CPPIB to buy Houston’s Parkway REIT

CPPIB to buy Houston’s Parkway REIT

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has entered into a definitive agreement to buy U.S.-based Parkway Inc., (PKY-N) for US$1.2 billion, the board announced Friday morning. CPPIB will take a 100 per cent interest in Parkway, a Houston-based real estate investment trust, for the equivalent of US$23.05 per share.

Property Biz Canada

CAPREIT more than doubles Netherlands portfolio

Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT) (CAR.UN-T) announced today it has waived conditions and will acquire 19 properties totalling 849 residential suites located in eight cities and towns in the Netherlands. Included in the purchase are 102 single-family homes, 747 apartment suites and two commercial units. The purchase price is $252.5 million Cdn. 

Marketwired

High office vacancy hits Calgary’s downtown retail market

Calgary’s high downtown office vacancy continues to strain the central retail market, according to a new report by Barclay Street Real Estate. The Central Business District retail vacancy rate fell from 11.5 to 10.8 per cent, but remains significantly higher than Calgary’s overall retail vacancy rate of three per cent, which has been driven mostly by strong suburban shopping centres.

Property Biz Canada – Calgary Herald – Calgary Herald – Property Biz Canada

PSP Investments seeking Asia base

Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board is establishing a base in Asia to pursue deals in private debt and equity, real estate, and infrastructure, mirroring a strategy already deployed in London. The office, to be located in either Hong Kong or Singapore, will complement a London hub that is to be expanded by as much as 50 per cent.

Financial Post

Caisse wary of future London RE investments

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, one of the world’s largest real estate investors, is holding off on major investments in London real estate amid uncertainty over the impact of Britain’s planned exit from the European Union. Caisse has been an enthusiastic investor in Britain and earlier this year agreed to finance the expansion of London’s Heathrow airport.

Financial Post

Vancouver’s The Exchange to include hotel

The developers of the The Exchange, one of Vancouver’s newest office towers, have announced the historic section of the building will be turned into a hotel instead of work spaces. Executive Hotels & Resorts will operate a 202-room hotel on 10 floors of the circa-1929 heritage portion of the Old Stock Exchange building, which is being restored.

Vancouver Sun

InnVest Hotels buys former Trump Tower

InnVest Hotels LP is acquiring the luxury hotel formerly known as Toronto’s Trump International Hotel and Tower from JCF Capital for an undisclosed amount. The 65-storey facility will receive a significant renovation and be renamed the St. Regis Toronto once the revamp is done. Until then, the site will operate as the Adelaide Hotel Toronto.

Toronto Star – CTV News – Canada Newswire

A sneak peek at the Toronto of the Future

It was not hard for a visitor to pick out the star of the Toronto of the Future real estate display gracing the city’s Metro Hall. It’s the huge, 3D scale model of the city, complete with familiar landmarks such as the CN Tower and bank buildings, new-built towers and ambitious skyscrapers still in development.

Property Biz Canada

Starlight Investments JVs on GTA properties

Starlight Investments announced it has formed a joint venture partnership with prominent European family offices and has acquired its first two commercial properties in Mississauga. 2085 Hurontario Street is a five-storey office building consisting of approximately 106,000 square feet. 320 Matheson Boulevard West is a three-story office building consisting of 94,000 square feet. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Canada Newswire

Edmonton council rejects first tower since 2009

Edmonton’s city council turned down its first tower in eight years Wednesday as it sent a 28-storey proposal back to the drawing board.  The Westrich Pacific Corporation proposal would have seen a thin tower rising almost straight up from the street on two single-family lots. The 165-unit proposal featured 18 three-bedroom apartments, one four-bedroom unit and 111 two-bedroom units. 

Edmonton Journal – CBC

Katz Group pitches next phase of Ice District

Ice District officials are pitching a series of roughly 30-storey towers with park space and roof-top gardens as the next phase of development near Rogers Place. Initial plans were presented to nearby residents Tuesday evening, one of the first steps toward a rezoning application for council approval early next year.

Edmonton Journal – Edmonton Journal

Sycamore Partners buying Staples

Sycamore Partners said on Wednesday it would acquire U.S. office supplies chain Staples Inc (SPLS-Q) for $9 billion Cdn, a rare bet by a private equity firm this year in the U.S. retail sector, which has been roiled by the popularity of internet shopping. Buyout firms have largely refrained from attempting leveraged buyouts of U.S. retailers recently. 

Reuters – USA TODAY – Canada Newswire

Sobeys CEO prepares for e-commerce battle

The new leader of Sobeys (EMP.A-T) vows not to “miss out” on the emerging e-commerce supermarket battle. Michael Medline, who became CEO in January, said the retailer must become “a strong participant” in e-commerce, both in home delivery as well as the less-costly “click and collect” model. “There’s no way we’re going to miss out on e-commerce,” he said. 

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Fortune

Home Capital defends Buffett deal

Home Capital Group Inc. (HCG-T) defended Warren Buffett’s purchase of shares at a deep discount, saying the investment has bolstered confidence in a mortgage lender that was on the verge of collapse just a month ago. “We’ve seen a dramatic improvement in depositors since the Buffett announcement,” interim CFO Robert Blowes said at the annual general meeting Thursday.

Bloomberg – Globe and Mail – Financial Post – CBC

Slate Retail purchases Minnesota shopping centre

Slate Retail REIT (SRT.U-T), an owner and operator of U.S. grocery-anchored real estate, announced it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Mapleridge Center for US$13.4 million ($117 per square foot). The property is 89% occupied, is Rainbow Foods-anchored and is located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area. Closing is expected to be completed in Q3 2017. 

Marketwired

Market Trends and Research

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High-profile deals disguising NYC CRE anxiety

Manhattan’s office market could be headed for trouble despite today’s solid-seeming condition and euphoria over big chunks of space being gobbled up by marquee tenants at glamorous new towers. One commercial broker we spoke to worried about a “lack of depth” to the market beyond a handful of large-scale negotiations now going on.

New York Post – Bisnow

China emerges as an industrial player: AY

Thanks to good locations and low risk, industrial real estate has long been an attractive asset class for foreign investors, with one notable exception — China. That has changed over the past 12 months, and in a major way that signals the bull market for industrial real estate has plenty of runway, according to a new report by Avison Young.

Forbes

Ottawa hoteliers still waiting for Canada 150 boost

There is indeed still room at the inn this summer. Ottawa hotel industry officials suffered a softer spring tourism season than they expected. David Smythe, general manager of the Lord Elgin Hotel, says many hoteliers were expecting a bumper crop of tourists to flock to the region throughout much of 2017, attracted by a year-long slate of heavily publicized events.

Ottawa Business Journal

Real Estate Companies

West Coast’s tallest building open for business

The Wilshire Grand Center, a $1.1-billion development in downtown Los Angeles built by Korean Air and Hanjin Group, is open for business. The 73-storey, 1,100-foot tall development is the highest building in the Western United States. On the building’s lower floors, there are offices, convention space and commercial uses, while the top part is a hotel.

CP Executive – CoStar Group – L.A. Times

South Carolina commits to Brookfield property debt fund

South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS) is investing in Brookfield Asset Management’s latest real estate debt fund. The pension fund is committing $130 million Cdn to Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund V, according to a board meeting document.The fund will originate whole loans, syndicate the senior debt to third parties and retain the mezzanine tranches.

IPE Real Estate

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Boardwalk offers tenants a chance to become an owner

Boardwalk REIT (BEI.UN-T) announced the Toronto Stock Exchange has accepted its notice of intention to renew its normal course issuer bid, and that it has launched a contest that gives its tenants a chance to own its trust units. Boardwalk has 46,097,423  issued and outstanding trust units as of June 28.  The public float of trust units of Boardwalk is 37,124,036. 

Canada Newswire

New York REIT shopping four office buildings

As part of a $2.8 billion liquidation, New York REIT (NYRT-N) is looking to sell four of its remaining assets as a single package spanning about 750,000 square feet, sources said. The REIT expects to sell the four office buildings in Chelsea and the Garment District for a combined $700 million US, sources said, although the properties could still sell individually. 

The Real Deal

Government Properties buying First Potomac

Following an 18-month “crash course” in boosting shareholder value under CEO Robert Milkovich, Bethesda, Md.-based First Potomac Realty Trust (FPO-N) has accepted a buyout offer from Government Properties Income Trust (GOV-Q) for $1.4 billion in cash and debt assumption. Government Properties is managed by the operating subsidiary of alternative asset management company The RMR Group Inc. (RMR-Q). 

CoStar Group – Washington Business Journal – GlobeSt.com

True North announces equity offering

True North Commercial REIT (TNT.UN-T) announced it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters to sell on a bought deal basis 4,800,000 trust units of the REIT at a price of $6.25 per trust unit for gross proceeds to the REIT of approximately $30 million.

Marketwired – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Retail

Tip Top Tailors owner strikes deal to stay open

The company that owns Tip Top Tailors, George Richards, Kingsport and Mr. Big and Tall will remain open with 140 stores after a refinancing plan that will see the company sold to U.S.-based GSO Capital Partners. The company filed for protection from its creditors in January, when court filings suggested the parent company, Grafton Fraser Inc., owed $60 million to creditors.

CBC – Toronto Star

La Maison Valmont opens first N.A. store in Vancouver

The high-end skincare brand La Maison Valmont, which is diversifying its distribution by starting to open corporate stores, has launched its first North American store at Oakridge Centre. The Swiss brand sells anti-aging creams, serums and perfumes at around 2,000 locations worldwide, including five-star hotels, spas and retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Holt Renfrew.

Business In Vancouver

Walgreens scraps Rite Aid merger, will buy half its stores

Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA-Q) scrapped its deal to buy Rite Aid Corp. (RAD-N) after failing to win antitrust approval, but said it would instead buy nearly half of the smaller rival’s U.S. stores for $5.18 billion. The new deal makes it easier for companies to gain regulatory approval as it avoids weakening competition in some markets.  

Reuters – MarketWatch

Other

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