Sobeys vows best home delivery with Ocado deal

Sobeys vows best home delivery with Ocado deal

Sobeys (EMP-A-T) is vowing to step up its game online, announcing a deal Monday CEO Michael Medline says will give it the best delivery service “on the planet.” The Canadian supermarket operator is teaming up with Hatfield, U.K.-based Ocado to launch a new digital shopping platform. Under the agreement, Ocado will work exclusively with Sobeys on its web site, a new automated warehouse, and delivery management. 

BNN – Reuters – The Telegraph – CBC

Amazon Go tests cashier-less convenience store

The first Amazon Go grocery store, which will offer customers a shopping experience with no checkout counters, is set to open in Seattle today. The Amazon Go store enables a cashless experience through a combination of cameras, sensors, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The technology will track shoppers as they pick up items from the store and charge them to their account as they exit.

Tech Times – Bloomberg – The Guardian – TechCrunch

Toronto mixed-use site a hot commodity

A prime piece of Toronto real estate already zoned for mixed-use development was on the block and attracting interest from a variety of potential purchasers ahead of the offer submission deadline, which expired at noon Friday.  The site encompasses 50,785 square feet and includes two approved development blocks separated by Redrocket Lane. It’s owned by a syndicate of developers and investors.

Property Biz Canada

Old shopping malls can be saved by their parking lots

Aging shopping centres, built decades ago as beacons of fashion and free parking on the suburban fringe, are gradually becoming relics on a sea of inner-city asphalt. But rather than tinker at the margins to squeeze the last nickels out of old stores, some retailers are doing something dramatic with their biggest asset: land.

CBC – Property Biz Canada – Ottawa Citizen

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager shutdown possible: NRCan

On Thursday afternoon, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) advised BOMA Canada about a possible shutdown of the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager due to the expiry of a U.S. government budget deadline and subsequent partial shutdown of U.S. government services.

Sustainable Biz Canada

CPPIB left holding the Neiman Marcus bag

At the height of the 2013 holiday shopping season, the head of private investments for Canada Pension Plan Investment Board flew to Dallas to promote his latest retail conquest. CPPIB and private equity partner Ares Management had earlier revealed they were the new owners of Neiman Marcus, the largest luxury retailer in the U.S. The $6-billion US price tag ranked among the richest the pension fund had ever participated in.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

West Block developer urges Edmonton to keep word on LRT

A developer with a $100-million project on the line urged Edmonton city council this week to stick with its commitment to light rail transit (LRT).  Salima Kheraj, of the InHouse division of Beaverbrook Group, says she thinks “the message was heard” when she and her partner spoke at Monday’s council meeting as councillors debated whether bus rapid transit (BRT) or light rail transit is more cost-effective.

Property Biz Canada

Edmonton’s Ice District skates toward construction milestone

From Katz Group Real Estate president Glen Scott’s corner office on the 22nd floor of the Bell Tower, he has a front row seat to the progress in Edmonton’s Ice District.  Outside his window construction continues on a mixed-use skyscraper, which includes the new JW Marriott hotel and the residential condo part of the development above called Legends Residences, which is still being completed.

CBC – Property Biz Canada

Table Top Cafe aims for 75 stores across Canada

The owner of Edmonton’s first board game cafe and his partners envision as many as 75 franchise stores operating under his brand across Canada. Brian Flowers, who opened the first Table Top Cafe in 2013, has partnered with British Columbia-based franchisor the Define Group to recruit and assist potential owners.

Calgary Herald

Good news for Calgary multi-res, but retail future murky

While Calgary’s downtown office market continued to struggle during 2017 with a high vacancy rate, year-end reports for the retail and multi-residential markets painted a rosier picture. The Calgary 2017 Year-End Retail Market Analysis by Barclay Street Real Estate indicated Calgary’s overall retail vacancy rate was down to 3.1 per cent at the end of the year after rising into the mid-three per cent range earlier in the year.

Property Biz Canada

‘Good-guy’ developers making a positive impact

Property developers are an unpopular species. Hollywood usually portrays them as greedy sharks who make a living turning poor folk out of their homes to put up shopping malls. People in places like Toronto blame them for all those glass condo towers that everyone loves to hate. It hasn’t helped to have a billionaire developer in the White House who personifies the stereotype: flashy, crude, boastful, unscrupulous.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

40% of North Vancouver businesses may leave: Survey

North Vancouver’s business community is warning daily transportation problems are an existential threat to the local economy. More than three-quarters of respondents to a North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce survey of 153 of its member businesses said it is getting harder to retain staff due to long commutes. 40 per cent of respondents said they would consider relocating outside of North Vancouver.

Business In Vancouver

Toronto proposes 10 per cent cap on business-tax hikes

Facing a tax revolt from small businesses on a downtown stretch of Yonge Street, City of Toronto officials are proposing to cap all commercial, industrial and multiresidential tax increases this year at 10 per cent. The move is aimed at helping small businesses survive in neighbourhoods where property values shot up after condominiums went in, as they have along Yonge between College and Bloor streets.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Toronto could hit Amazon HQ2 ‘sweet spot’: Experts

Some Canadian tech experts believe among the 20 cities short-listed as potential locations for the company’s second headquarters, Toronto might just hit “the sweet spot.” While there are a litany of socioeconomic factors the e-commerce powerhouse is said to be considering, one is of particular weight: the availability of talent. This is where Toronto shines, says Shauna Brail, director of the urban studies program at the University of Toronto.

CBC – Recode – Business Insider – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Beijing’s cash-rich real estate funds want to spend, but . . .

Real estate private equity funds in Beijing flush with cash are finding themselves in a bind: there is too much capital chasing too few viable investment opportunities. The capital city’s massive aging and prime-located commercial properties would, in theory, promise vast opportunities for domestic and international funds to execute the classic “buy it, fix it, and sell it” strategy.

South China Morning Post – Xinhua

Market Trends and Research

U.S. banks close record number of branches in 2017

Somewhat lost in the wave of store closure announcements last year was news another major user of retail space abandoned a record amount of square footage. U.S. banks accelerated their pace of branch consolidation last year, closing a net 2,069 locations, an 18 per cent increase over 2016. The closed branches amounts to about 10.46 million square feet of retail space. And that amount does not include reduced square footage from branch relocations.

CoStar Group

Commercial real estate trends to watch In 2018

Political and economic uncertainty has pervaded the past year, with the U.S. economy showing signs of growth amid low inflation and a distressed retail segment in 2017, as accountants struggle to understand all the implications of the recently passed changes to the tax laws and Europe prepares for Brexit. Here’s a look at three commercial real estate trends to watch in 2018.

Forbes – National Real Estate Investor

Are RE investors increasing risk to maintain target returns?

New survey findings have raised the question of whether global institutional real estate investors are taking on undue levels of risk to maintain return targets. The annual investment intentions survey, carried out by real estate associations INREV, PREA and ANREV, has shown investors are increasingly steering away from core investments in favour of higher-return strategies.

IPE Real Assets

Real Estate Companies

RE companies top list of Vision Vancouver donors

New data shows nine of the top 10 donations to Vancouver’s ruling municipal party were from the real estate industry, prompting some critics to raise conflict of interest concerns. Last year, Vision Vancouver collected $278,125 in donations with 65 per cent of the money or $180,000 coming from real estate companies such as Onni Group, Westbank, and Rize.

CBC – Metro News

One of Toronto’s oldest theatres for sale

One of Toronto’s oldest movie theatres is up for sale and some residents in Davisville are hoping to save it before it’s too late. The Regent Theatre has been an institution in the neighbourhood, operating in one capacity or another since 1927. Many in the area have an emotional attachment to the place, together with the fact independent theatres are something of a dying breed.

CBC

Winnipeg call centre opening at former Target location

A third business has announced it will open in the former Target location near CF Polo Park. The Winnipeg-based call centre 24-7 Intouch will open its fourth location in the city in the now-vacant 140,000-square-foot building on St. James Street, which will be subdivided into three spaces. One of those spaces will include a 47,000-square-foot Winners and HomeSense combo store. A third 40,000-square-foot space remains to be filled.

CBC – Winnipeg Free Pess

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Real Estate Investment Trusts

U.S. REITs benefit from prolonged recovery

REITs have continued to show strength throughout the post-crisis cycle, with positive fundamentals across most asset classes. Fitch reviewed these fundamentals as part of its 2018 outlook for U.S. REITs. Taken together, Fitch expects the lower risk growth strategies, good liquidity management, tactical diversification and tighter portfolio control observed over the last few years have generated a solid operating environment that should continue.

CP Executive

Five Canadian REITs/REOCs with significant FFO yields

Temple Hotels (TPH-T) owns and operating hotel property investments across Canada. Melcor REIT (MR-UN-T)  focuses on the acquisition and operation of commercial properties in Western Canada. Slate Retail REIT (SRT-UN-T)  focuses on renting out properties, primarily to grocery stores across the U.S. American Hotel Income Properties REIT (HOT-UN-T) focuses on hotel assets, primarily across the U.S.  Morguard REIT (MRT-UN-T) operates a variety of commercial and industrial properties across six provinces. 

SmallCapPower

Retail

HBC-owned Lord & Taylor to lay off 200 in U.S.

Lord & Taylor has announced it will be laying off about 200 employees at a Pennsylvania distribution centre as it moves some operations to a new location about 80 kilometres away. Parent company HBC (HBC-T) says that while the Wilkes-Barre Township centre is staying open, its Lord & Taylor e-commerce fulfillment operations are moving to the new building in Pottsville, Pa.

Winnipeg Free Press

Never a better time to open retail stores in NYC

Retailers from China and Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and Latin America are scouring city streets for deals they could have only dreamed of in the past. Additionally, Italian and Aussie fashion companies that tested out the market with pop-ups (and liked it) now want a more permanent piece of New York’s retail pie. With rents finally dropping to a deal-making level, the smart companies are rushing to stake out locations they love.

New York Post

Restaurants and Eateries

Uber, McDonald’s enter Vancouver’s food delivery market

Uber Eats, the ride-hailing giant’s food platform, has joined a crowded field of food delivery apps —Door Dash, Skip The Dishes, Foodora and Just Eat — already serving Vancouver when it launched in December.  Uber has partnered with McDonald’s on McDelivery which allows customers to order anything off the Golden Arches’ menu, with the exception of soft serve, and have it delivered to their door. 

Vancouver Sun

WEM gets Canada’s first Bubba Gump shrimp restaurant

The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. is apparently opening its first Canadian outlet this year at West Edmonton Mall. A hoarding on the mall’s second level indicates it will be the site of a Bubba Gump restaurant, which a mall guest services employee indicated should open in March. Representatives of the mall and Houston-based Landry’s Inc., owner of the chain, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Edmonton Journal

Vancouver restaurant moves toward cash-free transactions

Cold, hard cash won’t get you delicious, hot noodles at this Vancouver restaurant. While cash-only restaurants are a common sight around town, one restaurateur is going cash-free instead. Two Marutama Ramen locations have already switched to accept credit, debit and Apple Pay transactions only, while its original West End spot will follow suit beginning Feb. 1.

Vancouver Sun

New Development

Edmonton architect proposes shipping container mini-city

The architect behind some of Edmonton’s most iconic buildings, including city hall, has proposed a new project: a mini city made of shipping containers. Gene Dub pitched the idea to the Edmonton Project and is one of 10 finalists for the contest, which aims to build a new attraction in Edmonton. 

CBC

Frank Gehry unveils designs for long-delayed L.A. project

Visitors who come to marvel at architect Frank Gehry’s gleaming Walt Disney Concert Hall routinely turn their backs on the eyesore across Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. Now, its days are numbered. With a lift from downtown L.A.’s expansive construction boom and an infusion of Chinese cash, work on the long-delayed $1 billion complement to the Walt Disney Concert Hall is finally set to begin in the fall.

Los Angeles Times

Renovation and Restoration

Restoring two of Winnipeg’s oldest buildings yields surprises

Restoration work on two of Winnipeg’s oldest commercial buildings has yielded surprises, like the trunk of a pine tree serving as one of the 135-year-old structural columns. The three-storey Fortune Block (built in 1882-83) and the adjoining Macdonald Block (built in 1883), almost as old as the province itself, stand at the corner of Main Street and St. Mary Avenue.

CBC

Technology

Korean tech giant replacing workers with robots

Korean tech giant LG Electronics Thursday announced new robots that take aim squarely at the jobs of many services industry workers around the globe. There have long been predictions advances in artificial intelligence and automation could end up eliminating millions of jobs over time, and tech companies have been testing robots to carry out a variety of tasks.

CNBC – Canada Newswire

Other

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