U.S. apartment REITs big winner for Canadian investors

U.S. apartment REITs big winner for Canadian investors

More than three and a half years back, Canadian investors were introduced to a new and different class of real estate investment, one based on a portfolio of assets all based in the U.S. Three issuers completed IPOs: American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP (HOT.UN-T) raised $100.1 million; Milestone Apartments REIT (MST.UN-T) snared $228.5 million; and WPT Industrial REIT (WIR.U-T) raised US$111.43 million via the sale of US$10 units.

Financial Post

Milestone Apts REIT acquiring six properties in U.S.

Toronto-based Milestone Apartments REIT (MST.UN-T) has agreed to acquire a six-property multifamily portfolio comprising 1,460 units in North Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma, Florida and Texas for $242.2 million. The garden-style apartment properties have a weighted average year built of 2005 and will further decrease the average age of the Milestone’s portfolio.

CoStar Group

REITs are no TSX lightweight, RBC report

The recent move to make Real Estate its own standalone sector on the Toronto Stock Exchange main trading index is a potential game changer. In its quarterly REIT review and outlook, RBC Dominion Securities noted that taking real estate out of the financial services sector and having it “promoted” to its own group is a recognition that listed real estate companies are unique within the Financials sector.

Property Biz Canada

Ottawa proposes sweeping changes to spread mortgage risks

Ottawa is launching consultations with the financial industry that could see lenders shouldering as much as 15 per cent of the costs of losses on defaulted mortgages that have government-backed insurance. The Department of Finance released a 22-page consultation paper laying out its vision of sweeping changes to Canada’s 62-year-old mortgage insurance system.

Globe and Mail – Balancing the Distribution of Risk in Canada’s Housing Finance System – report – Financial Post

National infrastructure bank plan courts institutional investors

If Canada wants its infrastructure projects to attract major institutional investors, it’s going to have to walk and talk like them. Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s economic growth advisory council called on Ottawa in a report to create an infrastructure bank to fund more than $200-billion of infrastructure projects over a decade using “as few tax dollars as possible.”

Globe and Mail – Toronto Star

Feds’ Workplace 2.0 office modernization ‘a disaster’

The federal government’s office space modernization program is a “disaster,” according to its top real estate executive, who also suggested he was cool towards continuing to own, rather than lease, some properties. Kevin Radford, an assistant deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, made his remarks Wednesday during a wide-ranging presentation at the Ottawa Real Estate Forum.

Ottawa Business Journal

Housing in need of a $13-billion federal fix: cities

The organization representing the country’s cities says housing is increasingly unaffordable for Canadians at every income level, and the federal government’s plans for a national housing strategy need to include billions more for social housing. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says wait lists for social housing are growing; and one out of five renters spends more than half their pre-tax salary on shelter.

Winnipeg FreePress

Proposed Alberta condo law would ‘bankrupt’ industry, developer warns

A high-profile Canadian developer says he’ll stop building in Alberta if the government passes a proposed condo regulation that calls for mandatory occupancy dates. But the head of a condo group that represents owners and consumers said if developers can’t work within the proposed regulation, perhaps they shouldn’t be building in the province.

CBC

Retailers using food as a customer enticement

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” is a phrase that’s been around for decades. Now it might also be applied to retailers trying to attract and retain customers, particularly those born after 1980. “Food as a part of retail is becoming more and more relevant in creating memorable experiences in traditional retail stores,” said Regent Street Commercial Corp. Real Estate Brokerage principal Vanessa Oliver.

Property Biz Canada

Anvil Centre sale tests Metro’s market for strata office space

Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. is putting the push on New Westminster’s Anvil Centre, capitalizing on demand for strata office space with plans to sell portions of the 137,000-square-foot building. The office portion of the complex has been slow to lease but discussions with prospective tenants pointed to fresh potential for sales.

Business in Vancouver

Stantec to acquire Edmonton design studio

Engineering and design giant Stantec has signed a letter of intent to acquire Edmonton-based Architecture Tkalcic Bengert (Arch|TB), a 60-person design studio, Stantec said Wednesday in a news release. Stantec, also based in Edmonton, said Arch|TB has expertise in such areas as architecture, interior design and urban planning.

Edmonton Journal – Calgary Herald

Denver and Calgary: A tale of 2 cities

The city reaches out to the Rockies — a sprawl of suburbs, farmland, oil rigs, ranches and maybe even a ski hill or two. It’s known for a high elevation and western roots. The population is diverse, and alive with a true entrepreneurial spirit and progressive attitudes. Yes. It’s Denver. The thing is, Denver and Calgary have a lot in common. But while Denver is rising, Calgary is struggling.

CBC

Brookfield close to raising $900m for core-plus US fund

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A-T) is close to raising $900m (€820m) for an open-ended core-plus property fund. The Toronto-based fund manager is expected to reach a first close for Brookfield Premier Real Estate Partners by the end of the month, according to sources familiar the fund.

IPE Real Estate

CPPIB, Longfor Properties agree second joint venture in China

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and retail specialist Longfor Properties are entering a second joint venture in China. The partnership is investing in the Chongqing West Paradise Walk shopping centre in China. CPPIB will commit around CAD193m (€134m) for a 49% interest in the six-level property, making its first retail mall investment in Chongqing.

IPE Real Estate

Wal-Mart pushes into Chinese e-commerce with deliveries

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT-N) has hit the reset button on its China strategy in dramatic fashion. The world’s largest retailer is making an ambitious push into e-commerce in China and aims to deliver goods from its stores around the world to Chinese consumers within hours.

Toronto Star

Market Trends and Research

Falling retail sales, cooler-than-forecast inflation

A drop in Canadian retail sales in August and cooler-than-anticipated annual inflation in September reinforced speculation the Bank of Canada may lower interest rates again, after the bank acknowledged this week it had considered cutting. Statistics Canada said on Friday retail sales fell 0.1 per cent, missing expectations for a 0.3 per cent gain. Volumes fell 0.3 per cent.

Globe and Mail

ULI expects CRE dealmaking to moderate in 2018 in US

After six consecutive years of growth, commercial real estate transaction activity is expected to moderate next year, with lower but still relatively high transaction volumes, but better-than-average operating fundamentals in most property types resulting in continued but slower growth in property prices and rental rates, according Urban Land Institute (ULI) research.

CoStar Group

Real Estate Companies

Toronto’s Trump Tower is close to being sold

Toronto’s Trump tower is close to being sold and may not bear the name of presumptive U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump after it changes hands, a lawyer for its owner said on Friday. Symon Zucker, who represents Talon International Development Inc, said the 65-storey hotel and condominium building in the city’s financial district has found a potential buyer.

Financial Post

Retail

Yorkdale’s new Nordstrom store is embracing design

The Nordstrom store at Yorkdale mall opening Friday has a curated art collection – in fact from some angles it looks like a museum – and is designed to light up like a paper lantern at night. And what does that have to do with selling apparel and accessories? Increasingly, retailers are investing heavily in what stores look like in order to create buzz, drive traffic and boost their bottom lines.

Toronto Star

DavidsTea CEO Sylvain Toutant plans to exit

DavidsTea says chief executive officer Sylvain Toutant is leaving the Montreal-based company to pursue other interests. Toutant says the decision to leave the Montreal-based specialty retailer was difficult to make but the right one from a personal standpoint.

Winnipeg FreePress

Lululemon could quit Canada over temporary foreign worker rules

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU-Q)  suggests it could quit Canada because of the restrictions of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. “Our industry’s lifeline in Vancouver depends on attracting and quickly onboarding top global talent,” Lululemon, one of Canada’s best-known brands, said in a submission to a federal government committee.

Globe and Mail

McDonald’s sales rise 1.3 per cent at US stores

McDonald‘s says sales rose 1.3 per cent at established U.S. locations in the third quarter, matching what Wall Street analysts expected. The world’s biggest hamburger chain also reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the last quarter and its shares rose 4 per cent before the stock market opened Friday.

Montreal Gazette

New Development

Philip Pacey, Halifax heritage advocate, dies at 75

A well-known advocate who campaigned for the preservation of many heritage buildings in Halifax has died, Philip Pacey, the former president of the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia,. “For Phil, heritage preservation was a big part of who he was,” said Joe Ballard, the president of the heritage trust. “It was his identity, to a large extent, and also that of his wife Elizabeth.

CBC

Kamloops archaeologist wants developers to call before they dig

A local archaeologist says we’re not doing enough to recognize and protect indigenous heritage in the Kamloops area. She says too many historical sites are being bulldozed for development. Joanne Hammond says there are hundreds of historic sites in Kamloops that are protected by law.

CBC

Renovation and Restoration

Iconic Rogers Pass lodge is declared beyond repair

The well-known Glacier Park Lodge in Rogers Pass will likely be torn down in coming months. Parks Canada says the 53-year-old hotel and service station has badly deteriorated since it closed four years ago and the safety of motorists at the rest area is paramount.

Calgary Herald

Infrastructure

Union cautions Feds when it comes to privatizing airports

The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE), the union that represents members at most federally regulated airports across Canada, is leery of the government’s recent announcement to study the benefits of privatizing airports. Through the Canada Development Investment Corporation, Credit Suisse AG has been contracted to analyze privatization options.

Marketwired

Other

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