Massive mixed-use development slated for Kitchener

Massive mixed-use development slated for Kitchener

Zehr Group is looking to break ground in early 2018 on a massive mixed-use development in downtown Kitchener, Ont. after acquiring the historic two-acre Ratz-Bechtel property. A mixed-use development on a 5.1 acre site could include three condo towers and one rental apartment tower in addition to retail and office space.

Daily Commercial News – Zehr News Release – CBC

Toronto’s Rail Deck Park could cost $1B or more

The city’s vision for Rail Deck Park — a proposed 8.5-hectare green space built in the air above the downtown rail yards — will cost Toronto at least $1.05 billion, according to early estimates released by municipal based on other developments also built on decking, like Hudson Park in New York and Chicago’s Millennium Park.

CBC – Toronto Star

Are REITs getting into riskier development?

As REITs have shifted focus over recent years from primarily acquirers of real estate to developers and cap rates have supported the transition, those same REITs are now adding more and more development risk. How they are coping with this shift was the focus of a panel at last week’s RealREIT conference in Toronto?

Property Biz Canada

Ottawa mayor says redesign proposed Château Laurier addition

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says it’s back to the drawing board on a proposed modern addition to the historic Château Laurier hotel.  The plan — proposed by Larco Investments — would be to move its parking lot underground and add up to 200 rooms in an addition designed by Peter Clewes, one of the leading architects in Toronto’s condo boom.

CBC – CBC – Ottawa Citizen – Ottawa Business Journal

Ottawa CRE sector gets long awaited boost

Commercial property sales in Ottawa more than doubled in the first half of the year, spurred on by the low cost of capital and a depreciated Canadian dollar that’s attracting investors from south of the border. Real estate services firm Colliers International also noted that transaction activity in Ottawa tends to increase in the year following a federal election.

Ottawa Business Journal

A look inside Parliament Hill’s fixer-upper

The federal government offered its first look Thursday inside the $863-million renovation job on Parliament Hill’s West Block, the heritage building expected to act as the temporary home for the House of Commons for 10 years. The rehabilitation of the West Block, which started in 2011 and is expected to be finished next year.

CBC

Tribute’s Neil Rodgers to become OHBA president

Tribute Communities VP of acquisitions Neil Rodgers will succeed John Meinen as president of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association (OHBA) at the organization’s annual general meeting on Sept. 19. “The mandate is to be the public face of the Ontario home-building industry and its members, including developers, builders, renovators and trades,” said Rodgers.

Property Biz Canada

SSQ Financial Group inaugurates SSQ Tower in Longueuil

Jean-François Chalifoux, Chief Executive Officer of SSQ Financial Group, and Caroline St-Hilaire, mayor of the city of Longueuil, today officially inaugurated SSQ Tower located at Place Charles-Le Moyne in Longueuil. The 12-storey tower is currently under assessment for LEED® certification.

Canada Newswire

Mixed-use wood building scheduled for Dartmouth

Atlantic Canada’s first six-storey wood building is currently in the planning stages and will be the first mid-rise project in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, under its Reinventing Main Street program. Garden View will assist to transform that section of Dartmouth from a suburban strip mall shopping district into a compact, mixed-use community.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Calgary southwest ring road under budget due to downturn

Calgary’s long-awaited southwest ring road project is moving ahead this fall — under budget. The NDP government announced Thursday it has signed a $1.4 billion agreement with Mountain View Partners (MVP) to design, build, partially finance and operate the southwest ring road under the private public partnership (P3) model.

Calgary Herald

Genesis Land Development sells portion Sage Hill Crossing

Genesis Land Development Corp. (GDC-T) has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the City of Calgary for +/- 6.99 acres of serviced lands located in Sage Hill Crossing, Calgary Alberta for $9,436,500 with a closing date of September 30, 2016.

Stockhouse

Pure Industrial REIT appoints Teresa Neto as CFO

Pure Industrial REIT (AAR.UN-T) is pleased to announce the appointment of Teresa Neto as Chief Financial Officer of PIRET effective September 26, 2016. Ms. Neto has over 20 years of experience as a senior financial executive, most recently as Chief Financial Officer of Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH.UN-T).

Marketwired – Canada Newswire

Edmonton Rec Room entertainment centre prepares to party

Canada’s first Rec Room food-and-entertainment centre opens Monday in South Edmonton Common. The two-level, 5,600-square-metre Cineplex Entertainment facility features several restaurants, including what’s billed as Canada’s largest wood-fired grill, 140 amusement games, a race car simulator, bowling, axe throwing, billiards, air hockey and table tennis.

Edmonton Journal

More cuts at Sobeys after botched Safeway integration

More pain is likely in store for Sobeys owner Empire Co. as the grocery retailer seeks to cut costs and drive up flagging sales in the wake of its botched integration of the Western Canadian Safeway chain. Former CFO Vimard, who replaced Marc Poulin after the former CEO’s abrupt ouster in July following deep fourth-quarter losses, did not detail where the new cuts would come.

Financial Post – CBC – Canada Newswire

National Storage JV to acquire portfolio

National Storage Affiliates Trust, a Greenwood Village, Colo.-based REIT, has formed a joint venture with a major state pension fund advised by Heitman Capital Management LLC to acquire the 66-property portfolio of iStorage for approximately $630 million. The portfolio contains about 4.5 million square feet of rentable space.

CP Executive

Featured Column

Attract and retain millennials to a CRE career

As a senior executive of a brokerage firm I felt a real frustration not being able to understand the motivation of millennials. I’m not new to the millennial’s, I’ve worked with them throughout my career

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Good urban design is good for our health

A streetscape can make you smile or it can completely stress you out, a University of Waterloo researcher says. “There are all kinds of ways in which the geometry, the appearance of the surfaces of our surroundings, influence how we feel and how we act, how we decide about things, how we think, how we pay attention,” said Colin Ellard, a neuroscientist and associate professor.

CBC.ca

Accountants caution non-residents selling Canadian real estate

Mew + Company, a team of chartered professional accountants in Vancouver, has some helpful advice for non-residents selling Canadian property. The CRA requires that purchasers withhold 25% of the gross sale amount from a non-resident. To avoid being short-changed in property sales, non-Canadians need to plan ahead.

Marketwired – Mew Co. Blog

Real Estate Companies

Landmark Cinemas will open in St. Albert’s Jensen Lakes Crossing

Melcor Developments Ltd. (MRD-T) an Alberta-based real estate development and asset management company, is pleased to announce that Landmark Cinemas Canada will bring its premium-powered recliner seating movie-going experience to St. Albert movie lovers in the new shopping centre at Jensen Lakes Crossing.

Marketwired

Dream Unlimited Corp. renews normal course issuer bid

Dream Unlimited Corp. (DRM-T) announced today that the Toronto Stock Exchange accepted a notice filed by Dream to renew its prior normal course issuer bid for a one year period. Under the bid, Dream will have the ability to purchase for cancellation up to a maximum of 3,245,397 of its Class A Subordinate Voting Shares through the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Marketwired

Sienna Senior Living completes acquisition of B.C. lodge

Sienna Senior Living Inc. (SIA-T) announced today that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of an initial 40% interest in Nicola Lodge, a 256-bed newly-built state of the art seniors living residence located in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Marketwired

REOC Financial Reports

	REITs & REOCs – Second-quarter 2016 report
	RENX has prepared a table with a convenient list of the companies and a summary of links to their second-quarter 2016 results. Have we missed any?  Canadian REITs & REOCs – Second-quarter 2016 report

 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Pure Multi-Family REIT closes Texas apartment acquisition

Pure Multi-Family REIT LP (RUF.U-X)  announces the successful closing of a 368 unit Class “AA” luxury apartment community, located in the Oak Lawn submarket of Dallas, Texas, for a purchase price of US$71.0 million.

Marketwired

New Development

Renovations at Manitoba Legislature — Video

CBC

Infrastructure

Halifax airport sewage plant expanding

The Aerotech Wastewater Treatment Facility at the airport is expanding starting Oct. 1 so its sewage-handling capacity can triple by the end of next year. Currently the facility can handle 1,000 cubic metres of sewage per day and this will increase to 3,000 cubic metres once upgraded.

The Chronicle Herald

Halifax to redo Windsor-Chebucto-Cunard streets intersection

Halifax is looking for ideas on rerouting a confusing intersection near the Halifax Common, which has been baffling drivers through 150 years of vehicular advancements, from the horse-and-carriage to today. The intersection connecting Windsor Street, Chebucto Road and Cunard Street “has been considered for re-alignment since the 19th century” says city RFP.

CBC

International

London U.K. Mayor Sadiq Khan speaks in Montreal

Sadiq Khan says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “sunny ways” have turned Canada into a “beacon of hope” and an example of how a G7 country should treat those who are vulnerable and need help. Khan, who was speaking at a global progress summit alongside Trudeau in Montreal during his first foreign visit as mayor of London.

CBC

Other

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