Minto Group selling another piece of Ottawa HQ

Minto Group selling another piece of Ottawa HQ

Ottawa-based Minto Group is selling off another portion of its head office in a deal that would value Minto Place at more than $400 million. The $135-million deal will see the three-building development in downtown Ottawa split three ways, with Investors Group and LaSalle Investment Management each taking one-third along with Minto, which will manage the property. 

CoStar Group – Canada Newswire

Telus selling stake in Vancouver HQ

National telecommunications company Telus is selling its stake in its downtown Vancouver headquarters. Telus offered few details about the sale of what is known as Telus Garden other than to say that during Q3 2018, it expects to record a gain of $170 million on its share of the project. Telus occupies about 160,000 square feet in the building. Amazon is also an anchor tenant in the building. 

CoStar Group – Vancouver Sun

Espace C2: New ‘paradigm’ at Montreal’s Queen E hotel

When Montreal’s Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth was recently renovated in its entirety, owner Ivanhoé Cambridge decided to do away with the existing penthouse suites on the top floor. The idea for the top floor was “if we’re going to do something that changes the perspective of the hotel, we’re going to need to use the best floor,” says Jean Pelland, principal associate at Sid Lee Architecture.

Property Biz Canada

Toronto’s innovative The Plant wins BILD award

The Plant won’t be completed for more than a year, but the mixed-use development at 41 Dovercourt Rd. in Toronto is off to a great start as BILD’s mid-/high-rise project of the year. “We’re very pleased to have won the award, especially given the many other projects that are now underway in the Toronto area,” said Alex Speigel, a partner with Windmill Development Group.

Property Biz Canada

True North acquires GTA office property

True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (TNT.UN-T) announced it has agreed to acquire a 61,000-square-foot office property located at 80 Whitehall Drive in Markham. The purchase price for the property is approximately $20.35 million, exclusive of closing costs. With an average remaining lease term of 11.0 years, the building is 100 per cent occupied by credit-rated tenants who have made significant investments into the property.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Toronto reeling after rain, flash floods

Toronto is dealing with transit chaos Wednesday morning as the city deals with the aftermath of Tuesday night’s heavy rain and flash floods. The downpour, which sent water pouring through ceilings and hallways in several locations downtown, caused power outages and street closures across the city late Tuesday, with several drivers — and at least one streetcar — trapped by rising water in flooded underpasses.

Toronto Star – CBC – Globe and Mail

The People Space: Big moves at PSP Investments, Regional, Chandos

This edition of The People Space features executive and senior manager announcements involving PSP Investments, Ottawa’s The Regional Group, Colliers International (Canada), EXIT Realty, Chandos Construction and more  The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) announced the appointment of Eduard van Gelderen as senior vice-president and chief investment officer. He will lead PSP’s Total Fund Strategy Group and responsible investment, government relations and public policy functions.

Property Biz Canada

Buyers circle HBC Winnipeg flagship

A group of investors is preparing to make a pitch to breathe new life into one of the most recognizable buildings in Manitoba. The Hudson’s Bay Co.’s (HBC-T) flagship Winnipeg location on Portage Avenue has been a growing source of frustration for the retailer because it required less and less of the six storeys for its merchandise. The 650,000-square-foot building was built in 1926.

Western Investor

City Office REIT expands in Metro Phoenix

In a $51-million US deal, City Office REIT (CIO-N) of Vancouver has purchased The Quad, a 14-building, 166,606-square-foot creative office campus in Scottsdale, Ariz. NKF Capital Markets represented the seller, a joint venture of Everwest, George Oliver Cos. and WHI Real Estate Partners. The property is 98 per cent leased.

CP Executive

Fortress’ St. Catharines project placed in receivership

A receiver has been appointed to take control of a Fortress Real Developments Inc.’s project on the waterfront in St. Catharines, Ont., adding to the growing list of legal problems facing the development company. The Union Waterfront Inc. condominium project, which Fortress touted as the heart of the redevelopment of the Port Dalhousie area in St. Catharines, was placed into receivership by a judge on Aug. 3.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Property Biz Canada

Regina Leader-Post building sold

Colliers International says the Leader-Post building in Regina has been sold to Saskatchewan-based syndicated investors. Staff from the daily newspaper will still occupy part of the building, but the space will be leased. The building was originally built in 1964 and an addition was added in 1985. In 2015, Postmedia decided to close the printing facilities. The paper is now printed in Saskatoon. A purchase price was not disclosed.

Winnipeg Free Press

CF suspends use of facial recognition cameras at malls

The Canadian real estate company behind some of the country’s most popular shopping centres says it is suspending the use of cameras embedded in its mall directories while provincial and federal privacy commissioners investigate their usage. Cadillac Fairview says it has been using facial recognition software in their mall directories since June to track shoppers’ ages and genders without telling them.

CBC – Global News – CBC

Rail line crisis threatening Churchill, Manitoba

In a normal year when the train is running, the Home Hardware in Churchill ships about 150 crates of building products to communities in the Eastern Arctic. Last year, after a flood washed away parts of the rail line that was the only land route between the Manitoba town and the city of Winnipeg, it shipped seven. And this year will be not much better.

Globe and Mail – Winnipeg Free Press

CPPIB sets sights on China’s CRE

Canada’s biggest pension fund is riding China’s wave of urbanization for its next stage of real estate growth, as it looks to boost investments in emerging markets. A property investment strategy that started with shopping centres in places such as Thunder Bay and Stoney Creek, Ont., in 2003 has grown to $46.1 billion in commercial real estate in Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Globe Newswire – Bloomberg

Brookfield acquires 100% leasehold interest in Kushner tower

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) Friday announced it has acquired a 100 per cent leasehold interest in 666 Fifth Avenue’s office condo, a 1.5-million-square-foot building in Midtown Manhattan, through one of its real estate investment funds. Brookfield Properties will operate the building and plans a major redevelopment program to upgrade it. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Globe Newswire – Motley Fool

Featured Column

Canada’s labour problem: We need action, not excuses

Thanks to that bellicose fellow down south, we have ourselves a trade war. This is bound to have an impact on employment across various sectors of the Canadian economy. But policymakers shouldn’t let this furore mask the fact that we already had, and continue to have, a labour problem in this country.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Property management market worth $22.04B by 2023

According to a new research report ‘Property Management Market by Component, Solution, Service, Deployment, End-User, Application, and Region – Global Forecast to 2023’, published by MarketsandMarkets the global market size is expected to grow from US$14.47 billion in 2018 to US$22.04 billion by 2023, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.8 per cent during the forecast period.

PR Newswire

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., (JLL-N), PR Newswire

* Melcor Developments Ltd., (MRD-T), Globe Newswire

* Temple Hotels Inc., (TPH-T), Canada Newswire

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* BTB REIT, (BTB-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* Dream Global REIT, (DRG-UN-T), Globe Newswire

* Dream Industrial REIT, (DIR-UN-T), Globe Newswire

* RioCan REIT, (REI-UN-T), Globe Newswire

* Slate Office REIT, (SOT-UN-T), Business Wire

* Slate Retail REIT, (SRT-UN-T), Business Wire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Artis REIT rated a buy by Canaccord Genuity

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust’s (AX-UN-T) move toward “meaningfully” reducing its exposure to the Calgary office sector while building a “substantial” development pipeline in the U.S. is likely to result in a higher-quality REIT possessing more stable cash flow growth, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst Mark Rothschild. Despite reporting Q2 results that fell short of expectations, Rothschild upgraded his rating for the Winnipeg-based REIT to “buy” from “hold.”

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Property Biz Canada

U.S. mortgage REITs post record loan origination activity

Some publicly held mortgage REITS are posting record loan origination numbers this year and raising millions more to extend their hot streak, undeterred by a crowded field of commercial real estate lenders. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, the largest of the group, just concluded the first half of the year originating more loans than in all of 2017. Blackstone Mortgage originated a record $3.9 billion of loans in the second quarter.

CoStar Group

Restaurants and Eateries

Tim Hortons abruptly closes four Cincinnati locations

Tim Hortons parent company Restaurant Brands International (QSR-T) closed four more American locations as the coffee-and-doughnut chain struggles to overcome franchisee discontent and souring public opinion. RBI says it reached a mutual agreement with the franchisee in Cincinnati to close four restaurants. The closures come as Tim Hortons is embroiled in an ongoing public battle with some of its franchisees.

Bloomberg

Cannabis industry news

Investments in cannabis to ramp up with global legalization

According to a recent report compiled by Research and Markets, the North American legal cannabis market value reached a value of more than US$8 billion in 2017 and is projected to reach around US$35 billion by 2023 while expanding at a CAGR of 27.1 per cent. The research specifies that cannabis is gaining prominence in North America due to the increasing acceptance of products for both recreational and medical uses.

PR Newswire

New Development

Portage la Prarie gets first new hotel in 30 years

Portage la Prairie, Man., is getting its first new hotel in three decades thanks to an initiative on an urban reserve. Long Plain First Nation will spend $10 million to build a Microtel Inn and Suites on its urban reserve along the TransCanada Highway at Portage. It’s the hotel chain’s first venture in Manitoba and 20th location in Canada. The hotel will create about 25 full-time jobs.

Winnipeg Free Press

Vikings owner proposes 17-storey tower for Minneapolis

The family that owns the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League is in motion to develop a collection of long-held properties that are clustered near the football team’s two-year-old, $1.1-billion stadium in downtown Minneapolis, beginning with a 17-storey apartment tower. Based in New Jersey, the Wilf family made its fortune in home building, commercial and multi-family development on the East Coast.

CoStar Group

Other

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