.C. restaurants without chefs

The restaurant industry may be booming in B.C., but a combination of the high cost of living, tight profit margins and a shrinking workforce has made it difficult for kitchens to attract staff. Eric Pateman, president of Edible Canada, said the company’s restaurant at Vancouver’s popular tourist destination Granville Island has been short anywhere from two to five chefs at a time for more than two years. 

Globe and Mail

Sports Venues

Howard Hughes unveils Las Vegas ballpark plan

Years in the planning, the Las Vegas Ballpark just moved closer toward realization. The Howard Hughes Corp. has revealed that it will develop the 10,000-seat stadium in the company’s Summerlin master-planned community on the eastern edge of Las Vegas. The venue, which will be home to the Las Vegas 51s baseball team, carries a price tag of $150 million, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

CP Executive

Infrastructure

Hydro-Quebec building dams to solve U.S. nuclear woes

The key to replacing aging nuclear plants in the U.S. Northeast may lie 1,000 miles away, along a remote river tumbling through the Canadian wilderness. In boreal forests above the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Hydro-Quebec is building a series of dams that will generate enough electricity for more than one million homes.

Globe and Mail

Sustainability

Abbotsford company turns containers into swimming pools

How well is Paul Rathnam’s company Modpools doing converting shipping containers into swimming pools? He recently did a promotion with Walt Disney for its new cable TV series Siren. A mermaid swam in one of its pools at Comic-Con in New York. Plus, Modpools did a shoe launch with Nike — also in New York.

Vancouver Province

Technology

Virtual world making more inroads in property marketing

Technology that showcases properties has become the new industry norm as Lower Mainland real estate sales continue to boom. With virtual tours, 3D renderings, video clips and interior design software elevating home staging to another level, realtors must now employ photographers, videographers, computer-aided design technicians and interior designers.

Business In Vancouver

Venture capitalists betting big on U.S. RE tech

While the Great Recession did a lot of harm to the US real estate market, start ups in the sector are finally making a come back. Real estate technology companies are finally getting some major attention from venture capitalists, according to data from PitchBook. After a near dry-spell from 2009 to 2012, investors are starting to show faith real estate tech is a worthy investment.

Business Insider

Other

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