Google unveils new Kitchener office

Google unveils new Kitchener office

Google unveiled the stunning new 185,000-square foot headquarters for its Canadian development team Thursday with a high-profile boost from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The 114-year-old former factory has been transformed into the epitome of a new economy workplace with global influence. The building is the centre of Google’s engineering and development work in Canada.

Waterloo Region Record – Toronto Star – CBC News – Financial Post

Lee & Associates opens first Canadian office

Lee & Associates, the largest broker-owned commercial real estate firm in the United States is partnering with DTZ Vancouver Real Estate Ltd. to expand into Canada and opening its first office outside the U.S. The firm, now known as Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate (BC) Ltd., is headed by CRE veteran Chris Anderson.

Commercial Property Executive

An interior makeover for Galeries de la Capitale

Quebec City’s Galeries de la Capitale shopping and entertainment centre is enhancing its $50-million redevelopment project with an additional $40 million in upgrades to its common areas. “We want to provide an experience to the consumers visiting our mall,” said general manager Serge Rossignol. 

Property Biz Canada

Wal-Mart to shutter 269 stores, 154 in U.S.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) is closing 269 stores, more than half of them in the U.S. and another big chunk in its challenging Brazilian market. The stores being shuttered account for a fraction of the company’s 11,000 stores worldwide and less than one per cent of its global revenue.

Globe and Mail – Reuters – Forbes – CoStar Group

A year later, Target creditors still face uncertainty

Creditors of insolvent Target Canada face renewed uncertainty about recovering their debts one year after the U.S.-owned retailer filed for court protection and acknowledged its massive failure. The Ontario Superior Court this week threw out Target Canada’s proposed recovery plan.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Ice District hotel upgraded to JW Marriott

The luxury hotel planned as a towering complement to Edmonton’s Rogers Place has been upgraded to an even more upscale brand, arena district developers said Wednesday. What was originally planned as a Delta Hotel anchoring the first 26 floors of a 55-storey exclusive condo tower will now carry the JW Marriott banner.

Edmonton Journal – Edmonton Journal

CRE should overcome economic challenges: CBRE

Continued low interest rates are expected to contribute to Canadian commercial real estate (CRE) remaining an attractive investment in 2016 despite ongoing challenges imposed by the broader economy. “Clearly there are pockets of concern throughout the country, but overall conditions remain pretty good,” said Paul Morassutti, CBRE Canada’s executive vice-president of valuation and advisory services.

Property Biz Canada

Global perspective crucial for CRE stakeholders: AY

To successfully navigate the commercial real estate markets in 2016, stakeholders will need to keep a global perspective, stay abreast of changes in the broader environment and, increasingly, devise innovative solutions to complex problems. These are some of the key trends noted in Avison Young’s 2016 Canada, U.S. and U.K. Forecast.

Canada Newswire

Calgary office construction No. 5 in N.A.

Calgary is ranked fifth in North America for the most office space currently under construction, according to research by commercial real estate firm Avison Young. In a report released Thursday, AY said Toronto was ranked seventh and of the 20 million square feet of office space under construction in Canada, 60 per cent of it comes from Calgary and Toronto.

Calgary Herald

Calgary industrial market weathers downturn

Calgary’s industrial real estate market remains resilient in the face of falling energy prices. A Colliers International report indicates vacancy was largely unchanged at the end of 2015, at 5.93 per cent, up slightly from 5.87 per cent in the third quarter. The availability rate dropped from 10.42 to 10.37 per cent.

Calgary Herald

Charest heads task force looking to remove Winnipeg rail yards

A task force headed by former Quebec Premier Jean Charest will look at moving the rail yards out of Winnipeg. “Moving rail lines out of the city of Winnipeg is a historic opportunity to reshape our capital city for the future,” said Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, after announcing the creation of the task force on Thursday at The Forks.

CBC News – Winnipeg Free Press – Winnipeg Free Press

Costs pile up for Spadina subway extension

Toronto could be on the hook for an additional $240 million on the overdue Spadina subway extension, while York Region’s share of the anticipated construction claims is about $160 million, according to a report released by the TTC on Friday. That brings the anticipated new cost overruns to $400 million. Overall the project is now tracking to cost about $3.2 billion. 

Toronto Star

Tory’s SmartTrack plan getting smaller, cheaper

Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack transit plan is becoming smaller and cheaper, with the promise of more frequent service, the Globe and Mail has learned. Staff with the city and the regional transit agency Metrolinx have been working on how to integrate SmartTrack with plans to expand GO Transit rail service. A revamped version of the plan is taking shape.

Globe and Mail

Trudeau: Infrastructure spending ‘solution’ for economic woes

VIDEO: Justin Trudeau says the Liberals are “serious about tackling” economic challenges in part through infrastructure spending. The prime minister met with Toronto Mayor John Tory on Wednesday.

Globe and Mail – Winnipeg Free Press

Amazon moves into ocean shipping

Amazon.com Inc‘s (AMZN-Q) China arm has registered as an ocean freight forwarder, a move that will give it more control over shipping products from Chinese factories to U.S. shoppers. The registration is the latest indication Amazon plans to expand its logistics reach to cut costs for its retail business and potentially provide third-party logistics services to other industries.

Reuters – Seattle Times – Globe and Mail

Featured Column

Boomer brains for breakfast!

What do 1,000 baby boomers, a dozen industry leaders, architectural giants Perkins +Will, and yours truly have in common? We’ve all been thinking about Baby Boomers moving to Multi-Family Homes and will be presenting at the UDI Pacific breakfast in Vancouver on Feb. 3.

Read more

Conference Board may be overly optimistic

Traditionally, the general economic activity affecting Saskatchewan’s commercial real estate industry is impacted by three main outputs: agriculture, energy and potash. The Conference Board of Canada has forecast two per cent GDP growth in 2016.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Six U.S. CRE trends in 2016

The U.S. property market landscape in 2016 will appear similar to that of 2015, with a number of interwoven aspects that bode well for savvy investors who can step out in front of ongoing, and in some cases intensifying, economic, demographic and technological trends.

National Real Estate Investor

Real Estate Companies

Firm Capital completed $793M in financings in 2015

Michael Carragher Vice President, Mortgage Investments stated “this was a record year for Firm Capital, we combined our ability to provide creative deal structures for our clients on a timely basis with a focus on the preservation of capital”. Sample transactions completed during 2015 are itemized in the following news release.

Firm Capital news release

FN reaches agreement on land west of Winnipeg

Another First Nation announced it’s setting up development for a new urban reserve – at the site of the old Dairy King in Headingley, Man. Rolling River First Nation released a statement through the Treaty Land Entitlement Office to say it signed a municipal services agreement with the rural municipality of Headingley. 

Winnipeg Free Press

Toronto Star closing Vaughan plant; 300-plus jobs cut

The company that owns Canada’s largest circulation newspaper, the Toronto Star, is laying off more than 300 production and editorial employees in the latest downsizing move in the hard-hit industry. The bulk of the job losses come from a plan by Torstar Corp., (TS.B-T) to sell the its Toronto-area printing plant and outsource the work to Transcontinental (TCL.A-T). 

Montreal Gazette  – Toronto Star – Globe and Mail

REOC Financial Reports

	REITs & REOCs – Third-quarter 2015 report
	RENX has prepared a table with a convenient list of the companies and a summary of links to their reports that will be updated quarterly. Fourth-quarter results will be available at the end of January, 2016. Canadian REITs & REOCs – Third-quarter 2015 report

 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Saudi market regulator approves REIT listing rules

Saudi Arabia’s market regulator said it had approved rules governing the listing of REITs, which could open the door to greater foreign investment in the kingdom’s building sector. The Capital Market Authority (CMA) said it would only accept property appraisals by members of the Saudi Authority for Accredited Valuers (Taqeem).

Reuters

Davis Rea exec likes Automotive Properties

Automotive Properties REIT (APR.UN-T) is a real estate spinoff from one of Canada’s largest private auto dealership groups, the Dilawri Group. The REIT has well-diversified exposure across major Canadian provinces, with a particular emphasis on Ontario dealerships. The company is set to grow through acquisition, and diversify away from their main tenant.

BNN.ca

Kimco Realty sells 31-asset portfolio

New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM-N) announced it sold 88 wholly owned and joint venture properties for $1.7 billion during the fourth quarter for $908.3 million. Sixty-four of these properties were located in the U.S., including at least 31 in the D.C. area and larger Mid-Atlantic region.

Globest.com

Retail

Reitmans to shed 10 per cent of head office staff

Reitmans Canada Ltd. will eliminate 77 positions – about 10 per cent of it head office employees – to reduce costs. The fashion retailer says the cuts are aimed at strengthening the company in an increasingly competitive and challenging environment. The company says the moves are also needed to offset pressures brought on by the impact of a weaker Canadian dollar.

Globe and Mail

J.C. Penney set to close seven U.S. stores

J.C. Penney (JCP-N) is closing seven of its 1,020 stores as part of its annual review. The stores are mostly in smaller markets and none are in Texas, said Penney spokeswoman Daphne Avila. It’s the smallest number of stores Plano, Texas-based Penney has closed in recent years. Last year, Penney closed 41 stores and in 2014 it closed 33.

Dallas Morning News – The Street

Association News

Real Estate Forums 2016 – Winter / Spring Program
Quebec Investment Apartment Conference	Montreal	February 9, 2016
RealCapital	Toronto	February 23, 2016
Vancouver Real Estate Forum	Vancouver	March 30, 2016
Montreal Real Estate Forum	Montreal	April 5, 2016
Quebec City Real Estate Forum	Quebec City	April 27, 2016
Land and Development	Toronto	May 10, 2016
Edmonton Real Estate Forum	Edmonton	May 12, 2016
Winnipeg Real Estate Forum	Winnipeg	May 17, 2016
Calgary Real Estate Strategy and Leasing Conference	Calgary	June 2, 2016

 

New Development

LeBreton Flats proposals include library: Sources

At least one of the two development proposals for LeBreton Flats — and possibly both — include a provision for a new Ottawa central library, sources say. A source, who asked not to be identified, has confirmed the proposal by DCDLS Group, led by the Gatineau-based Devcore Group, includes a library.

Ottawa Citizen

Renovation and Restoration

Place Jacques-Cartier getting a makeover

Montreal is giving itself another gift for its 375th birthday next year: a re-imagined Place Jacques Cartier. At a cost of about $5 million, the plan will see new, standardized terraces installed, a special area for artists and artisans on De La Commune street and new electricity infrastructure in the square.

CBC News – CTV News

Other

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