New industrial park to open in Winnipeg

New industrial park to open in Winnipeg

Less than three months since the opening of the last fully serviced industrial park, another one is coming on the market in CentrePort. Winnipeg-based Whiteland Developers has started marketing an 80-acre industrial park called BrookPort Business Park, which is located on the west of Brookside Boulevard, north of Inkster Boulevard and just south of the planned Chief Peguis Trail extension. Construction will start  in August.

Winnipeg Free Press

True North acquires Abbotsford office property

True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (TNT.UN-T) announced it has agreed to acquire a 52,000-square-foot office property located at 32071 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, B.C. “This is the first of seven potential properties to be acquired using the proceeds from the July 2018 public unit offering,” said REIT president/CEO Daniel Drimmer. The purchase price for the Abbotsford property is approximately $22.0 million.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Deloitte to anchor Allied, Westbank’s 400W. Georgia

Deloitte Canada will move its Vancouver office to one of the most innovative and distinctive new developments in the city, the downtown 400W. Georgia tower being financed by Allied Properties REIT (AP.UN-T)  and built by Westbank Corp. 400W. Georgia is a mixed-use project comprising workspace and retail. Deloitte will be the anchor tenant, expanding its presence in Vancouver by leasing approximately 117,000 square feet of space on the top 10 floors.

Property Biz Canada

Lennard Commercial Realty celebrates growth, award

These are exciting times for Lennard Commercial Realty. The Toronto-based firm has doubled its staff during the past five years, relocated to a larger head office to accommodate its growth, and was honoured by NAIOP for a creative lease solution for one of its clients in 2017. “We’re now doing 500 projects a year,” partner and broker Jim Russell told RENX. 

Property Biz Canada

28-storey towers, hotel proposed for Calgary’s Chinatown

A proposed development in Calgary’s Chinatown is facing resistance from the head of the community’s business sector. The proposed development includes two public plazas, street level retail stores and a pair of 28-storey residential towers, all of which have been built with an eye toward incorporating the project into the community, said Lourdes Juan, a consultant with Hive Developments.

CBC

Anbang prepares to sell Bentall Centre, 70 York St.

China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co Ltd is looking to offload overseas properties worth about $10 billion to shore up its balance sheet as part of a government-backed rescue, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The sales are likely to begin within a month. New York’s Waldorf Astoria, bought in 2014 for $1.95 billion, is not part of the sale. Among Anbang’s assets are Vancouver’s Bentall Centre and Toronto’s 70 York St. 

Reuters – Vancouver Sun

Dream Office selling Montreal’s 700 de la Gauchetière

Dream Office REIT (D-UN-T) has put 700 de la Gauchetière, a 28-storey office building in downtown Montreal, on the market in a sale which should fetch the trust more than $300 million, Colliers International predicts. Built in 1983, the class-A building off Victoria Square in the Quartier International neighbourhood has a gross leasable area of 935,209 square feet and is directly connected to the Square-Victoria Métro station.

Property Biz Canada

Glen Abbey could give way to condos and offices

For more than four decades, the Glen Abbey Golf Club has been synonymous with the Canadian Open. When the lone Canadian stop on the PGA Tour gets underway this week, it will mark the 30th time the venerable course in suburban Toronto has hosted the event. Glen Abbey’s owner ClubLink Corp., announced plans to redevelop the site last year and the future of the venerable course is in doubt.

Toronto Star

Downtown Ottawa office vacancy rate at five-year low

The availability rate of office space in the City of Ottawa’s central business district has dipped below eight per cent for the first time since 2013 as both government and private-sector tenants look to snap up more space in the core, Colliers International (CIGI-T) says. The real estate services firm recently reported Ottawa’s downtown availability rate dropped to 7.7 per cent at the end of Q2 , down from 8.2 in Q1.

Ottawa Business Journal

Edmonton moves to boost infill targets

In the end, it took two years of consultations, design changes and a consistent lack of support from a city design committee to persuade Edmonton City Council to approve 1,200 residential infill units in a project known as Holyrood Gardens. But some say the decision, while drawn out, is symbolic of a city that has talked about infill for a decade, yet is now starting to embrace it along with density.

Globe and Mail

Anti-developer rhetoric shaping Vancouver election

Anti-development rhetoric is playing a major role in shaping party platforms as Vancouver prepares for a fall election, threatening to derail the fortunes of candidates with apparent ties to the industry. “There’s definitely a sense from residents that things are out of control,” said Mario Canseco, a pollster whose Research Co. recently found that 57 per cent of Vancouver residents believe developers have too much control over city council.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

WeWork banks on brokerage business

WeWork, the co-working and shared space giant, not only wants to be your landlord. It also wants to be your tenant representative when your firm moves on. WeWork said late Friday it would launch WeWork Space Services in September with a pilot program in New York City. The program, aimed at small and mid-sized businesses, will provide real estate advice and help firms find new work spaces.

CoStar Group

La Caisse to help finance Tillman’s U.S. tower rollout

La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of North America’s largest institutional investors, and global investment manager AMP Capital announced they will provide US$500 million of financing to Tillman Infrastructure, an American developer and owner of telecommunication tower infrastructure. This initial investment will help finance the construction of new telecommunications towers across the U.S.

Canada Newswire

CPPIB, Boston Properties acquire Santa Monica Business Park

Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP-N), one of the largest public owners and developers of office buildings in the United States, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) announced today they have formed a joint venture and completed the acquisition of Santa Monica Business Park in the Ocean Park neighbourhood of Santa Monica, Calif., for a purchase price of approximately US$627.5 million.

Globe Newswire

Blackstone poised to capitalize on volatility with $26.5B war chest

Blackstone Group (BX-N) CEO Steve Schwarzman, speaking as the private equity giant unveiled its earnings for the second quarter, said it plans to “wait patiently” to capitalize on investment opportunities that arise from the impact of rising protectionism on global trade, with as much as $26.5 billion in uninvested capital earmarked for real estate. 

CoStar Group

Market Trends and Research

Foreign buyers tax takes toll on Vancouver CRE

Walk down Vancouver’s Robson Street these days and you’ll see store after store papered over. The businesses that used to occupy the spaces are gone. The shops have “For Lease” signs on them. Those businesses shut down because the cost of rent has skyrocketed. An expert blames, in part, the province’s foreign buyer’s tax on residential properties.

Vancouver Sun

St. John’s office vacancy rate passes 20 per cent

Overall office vacancy in St. John’s climbed over 20 per cent in June, and rental rates are falling accordingly. The overall office rental rate decreased from $19.07 per square foot to $18.88 alongside an increase in the vacancy rate from 18.01% in 2017 to 20.01% in 2018. Downtown office vacancy has risen to 26.97%.

Turner Drake & Partners media release

How infrastructure investment boosts CRE

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the country’s vital infrastructure a D+, citing a US$2 trillion investment gap, in its 2017 report. Currently, the United States doesn’t rank within the top 10 countries for efficient and reliable infrastructure, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. And this is bad news for business.

JLL Real Views

Real Estate Companies

Cushman & Wakefield buys Australian firm

For the second time in a single week, Cushman & Wakefield has announced a notable acquisition. The global commercial real estate services firm recently completed the purchase of Inc RE, a leading Australian capital markets firm. Based in Sydney, Inc RE focuses its services on commercial sales, acquisitions and investment advisory. The firm made its debut in early 2017 and in the 18 months since it closed transactions valued at nearly $2.3 billion.

CP Executive

Real Estate Investment Trusts

U.S. REITs reap rewards of de-risking

Long gone are the days when U.S. REITs faced high credit risks — sometimes of their own making. A substantial secular shift has taken hold — REITs now take into account the credit implications of their actions to a far greater degree than in the past. After years of focus on balance sheet and strategy de-risking, U.S. REITs are reaping the benefits and sit well-positioned at midyear.

CP Executive

Legal Corner

Former Alberta chief’s land dispute in court

A dispute between two families over land on Canada’s largest reserve is heading to court, in part to question whether First Nations members have any right to the ground beneath their feet. “Do Indians have property rights? That’s what we need to know,” former Blood Tribe chief Harley Frank says of his decision to take his battle to the Federal Court of Canada.

CBC

Retail

Kenneth Cole opening flagship store in Toronto

Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. today announced the opening of its flagship store in Toronto. The brand’s first Canadian free-standing store on Queen Street West features 1,800 square feet and will sell men’s and women’s footwear, clothing and accessories under the Kenneth Cole New York label. In October 2016, Kenneth Cole signed an expanded agreement with Haggar Canada Co. to manufacture, market and distribute apparel and to distribute footwear. 

Canada Newswire

Other

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