Real estate investors pile into Toronto

Real estate investors pile into Toronto

The Toronto region posted its seventh year of record commercial-property sales and there’s room to rally as a buoyant economy leads to surging demand for everything from hotels to offices, according to Altus Group Ltd. “You’re going to see large global companies wanting to position themselves in Toronto,” with its proximity to the U.S., Robert Courteau, CEO of the Toronto-based real estate consultancy, said in an interview.

Bloomberg – Toronto Star

Toronto’s King Street project enters pivotal phase

When the King Street pilot was first envisioned, it was about more than speeding up streetcars. City planners dreamed of transforming the crucial roadway, discouraging drivers in favour of transit and adding dynamic public space that would reshape the corridor. Instead, the city “shelved” broader plans to improve the look and feel of King Street, nervous that being too radical would bring political and public opposition.

Globe and Mail

Ex-CEO Dallaire completes his exit from Cominar REIT

The transformation of Cominar REIT (CUF-UN-T) continued Monday. The trust, in the midst of a major selloff of assets valued at up to $2.6 billion, announced Michel Dallaire has resigned as chairman of its board of trustees, and as trustee.  In a release announcing the departure, Cominar said Dallaire is leaving “in order to devote his time and energy on future development projects of the Groupe Dallaire in Québec City.” 

Property Biz Canada

Finally! Former Winnipeg Target store gets new life

When Shindico landed the first urban-format Target in Canada in 2013, it was supposed to be the finest of feathers in the cap for one of Manitoba’s largest and most successful developers. The two-storey, 133,000-square-foot structure constructed on the former Canad Inns Stadium site would be a flagship for the development and real estate management company, which started modestly more than 40 years ago in Portage la Prairie, Man.

Property Biz Canada

Partners REIT announces resignation of COO Paul Harrs

Partners Real Estate Investment Trust (PAR-UN-T) Friday announced the resignation of chief operating officer Paul Harrs. In addition, the REIT underwent a reorganization of all divisions and corporate operations with the aim of maintaining tenant service levels while reducing administrative and property costs. The REIT estimates the proforma normalized total cost savings to be approximately $800,000 annualized after all changes are implemented in fiscal 2018.

Globe Newswire

Honest Buildings makes additional CRE investments

Honest Buildings, the only project management technology built and backed by CRE owners, has raised additional investment in its Series B, bringing the total round to $21 million. The additional investment is led by real estate owners Oxford Properties Group, which owns and manages 60 million square feet of commercial real estate globally, as well as New York-based The Durst Organization and national owner DivcoWest Real Estate Investments.

PR Newswire

Two new office developments in Vancouver’s Railtown

A Vancouver-based developer is planning to build two new office buildings in the historic Railtown district of the city. Founder Brian Roche said Rendition Developments has plans for a seven-level, 152,000-square-foot building called The Maker Exchange as well as a six-level, 36,000-square-foot building called Bench.

Property Biz Canada

Airbnb in for a rude awakening in 2018?

The beginning of the year brought both good and bad news for Airbnb. The home-sharing site’s legal dispute with Apartment Investment & Management Co. over whether Airbnb encouraged or enabled tenants to break their lease agreements ended in early January. The court decided in favour of Airbnb. Later last month, a San Francisco regulation forced the company to reduce its listings by almost a half.

CP Executive

Chinese mobile payments launched at select CF shopping centres

OTT Pay Inc., a Canadian payment firm, announced the two largest Chinese mobile payments are now available at select Cadillac Fairview (CF), Canada’s preeminent real estate owners with leading shopping centres across Canada, locations. “With many CF shopping centres designated as official tourist destinations, tourism continues to play a big role in our retail business,” said Cadillac Fairview director, Loyalty Christine Poirier.

Canada Newswire

Chinese outbound investment in global RE to fall by up to 40%

In the face of tightening capital constraints, outbound Chinese institutional investment could fall by up to 40% this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The real estate consultancy’s latest Chinese investment intentions survey suggests that capital flows into overseas real estate will fall 30-40 per cent on 2017 levels. The worst-hit sectors are expected to be premium office towers, retail and hotels, particularly in the U.S., Australia and Canada.

IPE Real Assets

Canada’s pot heavyweights have global ambitions

Around once a month, an armoured truck pulls away from a loading dock at the old Hershey Co.’s chocolate factory in Smiths Falls, Ont., carrying boxes packed with dozens of kilograms of marijuana destined for Germany. Bumping across the roads south of Ottawa, the truck heads to an undisclosed airport, where the product is stored in a secure depot before crossing the Atlantic on a direct cargo flight.

Regina Leader-Post

Liberty to sell remaining suburban office holdings

Ramping up its transition out of the office sector and into the business of owning warehouse and logistics property, Liberty Property Trust (LPT-N) said it hopes to raise up to $800 million for reinvestment into industrial acquisition and development by divesting its remaining suburban office portfolio by the end of the year.

Costar Group

Office deals in Brooklyn rise, while multi-family sees fewer trades

While multi-family and land sales in Brooklyn fell last year, office investment quintupled. Office deals in the borough totaled $757 million in 2017, up 553 percent from 2016, according to a recent report from Ariel Property Advisors. The two deals that drove that volume were CIM Group’s $171-million buy of SL Green Realty’s 16 Court Square, and RFR Realty and Kushner Companies’ $408 million acquisition of a stake in the Dumbo Heights office portfolio.

The Real Deal

Tampa among top five U.S. markets for office investors

Ten-X Commercial ranked Tampa among its top five “buy markets” in a report on U.S. office markets. The online real estate transaction platform ranked Tampa as the fourth-best market in the nation for office property investors. The firm reported a lack of newly built office space held Tampa’s office vacancy rate at 17.9 per cent in Q3 2017, and rents have been growing about two per cent a year.

The Real Deal

Norges wealth fund eyes long game in Japanese property

The property-investment arm of Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is keen to buy more real estate in Japan after making its first investment in the country last year. Norges Bank Real Estate Management has the capacity to complete $912 million US deals in Japan each year “if the right opportunities come along,” CEO Karsten Kallevig said.

Bloomberg

Market Trends and Research

Private equity activity falls in North America

Even as private equity real estate fundraising totals fell short of recent years, 2017’s deal activity set a new high water mark globally, Preqin indicated Friday. The firm reported 5,191 deals for the year, totalling US$287 billion, surpassing the previous record-high established a year earlier. However, while North America continues to account for the majority of deal activity, its share has declined since 2012 while Europe’s has grown.

GlobeSt.com – GlobeSt.com

What’s in store for the flexible office space trend?

Amol Sarva is co-founder and CEO of New York-based Knotel, a flexible office provider. In this NREI Q&A, Sarva discusses what’s driving the start-up’s growth, the evolution of the office sector to include flexible space and the role of both disruptive start-ups like Knotel and office owners will play in the shift to flexible formats.

National Real Estate Investor

Real Estate Companies

CBRE, JLL report stronger than expected year-end results

The largest and second-largest global CRE services companies reported strong financial results and robust leasing and sales activity in Q4 2017. Both CBRE Group Inc. (CBG-N) and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL-N) reported earnings that beat analyst expectations. CBRE  posted double-digit revenue growth of around $4.3 billion in the quarter, largely reflecting commissions from robust leasing activity.

CoStar Group – CP Executive

	RENX 2018 media kit is now available
	RENX 2018 media kit is now available. Enquire about our blended advertising rate that combines newsletter and website exposure. Advertising that reaches thousands of professionals in the commercial real estate industry every business day. Contact sales@renx.ca, 1-855-569-6300

 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Would Forest City agree to a Brookfield deal?

Recently, there has been talk Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) is interested in acquiring Forest City Realty Trust (FCE-A-N) — a Cleveland-based REIT undergoing formal review of strategic alternatives that could include anything from a merger to nothing at all. But with the supposed offer price not “meaningfully higher than where the stock currently trades,” according to Bloomberg, it might be a hard sell.

National Real Estate Investor

U.S. REITs had a bad week amid market volatility

SL Green RealtyThe new year has gone from bad to worse for real estate investment trust investors, as share prices fell amid global market volatility last week. As of midday Friday, Vornado Realty Trust’s stock (VNO-N) was down 4.3 per cent since the beginning of the week. Boston Properties (BXP-N) was down four per cent, Equity Residential (EQR-N) down 6.2 per cent and SL Green Realty (SLG-N) down 6.9.

The Real Deal

Cannabis REIT shows progress a year after IPO

Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR-N) is the only publicly traded REIT focused on the cannabis industry. The IPO itself was truly a milestone for the cannabis industry, and, 15 months later, IIPR looks to be on track to grow its portfolio of cannabis cultivation and production properties.

Forbes

Restaurants and Eateries

Tim Hortons’ sales slow; Restaurant Brands’ profit soars

Tim Hortons closed out 2017 with razor-thin same-store sales growth, while the fast food chain’s parent company – Restaurant Brands International (QSR-T) – beat profit estimates amid double-digit sales growth in its Burger King division. Fourth-quarter sales at Tim Hortons stores open for more than a year inched up 0.1 per cent, while overall sales at the chain rose 2.4 per cent to US$1.75 billion.

BNN – CTV – MarketWatch – Financial Post

Cannabis industry news

LCBO picks Shopify to run online marijuana sales

The Ontario government has inked a deal to use Shopify Inc.’s (SHOP-T) e-commerce platform for cannabis sales online and in stores as part of its plan to be the province’s sole distributor of legal recreational marijuana. The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (OCRC), a subsidiary of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, will use the Ottawa-based company’s online store software for its online and mobile sales portal.

Globe and Mail

Marijuana producers enter retail race as legalization looms

As the race to produce enough cannabis for the soon-to-be-legal market gets increasingly crowded, licensed producers are setting their sights on the next frontier in the race for maximum pot profitability: developing retail stores. Pot producers have been ramping up production in preparation for the legalization of marijuana for recreational use later this year and are looking to deploy their cash in more profitable ways.

Globe and Mail – Calgary Herald

New Development

North Van advances mixed-use development plan

Despite concerns over residential/industry conflict and ever-present gridlock, District of North Vancouver council amended their official community plan Monday, nudging the Maplewood Village plan forward. The last of the district’s major town centres to advance, Maplewood Village is envisioned as 1,500 condo and townhouse units nestled among a wide swath of bustling light-industrial land.

Business In Vancouver

Nikola Motor selects Arizona for $1B plant

Nikola Motor Co. will erect its hydrogen-electric, semi-truck manufacturing headquarters facility in the City of Buckeye, roughly 35 miles west of Phoenix. The electric-vehicle manufacturer will invest in excess of $1 billion to realize the 1 million-square-foot development, which will result in the creation of 2,000 jobs.

CP Executive

International

Samsung raises second U.S. RE debt fund for Korean investors

Samsung SRA Asset Management has closed its second U.S. real estate debt fund, raising $418 million Cdn from Korean investors. It raised $350 million more than the first fund, launched in 2016, but like its predecessor will focus on the U.S. office market, investing in B-notes and mezzanine debt. Samsung SRA will target six gateway cities – New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

IPE Real Assets

Technology

KingSett announces Ottawa’s first Wired Certified office properties

KingSett Capital and WiredScoree  announced 66 and 130 Slater Street are the first office properties in Canada’s capital to commit to the Wired Certification platform. KingSett Capital has also signed up its remaining downtown Toronto office portfolio after certifying Scotia Plaza at the Platinum level during WiredScore’s Toronto launch in October.

WiredScore

Other

	RENX has surpassed 10,385 Twitter followers
	Recent follower R2Investments is a Canadian real estate investment platform for both debt and equity placements.
	Follow RENXca, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian real estate professionals.