Vancouver’s $2.6B capital plan tied to developers

Vancouver’s $2.6B capital plan tied to developers

The City of Vancouver is presenting a plan of spending for the next four years and tucked into the fine print of a draft is a sharp increase in how much the public budget is tied to funds charged to real estate developers.

Vancouver Sun

Espace 30 Beauharnois opens Quebec commercial centre

The first phase of a vast $55-million commercial development was inaugurated Thursday in Beauharnois, Que., just off highway 30. Espace 30 Beauharnois is the product of a consortium made up of Groupe Custeau, Groupe Lagacé Immobilier and Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ.

Canada Newswire

Canada’s industrial vacancy at record low 3.3 per cent: AY

Canada’s industrial real estate market continued to surpass expectations in Q1 as investors were eager to snap up properties while rents increased due to demand outpacing supply. There was a record low national vacancy rate of 3.3 per cent in Q1, down 40 basis points year-over-year.

Property Biz Canada

Construction begins at downtown Mississauga’s M City

It’s taken more than a decade from original concepts to construction, but ground has finally broken on the 15-acre M City condominium development in Mississauga. “These buildings will bookend the downtown of Mississauga,” said Mark Reeve, a partner with Urban Capital.

Property Biz Canada

Central libraries turn the page

“When you walk into this building, it is so spectacular — it’s breathtaking,” says Calgary Public Library chief executive officer Bill Ptacek as he describes each floor inside the city’s $245-million central library that will open to the public on Nov. 1.

Globe and Mail

Ottawa’s super library projected to cost $174.8M

The estimated cost of a super library on LeBreton Flats is now $174.8 million and the City of Ottawa will need to borrow $80 million to help cover its end of the development deal with Library and Archives Canada, a new report says.

Ottawa Citizen – CBC

Mohawk College building earns ZCB-Design certification

The Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation in Hamilton has earned the first institutional and second overall Zero Carbon Building Design certification from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). The JCPI will be home to new and existing programs offered through Mohawk’s School of Engineering Technology.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Plaza Retail sells 50% interest in 1000 Islands Mall

Plaza Retail REIT (PLZ-UN-T) Thursday announced it has successfully completed the sale of a 50% joint venture interest in the 1000 Islands Mall in Brockville, Ont. Plaza has commenced the redevelopment of the existing mall, including the renovation and re-leasing of a vacant Sears store.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Sabia on Caisse’s $4.9 billion railroad

Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Canada’s second-biggest pension fund, has developed a unique model for infrastructure investing in Quebec. The Caisse has struck a deal with the local transit authority in Montreal to develop a 67-kilometre rapid transit network, known as the Réseau express métropolitain (REM),

Bloomberg

Churchill relieved by Ottawa takeover of port and railway

Some Churchill residents were too excited to sleep Wednesday night after Ottawa announced an interim takeover deal for the Northern Manitoba town’s port and railway, alongside a pledge to restore rail service by the winter. Omnitrax is to transfer its railway and port into local hands.

Winnipeg Free Press – CBC – Regina Leader-Post

Feds could turn profit on Trans Mountain pipeline: Analyst

The federal government is likely to recover the $4.5-billion purchase price of the Trans Mountain pipeline and could even make a profit. “The project will be attractive to investors when it’s built,” Robert Johnston, chief executive of Washington, D.C.-based risk analysis firm Eurasia Group, said Thursday.

Edmonton Journal – Edmonton Journal – Calgary Herald

New Château Laurier design includes more limestone

The owner of the Fairmont Château Laurier has filed a new design for its proposed addition, attempting to make the contemporary wing complement the historic hotel. A heritage brief submitted with the package at city hall this week says “limestone fins” on the north-facing side.

Ottawa Citizen

Retail’s future mixes high-tech with personal

Harley Finkelstein orders diapers for his 2-year-old daughter using a voice command, but he still likes going into Harry Rosen to buy his signature black T-shirts — and that, says the chief operating officer of Shopify (SHOP-T), is the future of retail.

Toronto Star

Toronto’s upscale Leaside was a company town

Toronto residents don’t understand how important “company town” homes in Leaside really are and how they jump-started development. Alas, when Canada Wire and Cable Co. (CWCC) purchased 6.5 hectares on the eastern edge of the development, another company had beaten them to the punch: the Canadian Northern Railway.

Globe and Mail

An $850M gamble on a famed Yonkers casino

MGM Resorts International (MGM-N) and MGM Growth Properties LLC (MGP-N) have reached an agreement to acquire Empire City Casino in Yonkers, N.Y., from the Yonkers Racing Corp. for $850 million. The iconic 97-acre property regularly hosts more than 16 million gaming enthusiasts per year. 

CP Executive – Las Vegas Review-Journal

Market Trends and Research

The BoC just moved its bottom line on rate hikes

The Bank of Canada has sent about as strong a message as it is ever going to send to the financial markets. First, interest rates are going up at our next opportunity, in July, and there will be more to come. Second, wake up.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Saskatchewan agricultural land costs rise 10% in 2017

Byron Tenkink’s pea shoots and microgreens now grace the shelves of Saskatchewan Co-op stores. However, the 29-year-old’s farm — some might call it a garden — sits on scarcely more than one acre of land. He leases the plot from his parents.

Regina Leader-Post

Sears space in Midtown Plaza to be split up

The hole left in Saskatoon’s Midtown Plaza by the departure of Sears is set to be divided up and filled by the end of next year, according to the mall administration. GM Terry Napper expects the mall to be “100 per cent leased” in 12 to 18 months.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Raleigh No. 1 U.S. Amazon HQ2 finalist: ATTOM

Raleigh, N.C., ranks No. 1 on ATTOM Data Solutions‘ list of the 19 U.S. finalists for Amazon’s second headquarters, known as HQ2. The curator of the nation’s premier multi-sourced property database ranked the finalists on seven factors impacting housing market health and quality of life.

PR Newswire

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Halmont Properties Corp., (HMT-X), Globe Newswire

* Urbanfund Corp., (UFC-X), Globe Newswire

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Nexus REIT, (NXR-UN-X), Canada Newswire

Retail

Galen G. Weston on the future of food

As the largest food company in Canada, “we think a lot about the future of food,” Loblaw’s (L-T) Galen G. Weston told a crowd of academics, non-profits and others attending the inaugural Arrell Food Summit held at the the University of Guelph and in downtown Toronto.

Canadian Grocer

Fairfax completes purchase of Toys “R” Us Canada

Toys “R” Us (Canada) Ltd. today announced the completion of its business by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (FFH-U-T). Toys “R” Us Canada is a Canadian-owned and operated business employing more than 4,000 Canadians with over 80 locations dedicated to kids and babies.

Canada Newswire – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Canada Goose to open two stores in China

Canada Goose (GOOS-T) is heading to China, opening two stores and a regional headquarters as it hopes to win over more luxury shoppers who desire the warmth and fashion cred of a $900 parka with the brand’s patch on its sleeve.

Toronto Star – Financial Post – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Sears to close another 72 U.S. stores

Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD-Q), a one-time American retail giant, said Thursday it plans to shutter another 72 locations to stem losses in the face of deepening financial distress and reported a nearly 12 per cent drop in quarterly comparable-store sales.

Reuters – MarketWatch

Cannabis industry news

Canopy Growth continues global expansion

Canopy Growth (WEED-T) took another step towards cannabis world domination on Wednesday with a multi-million-dollar deal that brings the Ottawa-area pot producer into its fifth continent. The Smiths Falls-based company announced it had acquired southern Africa’s Daddy Cann Lesotho, otherwise known as Highlands.

Ottawa Business Journal

Canada’s brewers want higher marijuana taxes

Canada’s brewers are fretting over the pending legalization of marijuana, and urging the federal government to make us pay more in taxes.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Sports Venues

Workers to fix automation issues on Atlanta stadium’s roof

Workers have begun the final construction phase of Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s retractable roof, nine months after the facility opened. The $1.5-billion stadium will be open in good weather for Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United games. The roof was closed for most of the stadium’s first year.

Daily Commercial News

Other

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