GWL unveils major apartment complex in downtown TO

GWL unveils major apartment complex in downtown TO

Paul Finkbeiner is not endorsing expanded rent control rules in Ontario but GWL Realty Advisors‘ CEO says it’s still possible to construct new apartments even with limits on lease increases. “We’ve really been waiting for the right time to build rental,” Finkbeiner said of Livmore, a 600-unit complex west of the busy Yonge Street corridor in downtown Toronto.

Financial Post – Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Alberta still leads Canada in per-capita CRE construction

Non-residential construction has declined across Alberta and even more sharply in Calgary but remains well above national levels on a per-capita basis. Investment in commercial, industrial, institutional and government construction in Alberta fell to $2.461 billion for Q2 2017, according to Statistics Canada data. Alberta accounts for 20 per cent of Canada’s non-residential construction, despite having only 12 per cent of the population.

CBC

Property tax management deserves more attention

More than $9 billion worth of Canadian CRE assets could underperform due to reactive property tax management, according to a new study. “Many firms view their property tax expenses as a fixed cost and are therefore reluctant to invest the required resources to manage the expense unless they get into a crisis situation . . .” said Altus Group’s Terry Bishop.

Property Biz Canada

Dream Global buys offices, industrial in The Netherlands

Dream Global REIT (DRG.UN-T) has entered into a binding agreement to make a “transformational” $903-million purchase of 135 office and light industrial properties in The Netherlands. The Dutch properties are operated under the name Merin, Dream Global said in a media release. The portfolio has been owned by TPG Real Estate, TPG Sixth Street Partners and Patron Capital Partners. 

Property Biz Canada

Oldstonehenge giving Toronto mid-rise a new look

As corporate structures go, they don’t come any flatter than Oldstonehenge Development Corp. “I’m a one-man show,” says founder/CEO Michael Dobrijevic. His latest project is 1133 Yonge St., an $8-million reimagining of miner Sherritt International Corp.’s former head office in midtown Toronto, next to the historic North Toronto train station. The building was acquired for $21 million in 2015.

Globe and Mail

Sask. developer forging ahead with ‘World Trade Center’

The developer behind a new nine-storey office building in Saskatoon’s downtown core has pushed its start date from summer to fall, but plans to continue working on the $50-million project despite sky-high vacancy rates in the city’s central business district.  Saskatoon-based Canwest Commercial and Land Corp. senior consultant Don Atchison remains confident in the proposed “World Trade Center Saskatoon.”

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Vancouver-based GM Resorts buys Grouse Mountain

Vancouver-based GM Resorts Limited Partnership has purchased the North Vancouver tourist attraction Grouse Mountain Resort for an undisclosed amount after the mountain was marketed for $200 million. Media reports had incorrectly named the new owner as China Minsheng Investment Group, which has an investment in the 60 per cent Canadian-owned GM Resorts.

Business In Vancouver – CBC – Globe and Mail – Vancouver Province

Calgary industrial RE on the rise despite slow economy

When Ontario-based company GESCO first considered expanding its logistics centre in Western Canada — where its flooring business is growing — it scouted the region before deciding to enlarge its existing facility in Calgary. While the vacancy rate in Calgary’s downtown office market pushes past 25 per cent, industrial space is showing much more resilience.

Calgary Herald

Windsor trucking firm building new warehouse

A rapidly growing trucking firm started out of a Brampton basement in 2012 is building a 150,000-square-foot warehouse to take advantage of Windsor’s strategic location at the U.S. border. BSD Linehaul intends to start construction on a $23-million cross-dock facility at its 18-acre site this fall.

Windsor Star

Feds plan major upgrades to SCOC building

Despite being in critical condition, repairs to the Supreme Court of Canada building will not begin for at least another six years and will not be completed until at least 2028. Public Works announced Monday the Supreme Court building renovation is estimated to last at least five years, with an initial price tag of over $1 billion.

Ottawa Business Journal

Developers outpacing City of Ottawa: Opinion

In April 2016, the owner of Kristy’s Restaurant applied to rezone the property a stone’s throw from Ottawa’s future Cleary LRT station. Last week, council approved the application for a 24-storey building at the Kristy’s site, considerably higher than the previously allowed four.  And therein lies the source of much of the ongoing frustration with planning in this town.

CBC

Hotel-and-condo set for Saskatoon’s River Landing

An office tower at Saskatoon’s River Landing development isn’t the only project on the lot expected to start rising from the ground later this summer. Above-ground construction on both a 15-storey Alt Hotel and an adjacent 20-storey condo building — No. 1 River Landing — is expected to begin by the end of August or early September.

CBC

Expats returning to Kelowna

In January, the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission launched a multi-tiered digital shout-out to Canadian expatriates in a bid to attract more people – especially entrepreneurs – back to the Kelowna area. California was targeted because of its comparable lifestyle and high-tech strength. Since the Internet shout-out, traffic from California has spiked 272 per cent, primarily from Canadian expats aged 23-50.

Western Investor – Property Biz Canada

B.C. fires stir memories of Fort McMurray

For Walt Cobb, the scariest moment came Sunday morning, when the White Lake fire threatening Williams Lake jumped the Fraser River.  The fires had begun 10 days earlier, when a night storm blew through the area—“so fast it barely left a skip of rain,” says Richard Boston, whose friends had been caught in the rush to escape Fort McMurray.

Maclean’s – CBC – CBC – Victoria News

25 years ago: Mall of America opens

A monument to consumerism, the Mall of America opened on Aug. 11, 1992, in Bloomington, Minn. It was not actually the world’s largest mall, although it shared owners with the West Edmonton Mall, the long-time record holder. Conceived and designed by Triple Five Group, the 4.2 million-square-foot behemoth moved forward in 1986 with the assistance of Simon Property Group and funding from TIAA-CREF.

CP Executive – CP Executive – CP Executive – CP Executive

Featured Column

Long live record stores: Sunrise rises from HMV’s ashes

The Buggles famously sang “Video Killed the Radio Star” but streaming hasn’t quite put the final nail in the bricks and mortar music business just yet. It looked like the end was near when HMV Canada announced it would closing all its stores, but homegrown Sunrise Records has stepped up to fill the musical consumer gap.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Canadian retailers say they’d be hurt by revised NAFTA

Larry Rosen doesn’t think anyone would be crazy enough to pay more for Prada shoes or a Hugo Boss sweater in his stores in Canada if they could get them cheaper online in the U.S. And that worries the CEO of Toronto-based luxury retailer Harry Rosen Inc., since it’s one of the demands from the U.S. for the renegotiation of NAFTA.

Toronto Star – CBC – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Alberta retail poised for rebound: Colliers

After a downward trend in the previous two years, the retail market in Alberta seems to be making a comeback. According to Colliers International, total retail sales in Alberta in 2016 were $75 billion, making it the only Canadian province to experience negative sales growth (-1.4 per cent) that year. Alberta experienced a 7.2 per cent growth rate in Q1.

Western Investor – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Real Estate Companies

Empty Manitoba Housing high-rise going up for sale

The Manitoba government is selling a social housing high-rise it spent more than $3 million on while it sat empty for more than two years. Families Minister Scott Fielding said the 21-storey building, built in 1973 and in need of  major repairs, is located on prime downtown Winnipeg real estate and could be developed as an office and residential tower.

CBC

AY to lease Florida office park for TPA Group

TPA Group has retained Avison Young as the exclusive leasing team for The Edison Pembroke Pines, a proposed creative office park totalling 330,000 square feet of class-A space in Pembroke Pines, Fla. Avison Young principal Greg Martin and vice-president Justin Cope will lead marketing and leasing efforts on behalf of the Atlanta-based developer. The property will include two office buildings.

CP Executive – The Real Deal

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Where industrial opportunities can be found

Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (PIRET) (AAR.UN-T) carries a market capitalization of $1.8 billion and a beta of only 0.36. Dream Industrial REIT (DIR.UN-T) trades at almost $9 per share and carries a beta of only 0.46. Summit Industrial Income REIT (SMU.UN-T) trades at slightly more than $7 per share and pays a monthly dividend with a yield in excess of seven per cent.  

Motley Fool

U.S. REITs keep lid on development exposure

In contrast to the development overexposure U.S. REITs faced in 2008-09, the post-downturn watchword has been prudence, one expert said Tuesday. Aside from multi-family and industrial, modest growth in tenant demand for space is keeping development opportunities in check. “Development exposure is manageable and REITs are not likely to deviate from current levels any time soon,” Fitch Ratings‘ Steven Marks said.

GlobeSt.com – National Real Estate Investor

Retail

Sears Canada liquidation sales to start Friday

Liquidation sales at dozens of Sears Canada (SCC-T) locations slated for closure could begin as early as Friday after an Ontario court signed off on the plan Tuesday. The sales can run no later than Oct. 12 with the deep discounts only at the 59 stores slated for closure. Sears lawyer Jeremy Dacks told the hearing the sales were “crucial.”

CBC – Financial Post

New Development

Competition heats up for B.C.’s first Great Wolf Lodge

The Jim Pattison-owned Great Wolf Lodge chain of family resorts has long been looking at Squamish for its first British Columbia property, but now comes word there is competition coming from South Surrey. The combination 400-room hotel and water park would cost an estimated $150 million. The nearest such attraction is located near Centralia, Wash.

BCBusiness

Other

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