Toronto land zoned for employment use shrinking

Toronto land zoned for employment use shrinking

In the past 12 years, the City of Toronto has boomed in population, jobs and property values, but one key measure in the city has been shrinking: the amount of land zoned purely for employment has shrunk by almost 10 per cent. The key driver of this erosion has been the creeping encroachment of residential development on some of the land protected for employment use only.

Globe and Mail – Property Biz Canada

Slate bets on downtown Calgary’s revival

Toronto-based Slate Asset Management LP is wagering $60 million on a turnaround in Calgary’s moribund CRE market by launching a top-to-bottom renovation of one of the city’s landmarks, the 40-floor Scotia Centre. The plan starts with renaming the 620,000-square-foot building Stephen Avenue Place to reflect the fact Bank of Nova Scotia recently moved its Calgary-based employees to a nearby tower owned by Brookfield Property Partners LP (BPY-UN-T).

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

NYX Capital expands into ‘underserved’ self-storage market

NYX Capital Corp. has partnered with Bluebird Self Storage to develop a state-of-the-art self-storage facility at the site of the former office of The National Post in Toronto. The $40-million-plus development at 1450 Don Mills Road is just one of several self-storage facilities the Toronto-based private equity real estate firm plans to develop in the Greater Toronto Area in the years to come.

Property Biz Canada

Amazon to occupy 450,000-sq.-ft. facility at Delta iPort

Amazon (AMZN-Q) Thursday announced its third major fulfillment centre project in Canada in the past six months. The e-commerce giant will occupy a 450,000-square-foot facility on the B.C. Lower Mainland on Tsawwassen First Nation land at the Delta iPort. The project is being developed by GWL Realty Advisors on behalf of project owner, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).

Property Biz Canada

Shopify to invest up to $500M in The Well

Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) Friday announced it is making an investment of up to $500 million as the anchor tenant of The Well, a new real estate development in downtown Toronto. Shopify vice-president and GM of channels Satish Kanwar said the investment represents a statement about the company’s commitment to Canada, and how they plan to remain a foundational part of the Toronto tech industry.

Financial Post – Globe and Mail – Property Biz Canada

Pinterest to open first Canadian office in Toronto

Pinterest will open its first Canadian office in Toronto on Oct. 1 as part of an ongoing effort to expand the platform’s presence outside the U.S. The San Francisco-based technology company runs an online platform that allows users to create digital boards. The Toronto office will be run by country manager Erin Elofson, who previously led Facebook Canada’s sales team and spent 11 years at Microsoft Canada.

CBC

Spaces plans its largest co-working sites in Toronto, Vancouver

Creative workspace company Spaces will open its two largest North American co-working locations, totalling almost 250,000 square feet, in Toronto and Vancouver. The slightly larger of the two locations will be in The Well, a mixed-use development under construction at 460 Front St. W., in Toronto. Spaces The Well is expected to open in 2022. Spaces West Georgia will be in the uniquely designed 400W. Georgia when it opens in Vancouver in 2021.

Property Biz Canada

Jadco revives plans for Ottawa’s Medical Arts Building

A Laval, Que.-based developer is reviving plans for a 27-storey mixed-use highrise on Metcalfe Street in Ottawa that would incorporate elements of the Art Deco-style heritage building currently on the site. Jadco Group has applied to the city to demolish the interior and rear wall of the six-storey Medical Arts Building, which has been designated a heritage structure.

Ottawa Business Journal

Developer pitches twin towers for Halifax

A twin-tower development proposed for the Halifax block of Robie, College and Carlton Streets is ruffling heritage feathers. Kassner Goodspeed Architects and a numbered-company developer took their proposal for a mixed-use building that would comprise approximately 400 residential units to the Halifax peninsula planning advisory committee earlier this week. The proposal is for 32,000 square feet of ground-level commercial space in a building that would feature 26- and 20-storey towers.

Halifax ChronicleHerald

Fort Nelson Dene director named B.C. Land Champion

Fort Nelson First Nation director Lana Lowe, who “has made enormous contributions to manage and protect water, land, and wildlife habitat,” will receive the 2018 Land Champion Award from The Real Estate Foundation of B.C. The award recognizes a person who has made a significant impact on land use, conservation, and/or real estate practices in the province.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Industry 4.0 is really all about real estate

It was refreshing to see politicians at all levels and of all leanings park the partisanship and come together after a series of tornadoes struck the Ottawa-Gatineau region. If only it didn’t take a natural disaster to get them on the same page without the bombast and nonsense. Because another storm is coming, a much more disruptive one, at least from an economic standpoint.

Read more

Summit Industrial to acquire GTA logistics property

Summit Industrial Income REIT’s (SMU.UN-T)  announced Thursday it has waived conditions and will acquire 100 per cent of a 262,610-square-foot single tenant class-A logistics facility in Mississauga. The building has 24-foot clear ceiling height with 21 truck-level doors and four drive-in doors, spacious truck courts and ample parking. The property is being acquired in a sale-leaseback transaction from the owner. Summit will pay $33.5 million or $125 per square foot.

Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Artis to acquire Prime Therapeutics’ Minnesota HQ for $98.5M

Winnipeg-based Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (AX.UN-T) has a purchase agreement to buy Prime Therapeutics’ new corporate headquarters in Eagan, Minn., for almost $100 million. The campus at 2900 Ames Crossing Rd. is a two-part project that will soon be home to Prime Therapeutics, said Philip Martens, Artis’ executive vice-president for the U.S. market. Prime Therapeutics is a pharmacy benefit management company owned by Chicago-based health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield.

CoStar Group – Property Biz Canada

The rehabilitation of Parliament Hill’s West Block

The Parliament buildings were first constructed in the lead-up to Confederation in 1867. Political representatives from the new country needed a place to gather and debate the issues of the day. Flanking Centre Block on either side is East Block and West Block, which both contain offices and meeting rooms. Other government buildings have been added over the years nearby.

Globe and Mail

Court to rule on Canary Wharf’s Brexit-linked lease clash

The court case that will determine whether the European Medical Agency (EMA) can escape its 25-year, $842 million Cdn London office lease due to Brexit will include evidence, a judge has decided. The case has implications for the UK office market, which if found in favour of the EMA, could set a precedent for other companies looking to release themselves from tenancies due to the UK’s departure from the EU.

IPE Real Assets

Real Estate Companies

Goodfood doubles size of Montreal production facility

Goodfood Market Corp. (FOOD-T) announced it is expanding its Montreal facility with the signing of a lease for an additional 72,000 square feet adjacent to the company’s current location. The five-year lease, with three five-year renewal options, will double the production capacity of the Montreal facility and increase facility size to 155,000 square feet. The new facility is expected to be operational in fiscal year 2019.

Globe Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

CAPREIT, Dream Global defy the laws of gravity

Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT) (CAR.UN-T) and Dream Global REIT (DRG.UN-T) have been greatly outperforming their Canadian peers in price appreciation by +46% in the last three years. Canadian Apartment Properties REIT owns a best-in-class portfolio of multi-unit residential properties, including apartment buildings, townhouses and land lease communities located in or near major urban centres across Canada.

Motley Fool – Property Biz Canada

Legal Corner

Cushman & Wakefield embroiled in two lawsuits

Cushman & Wakefield is facing lawsuits from two former high-ranking executives who independently allege the brokerage giant used race, gender and/or a baseless performance improvement plan to withhold promotions and ultimately end their employment. Former president of Valuation & Advisory Americas Monica Nicole Urquhart-Bradley filed a lawsuit against Cushman & Wakefield on Tuesday claiming discrimination based on gender and race in violation of the 1866 Civil Rights Act.

Bisnow – The Real Deal

Retail

Bass Pro Shops latest big box store to open in Halifax

Bass Pro Shops Wednesday became the latest in a string of Halifax “destination” big box stores to open in the era of online shopping, which Ed McHugh, a business professor at the Nova Scotia Community College, hopes will create a spillover effect for local shops. “I think retail is trying to shake itself up. Certainly the brick-and-mortar existence is under attack because online shopping . . . is growing,” said McHugh.

Toronto Star – City News

AT&T expands footprint with 1,000 phone stores

A 3,000-square-foot space designed to be part coffeehouse, part retail store, and part community gathering is scheduled to open this week in Seattle. It’s AT&T’s first coffee shop, a test shop aimed at drawing more people in to test new products or pick up online orders. It’s part of the communication company’s aggressive strategy to “have one of the fastest-growing retail footprints” in the United States. 

CoStar Group

Cannabis industry news

Ontario won’t set limit on number of private stores

The sky’s the limit for private pot shops in Ontario, and recreational tokers will be able to fire up wherever it’s legal to puff on cigarettes under new legislation being introduced by Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government. There will be no ceiling on the number of stores allowed to get provincial licences if their applications make the grade, Attorney General Caroline Mulroney and Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said Wednesday.

Toronto Star – CBC – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

New Development

Make Waterdown part of Burlington, mayor tells province

Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring is asking the province to make Waterdown part of Burlington to help it solve its growth issues. And an annoyed Fred Eisenberger, Hamilton’s mayor, called the proposal “outrageous” and not “neighbourly,” said he had a better solution: Hamilton should annex all of Burlington. Goldring visited Queen’s Park with other mayors to meet with the Minister of Municipal Affairs about the Places to Grow Act.

CBC – CBC

Sports Venues

Real estate market tightens squeeze on golf industry

Golf courses seem to always be in play when it comes to Lower Mainland land-use debates. Earlier this year, Surrey’s city council approved the development of 325 homes on part of Eagle Quest Golf’s Coyote Creek course. In March, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson proposed turning one of the city’s municipally owned golf courses into a park. The suggestion comes after wildlife and biodiversity concerns were raised over a 2012 proposal to turn the course into housing.

Business In Vancouver

Manitoba writes off Blue Bombers’ stadium loan

The Manitoba government is writing off the second of two loan segments that helped finance a new stadium for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Premier Brian Pallister said Wednesday there is no reasonable chance the Bombers and others in the consortium that owns Investors Group Field can repay the $82 million.

CBC – Winnipeg Free Press – Global News

Renovation and Restoration

Museum of Contemporary Art rises from TO factory building

An art museum that opened Saturday at a new location in an old factory aims to put Toronto on the map of global contemporary art. The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, or MOCA, now occupies five floors of a heritage building known as the Tower Automotive Building, 158 Sterling Rd. The building, in Toronto’s Junction Triangle, used to be an aluminum factory.

CBC

Infrastructure

Manitoba cell phone dead zone finally getting towers

The communities are only about an hour from Winnipeg, but they’ve been with spotty cell phone service for almost a decade. Bell MTS announced the rural community of Woodridge will have a working cell tower next week while the municipalities of Zhoda and Stuartburn will get theirs in 2019. In 2011, wildfires threatened the community of Marchand. One fire chief was forced to break into a store to use the landline.

Global News – CBC

Other

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