Silvertip Resort owners have big plans

Silvertip Resort owners have big plans

Owners of the Silvertip Resort in Canmore, Alta., have a billion-dollar idea to build a gondola to the tea house on top of Mount Lady MacDonald. The project also includes a 200,000- to 300,000-square-foot conference centre and casino, along with a 1,300-room hotel. Silvertip Resort CEO Guy Turcotte it would be one of the largest conference centres in the country.

CBC

Calgary developer invests in Mexican resort market

Former Canadian Olympian and current Calgary developer Cary Mullen has blown up some myths about investing in Mexican real estate, but it took diligent digging to discover a route to safety and potential profit. Mullen purchased oceanfront property near Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca to build Vivo Resorts, a 76-acre gated community of luxury residences. 

Western Investor

CT REIT caps off busiest acquisition year

Despite president and CEO Ken Silver’s contention “that being a boring REIT is not a bad thing,” CT REIT (CRT.UN-T) has come off an uncharacteristically exciting year, racking up a total of 16 acquisitions, three developments and 10 intensifications in ongoing developments for a total cost of $598 million. 

Property Biz Canada

Metro Vancouver industrial vacancy hits 10-year low

Metro Vancouver’s tight industrial sector has seen vacancy rates plunge to 2.4 per cent, the lowest level since 2007. “Absorption for the year was four million square feet, the second-highest total ever,” said a report from CBRE, a commercial real estate broker. CBRE notes the film industry, which grabbed about a third of all the new industrial leases last year, was a primary driver, along with traditional demand for mid-bay lease space.

Western Investor – Property Biz Canada

Food market central to Upper Canada Mall reno

Oxford Properties Group continues to enhance its food and beverage offerings at its shopping centres, with Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket, Ont., the latest.  Construction began this month on a $60-million redevelopment that involves the expansion of a former Target store that’s been vacant since the American retailer pulled out of Canada two years ago.

Property Biz Canada

Milestone, Starwood in talks over raising bid: Sources

Milestone Apartments REIT (MST.UN-T), which last month agreed to be acquired by Starwood Capital Group (STWD-N) for about $1.7 billion, has started talks with the U.S. private investment firm about raising the initial bid, sources told Reuters. The move comes days after proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services issued a report recommending Milestone unitholders vote against the transaction. 

Reuters

Trump tower developer girds for opening

Joo Kim Tiah takes a breather during a hectic day, reflecting on the long journey to get to Tuesday’s controversial grand opening of Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver. The president of developer Holborn Group is doing some inspections as workers put the finishing touches on the 63-storey high-rise.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Vancouver Province – Victoria Times Colonist

The economic case for retrofitting buildings

Beyond social responsibility, more and more data are proving it makes economic sense for landlords to retrofit their buildings and make them sustainable and energy efficient. Just as today’s consumers are willing to pay a little more for organic food, tenants will pay more and stay longer in green buildings.

Globe and Mail

Former P.E.I. convent reborn as a luxury hotel

On a recent visit to her former Notre Dame convent, Sister Elizabeth Dunn surveys the dramatic transformation underway at the cherished downtown Charlottetown landmark. Sold to developers in 2014 and midway through a $9-million renovation, the 19th-century heritage building is set to open this spring as Sydney Boutique Inn and Suites in the heart of P.E.I.’s capital.

Globe and Mail

Sears two-point uh-oh

Last March, Sears Canada (SCC-T) announced a transformation initiative called Sears 2.0. The idea was to cut costs by shrinking and simplifying stores, while reigniting sliding sales by expanding online offerings. In September, the first revamped store was unveiled north of Toronto. Gone are the dividers between departments. Will the relaunch work?

Globe and Mail

Sunrise Records to move into 70 HMV locations

Sunrise Records is placing a major bet on Canadian music sales with plans to move into 70 retail spaces being vacated by HMV Canada. The Ontario-based music retail chain has negotiated new leases with mall landlords across the country. Sunrise’s expansion gives the company a quick foothold in the Canadian music scene just as the industry’s largest retailer closes shop.

Globe and Mail – CBC

Holt Renfrew to shutter hr2 division

Holt Renfrew will shut down its ‘premium off-price’ hr2 division in mid-2017. The concept, which launched in the spring of 2013, was expected to expand nationally, but only opened two stores. Holt Renfrew president Mario Grauso told WWD the company will focus on its seven full-line stores in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Mississauga and Montreal.

Retail Insider

Downtown Kamloops: Dying or thriving?

Several empty buildings and storefronts line the streets of downtown Kamloops. Erwin’s Bakery closed up shop in mid-February to move to the Mt. Paul Industrial Park across the Thompson River. The Fireside Steakhouse and Bar in the Plaza Hotel closed its doors the same week and laid off 20 unionized employees.

CBC

Environmentalists clash over Montreal’s electric train

Will the proposed electric train for the Montreal region be good or bad for the environment? It depends on which environmental groups you ask. Two groups of outspoken environmental activists find themselves on opposite ends of the debate over a $5.9-billion Réseau électrique métropolitain. 

Montreal Gazette

U.S. CRE steady as she grows

Stability and decent yields will continue to underpin the commercial real estate sector this year, according to the National Association of Realtors’ quarterly commercial real estate forecast. A key theme for 2017 is the growing demand in smaller markets. 

GlobeSt.com

Market Trends and Research

Toronto office demand remains strong

In its Real Estate Market Research study published today, Newmark Knight Frank Devencore reported the vacancy rate for all office classes in downtown Toronto was 6.4 per cent at the end of Q4-16, up slightly from the 5.6% reported at the end of 2015. More than 2.2 million square feet of new office space is coming to the downtown market in 2017.

Marketwired – Marketwired

Anbang acquisition raises questions about Ottawa strategy

If the prime minister is interested in taking a second crack at Rona Ambrose’s question, he would do well to call up Stephen Schwarzman. Schwarzman is the CEO of the Blackstone Group, (BX-N ) a Godzilla-sized private equity firm in New York with $100 billion US in assets under management. He’s also economic adviser to Donald Trump. 

Toronto Star

Real Estate Companies

British Pacific Properties prez mountain man at heart

Geoff Croll, who joined British Pacific Properties 11 years ago, became president of the real estate development firm in 2014. BPP’s latest project on West Vancouver land owned by the Guinness brewing family since 1931 — the first was the British Properties — is Cypress Village. The mixed-use community will give more people access to the mountain, Croll says.

BCBusiness

REOC Financial Reports

Latest reports:

* The Second Cup Ltd., (SCU-T), Canada Newswire   

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Jail house REIT prices rockin’

The stock price of prison REITs are rocking following the Justice Department’s announcement it was backing off plans to curtail the use of private prisons. Instead, DOJ signalled full support of their use, particularly in light of the fact the Trump administration has authorized the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) to launch an aggressive round up of individuals who have violated the nation’s immigration laws. 

CoStar Group

Bargain shopping in U.S. mall REIT sector

The U.S. mall REIT sector continues to get crushed as department store chains are scrambling to downsize space and reduce rent liabilities. JC Penney (JCP-N) recently announced it plans to shutter 130-140 stores in the coming months in an effort to improve profit margins. Sears Holdings (SHLD-Q) also announced its plans to close 150 stores and Macy’s (M-N) is closing 68 stores.

Forbes

Retail

Nordstrom surges after belt-tightening effort

Nordstrom Inc., (JWN-N) is turning to cost cuts and e-commerce to keep investors happy. The stock rose the most in more than three months after Nordstrom posted profit of $1.37 a share last quarter, excluding some items. The results signalled Nordstrom is making faster progress streamlining its operations than expected.

Bloomberg

Toronto says farewell to Honest Ed’s

There’s no place like Honest Ed’s, so of course its goodbye party had to be something special. Though the belovedly garish department store closed its doors in December after 68 years of bargains, Toronto had the chance to say one final farewell to Honest Ed’s this weekend before the building gets demolished.

Toronto Star

Wal-Mart too pricey for U.K. shoppers

Two years ago, Gemma Williams switched to Aldi from Asda for her grocery shopping, and thanks to the £200 ($326 Cdn) she and her husband estimate they are saving every month, they aren’t going back. “If we go to Asda we always notice we end up spending almost double what we would at Aldi,” said Ms. Williams.

Wall Street Journal – Reuters

Gap CEO: Retail bankruptcies good news for us

On a call with analysts and investors on Thursday, Gap (GPS-N) CEO Art Peck noted the company is in a position to benefit from the thinning of the retail crowd. “When the lights go off and the windows get boarded over, that is market share that is made available to the rest of the industry,” said Peck.

Forbes – USA Today

Restaurants and Eateries

Wendy’s plans self-ordering kiosks at 1,000 locations

Wendy’s (WEN-Q) says it plans to install self-ordering kiosks at about 1,000 locations by the end of the year. A typical location would have three kiosks, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Higher-volume restaurants will be given priority for the kiosks. Wendy’s chief information officer, David Trimm, said the kiosks are intended to appeal to younger customers and reduce labour costs.  

Business Insider

Imvescor completes acquisition of Ben & Florentine

Imvescor Restaurant Group Inc.  (IRG-T) today announced the successful completion of substantially all of the assets of Ben & Florentine, a leading franchisor in the breakfast and lunch category with over 40 locations across Québec, Ontario and Manitoba. The definitive agreement had been announced on Dec. 20.  The purchase price was approximately $17.7 million.

Canada Newswire

Infrastructure

Governments pledge funds for Winnipeg infrastructure

Winnipeggers will celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday with more than 150 road and sidewalk projects courtesy of the three levels of government. The infrastructure work, announced Friday by Mayor Brian Bowman, federal MP Jim Carr, and provincial Minister of Families Scott Fielding, will see a total of $105 million go to specific local roads, back lanes and sidewalk projects. 

Winnipeg Free Press

Technology

Robot barista eliminates the wait

As Katy Franco waited for her morning coffee, passersby pulled out their phones and snapped photos and video of her barista. Another woman drifted towards the barista and asked no one in particular: “What’s going on here?” Franco’s barista was a robot. It’s part of an automated coffee shop called Cafe X.

Winnipeg Free Press

Other

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