HBC chairman: Time may be ripe for REIT

HBC chairman: Time may be ripe for REIT

Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) had its biggest gain in 16 months after chairman Richard Baker signalled it might take its real estate assets public, unlocking value for the Canadian retailer as same-store sales decline. A REIT IPO has been a goal since Hudson’s Bay teamed up with REITS in the U.S. and Canada to create joint ventures two years ago.

Bloomberg – Financial Post – The Real Deal – Motley Fool

Good times may be over for Canadian REITs: CIBC

Let’s hope REIT investors have enjoyed the ride over the past 25 years because the next decade and more won’t be as attractive. That’s the big picture outlook presented by the real estate equity analysts at CIBC World Markets (CM-T), who have undertaken a four-part series on the sector — titled Beyond the Headlines. 

Financial Post

Major office players must heed tenant demands

The drivers behind the need for new office space have been evolving, as have the types of spaces they’re looking for, presenting challenges for landlords. “Owners have to do whatever is necessary” to give tenants what they want,  Allied Properties REIT President and CEO Michael Emory told panelists at CIBC’s 22nd annual real estate conference. 

Property Biz Canada

Winnipeg tech sector forges ahead

The brick warehouses that line Winnipeg’s Exchange District look the same as they did in the mid-19th century, but commodity traders and grain transporters have moved out and tech companies have moved in. The city has developed a tech sector that enabled Winnipeg to reinvent itself and grow in a way mid-sized cities with troubled industrial legacies can follow.

TechCrunch – Winnipeg Free Press

REX Awards recognize best of CRE world

The Greater Toronto chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP) honoured four individuals and seven projects at the 16th annual NAIOP Real Estate Excellence (REX) Awards on April 3 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Property Biz Canada

Energy HQ tug-of-war could send companies to U.S.

Alberta and Saskatchewan are fighting over the shrinking number of energy head offices, but Crescent Point Energy Corp. CEO Scott Saxberg thinks they should be more concerned about Canadian spending — and even head offices — migrating to the U.S. There is no border for companies such as Crescent Point with operations in both countries.

Financial Post

Repsol to sublet downtown Calgary offices

Spanish oil and gas giant Repsol SA is looking to sublet some of its downtown Calgary office space, adding to a market already swollen by energy industry cutbacks and layoffs. Repsol’s Canadian branch has vacated eight of its 22 floors in the 52-floor Bankers Hall West over the past year and is now seeking tenants to take over its leases.

CBC

Canadian hotel sector investments hit $4B

Hotel sales activity is expected to fall in 2017 after the second best year on record for volume, as Chinese investment helped drive the market last year. Hotel sales transactions hit $4.1 billion last year, Colliers International Hotels said Thursday, but the company expects that figure to decline to $3 billion in 2017. 

Financial Post

Chief investment officer leaving la Caisse

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec announced Roland Lescure has decided to leave his position as chief investment officer to enter public and political life. An international recruitment process for the position has been launched. In the interim, president/CEO Michael Sabia will take on Lescure’s responsibilities.

Canada Newswire

Costco finds a willing and growing market in Canada

Unless you’re there on a Saturday, constantly trying to avoid collisions with oversized shopping carts, you probably like Costco (COST-Q) , even though it will cost you more to shop there as of June.  The basic membership fee is going up to $60 from $55, while premium folks will have to pay $120, up from $110. Paying to spend is an incredible business model. 

Business In Vancouver

CPPIB enters India’s burgeoning shopping mall market

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) plans to invest $330 million in its first retail property joint venture in India. The arrangement will eventually give the Canadian investor a 49 per cent stake in a platform to build and redevelop shopping malls in a country forecast to become the world’s third-largest consumer market.

IPE Real Estate – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

7-Eleven operator to buy U.S. stores from Sunoco

Sunoco LP (SUN-N) said Thursday it would sell 1,110 convenience stores to Japan’s Seven & i Holdings Co for $3.3 billion US as the Texas-based company shifts its focus to its fuel supply business. Sunoco’s shares jumped as much as 24 per cent to $29.50 on Thursday – its biggest intraday percentage rise in three years. 

Reuters – Bloomberg – Costar Group

U.S. retailers closing stores at record pace

The battered American retail industry took a few more lumps this week, with stores at both ends of the price spectrum preparing to close their doors. The rapid descent of so many retailers has left shopping malls with hundreds of slots to fill, and the pain could be just beginning.

Bloomberg – CNBC

European CRE announces intended REIT conversion

European Commercial Real Estate Limited (ERE-X), together with its subsidiaries, announced it has filed a preliminary short form prospectus for a marketed offering of 6,000,000 class-B common shares. The corporation intends to reorganize into a publicly listed REIT (European Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust).

Marketwired – Marketwired

CRE investors seeking more security prefer JVs

Commercial real estate developers, operators and investment sponsors are continually faced with the challenge of sourcing capital in an increasingly competitive market, often relying on a blend of multiple sources to expand to the next stage of the business cycle.

GlobeSt.com – National Real Estate Investor – GlobeSt.com

Featured Column

Caveat Emptor: The Romans still have it right

I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt say it again. The Ancient Romans may not have been thinking about real estate when they coined the term “caveat emptor” (buyer beware), but if the sandal fits . . . 

Value: Weighed and Measured

Real Estate Companies

Aviva invests in Canadian RE, Casalova

Aviva Canada announced an equity partnership with real estate marketplace and brokerage Casalova. The $2.5-million investment is being made by Aviva Ventures, Aviva plc’s venture capital arm, which has committed to investing $170 million globally over the next five years in “start-up businesses that will continue to disrupt and transform the insurance industry.”

Canadian Underwriter – Property Biz Canada – IPE Real Estate

Real Estate Investment Trusts

H&R increases unsecured debenture financing

H&R REIT (HR.UN-T) announced that as a result of strong investor demand for its previously announced offering it has agreed to increase the size of the offering to $150 million principal amount of Series N Senior unsecured debentures, which will be offered to the public on a bought deal basis.

Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire

Is RioCan a safe income pick?

RioCan REIT (REI.UN-T) is down 12 per cent in the past nine months and investors are wondering if the stock is a buy at the current level. REITs often come under pressure when the market believes interest rates are going to increase. The sector tends to carry significant debt, so rising interest rates can increase borrowing costs.

Motley Fool – Marketwired

Ten Canadian REITs with attractive yields and valuations

The first quarter of 2017 is now in the books with most sectors contributing relatively strong performance. The S&P/TSX composite total return index came in with a gain of 2.4 per cent, despite a loss of 5.5 per cent from its second-largest sector, energy, which has seen increased volatility on the uncertainty around oil and gas prices.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Retail

Fluevog expansion shows signs of life for shoe retail

Fluevog Shoes plans to open its 22nd store in Edmonton next week, on the heels of opening its 21st store – a second store in Montreal – earlier this year. The openings highlight how small, niche shoe retailers are able to compete against large chains, some of which have had severe troubles.

Business In Vancouver

Footaction opens flagship store in Eaton Centre

Footaction, a New York-based retailer of apparel and footwear lifestyle brands, celebrated the grand opening of its Toronto flagship today. With 6,500 square-feet of premium retail space, the Toronto Eaton Centre location marks the brand’s first expansion outside the U.S.

Canada Newswire

Holt Renfrew shaking things up

The barber chairs are gone, the shoe shine service is closed, the blow-out bar shut in January — Holt Renfrew at Yorkdale has scaled back on the luxury services it began offering customers in 2014 as the Canadian chain underwent a $300 million renovation and expansion to maintain market dominance.

Toronto Star

Walmart’s relentless price war crushing Kroger

Walmart (WMT-N) and Kroger (KR-N) are in a price war, and Walmart is winning. The retailer’s groceries cost about four per cent less than Kroger’s, according to a recent price check by Barclays. Analysts compared prices on a basket of 78 identical items at Walmart and Kroger stores in Nashville, Tennessee, to determine which retailer was cheaper. 

Business Insider

Sports Venues

Hockey Canada’s vision for Northlands Coliseum endorsed

Edmonton officials have endorsed a Hockey Canada vision for Northlands Coliseum that would see four ice sheets, an indoor track and a high-performance dryland training centre established to create a hockey magnet in the city. In a report released Thursday, city officials estimate it would cost $102 million.

Edmonton Journal – CBC – Global News

Renovation and Restoration

Paving paradise at Parc Jean-Drapeau

The devil, as they say, is often in the details. So it is with the $70-million renovation of Parc Jean-Drapeau. Plans were announced two years ago for adding a riverside promenade, creating a walkway linking Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome to Alex Calder’s renowned sculpture, and most notably, building a “natural amphitheatre” to accommodate up to 65,000.

Montreal Gazette

Infrastructure

NCC approves land transfer for new Civic hospital

The National Capital Commission has approved the transfer of federal land on Carling Avenue, paving the way for construction of a new $2-billion Civic hospital at the eastern edge of the Central Experimental Farm. The site includes 50 acres on two levels.

Ottawa Citizen

Demolition of old Champlain Bridge to cost $400M

Tearing down Montreal’s old Champlain Bridge is expected to cost about $400 million, according to preliminary estimates by the federal Crown corporation that manages the structure. It will also cost $124 million to maintain the Champlain Bridge, the busiest in Canada, before it is demolished and replaced, Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc. (JCCBI) said Wednesday.

CBC

Technology

Popularity of retail store flyers is soaring

Mass media are grappling with an ongoing migration of readers from print to digital formats, but when it comes to retail store flyers, consumers still maintain a solid grip on paper. That could all change in five years as digital flyers become increasingly interactive and localized, attendees heard at the Retail Council of Canada’s annual RAC marketing conference.

Financial Post

Other

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