False Creek Flats lots offered in untendered deal

False Creek Flats lots offered in untendered deal

The last two open lots on a prime False Creek Flats development site owned by four B.C. universities have been offered in a confidential untendered sale to PCI Developments Corp. and Low Tide Properties in a deal that must be approved by the B.C. government. The confidential sale proposal by the Great Northern Way Trust came together in May. 

Vancouver Sun

Bentall Kennedy acquires first property in new role

Bentall Kennedy announced it has been selected to represent Warba Bank K.S.C.P., as its real estate investment advisor with a new U.S.-focused mandate. As part of this initiative, Bentall Kennedy has acquired the 280,000-square-foot office building in Milwaukee, currently leased by ManpowerGroup and used as its World Headquarters. The seller, The Brewery Works, Inc., was represented by CBRE. 

PR Newswire – BizTimes.com

Vancouver office market hungry for new buildings

Modern office space is becoming harder to find in Vancouver, which may spur some developers to try to accelerate projects in the planning and permitting stages. “Demand is getting stronger and supply is constrained,” said Michael Wright, vice-president of Newmark Knight Frank Devencore.

Property Biz Canada

Manulife’s U.S. arm building Atlanta property on spec

John Hancock Real Estate and CRG are so confident in the Atlanta area they broke ground on a 1.01-million-square-foot industrial building without a single lease commitment. “We view the market as one of the strongest industrial nodes in the U.S. because of its proximity to essential transportation infrastructure…” said Richard Strom, John Hancock southeast U.S. managing director.

Property Biz Canada – Canada Newswire

The struggle to replace Target

When Target (TGT-N) launched a store in Smiths Falls, Ont., in 2013, it was a beacon of hope. The town of 9,000 just outside of Ottawa had suffered a slew of setbacks, including the closing of the Hershey chocolate factory, the Stanley Tools plant and a hospital. It was counting on the outsized Target outlet to help revive the local economy.  

Globe and Mail – Los Angeles Times

Deal dashes London ‘wellness centre’ dream

A sizeable chunk of prime London, Ont., real estate, once touted as the site for a $300-million medical/residential complex, is now in the hands of an Alberta livestock feed business. In a project first pitched in the 2012 State of the City address, Fincore Canada proposed a massive “wellness centre” backing onto the Thames River.

London Free Press

CAPREIT buys Maple Ridge townhouse complex

CAPREIT (CAR.UN-T) announced it has completed the acquisition of Brookside Gardens, a 44-unit townhouse complex in Maple Ridge, B.C. CAPREIT paid $10.9 million for the property, financed with an assumption of an existing $3.71 million mortgage maturing on Oct. 1, 2020.

Marketwired – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Magnate turns his focus to philanthropy

When Oei Hong Leong visited Vancouver in the late 1980s, putting down roots was the furthest thing from his mind. But Oei eventually saw an opportunity, and bought Plaza of Nations from Concord Pacific in 1990 (then owned by Hong Kong mogul Li Ka-shing) for $40 million. Oei continues to own the property through Vancouver-based holding company Canadian Metropolitan Properties Corp.

Business In Vancouver

Squamish undergoing industrial expansion

Over the past three decades, Squamish has morphed from resource town to a resort community akin to Whistler, its neighbour to the north. But as the Sea-to-Sky has branded itself as a year-round lifestyle destination, it is both quickly becoming a commuter suburb of Vancouver, and undergoing an industrial expansion unseen in decades. 

Western Investor – Edmonton Journal

The missteps that brought Sears to the edge of collapse

Walk into a Sears (SHLD-Q) these days, and you’ll see an icon of American retailing collapsing before your eyes. At the Falls Church, Va., store in May, there were empty shelves in the shoe department. And in the tools section. And the men’s clothing area. The place is in decay — much like Sears’ once-dominant business model. 

Toronto Star

Off-price apparel stores are booming

A full 10 hours before the Outlet Collection Winnipeg opened its doors for the first time on May 4, a burgeoning crowd of bargain hunters had started to form outside in the overnight chill. By the time the doors opened at 10 a.m., about 4,000 flanked the perimeter of the 400,000 square-foot building, clamouring to get their hands on cut-rate designer apparel and footwear.

Financial Post

Payless Shoe to close up to 408 more stores

Payless ShoeSource is looking to make another large round of store closings less than two months after seeking to reorganize under bankruptcy protection. The retailer is asking federal bankruptcy court in St. Louis for permission to close 112 stores outright and potentially up to another 296 stores. If all these stores close, Payless will have shuttered 800 stores.

Fortune

Customers not sold on buying groceries online

Online grocery sales remain a minuscule part of the food retail landscape, but they could be a good source of added revenue. The number of times time-strapped consumers have gone to buy groceries at a supermarket has declined seven per cent since 2012, according to the market research firm Nielsen.

Financial Post

Google submits plans for ‘landscraper’ London HQ

Google (GOOG-Q) has submitted plans for its new 990,000-square-foot “landscraper” London headquarters, with the intention of beginning construction in 2018. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios, the team behind TfL’s New Bus for London and the 2012 Olympic Cauldron, the building will stand 11 storeys tall and stretch parallel to the platforms of London’s King’s Cross railway station. 

The Guardian

Hong Kong development smashes records

Nan Fung Development, the textile producer that morphed into the developer of Hong Kong’s most exclusive real estate, has won a commercial site in Kai Tak area for a record $4.27 billion Cdn, smashing the previous world record set by the Murray Road site in Central. The Lands Department awarded the office-retail-hotel site to Nan Fung subsidiary Rich Union Development.

Business In Vancouver

Real Estate Companies

Edmonton’s Winspear Centre eyeing expansion

He was a trumpet player, dreamer, schmoozer and accountant and when Francis Winspear set his mind to something, it generally got done. That why after decades of pushing for a new concert hall and pouring $6 million of his own money into the project, the Francis Winspear Centre for Music opened in downtown Edmonton in September 1997.  

CBC

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Crombie appoints Debra Hess to Board of Trustees

Crombie REIT (CRR.UN-T) announced the appointment of Debra Hess to its Board of Trustees effective immediately. Hess most recently served as chief financial officer of Northstar Asset Management Group and Northstar Realty Finance Corp. in New York; a position she continued until the NorthStar companies merged with Colony Capital in January 2017 (CLNS-N).

Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire

Is Cominar’s 11 per cent yield safe?

Cominar REIT (CUF.UN-T) has been hammered, falling north of 43 per cent over the past five years. The distribution yield is at a whopping 11.16%, but is a cut imminent? Or is there a way Cominar will be able to keep this distribution intact as it continues to fall further into the abyss?

Motley Fool

ISS recommends Granite investors back dissidents’ slate

FrontFour Capital Group’s efforts to shake up Granite REIT (GRT.UN-T) received a boost Friday as a prominent shareholder-advisory firm recommended the activist investor’s slate of directors, saying the dissidents “have made a reasonably compelling case” for change. Institutional Shareholder Services recommended shareholders vote for the three nominees put forth by FrontFour and its partner, Vancouver-based Sandpiper Group. 

Bloomberg – Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire

Restaurants and Eateries

Taco Bell planning U.S., Canadian expansion

Taco Bell announced it plans to add about 220 U.S. restaurants as part of its plan to grow as a system to approximately 9,000 restaurants globally in the next five years. Internationally, Taco Bell is planning to focus on expanding in Canada, Brazil, China and India, targeting at least 100 restaurants in each country.

CoStar Group

New Development

New training facility opens in Edmonton

A major Swiss industrial instrument company officially opened a $12-million Edmonton facility Friday that is expected to provide training for hundreds of people annually. Basel-based Endress+Hauser has more than 13,000 employees — including 134 in Canada — who design, manufacture, install and service instruments that measure temperature, flow, pressure and other properties of gases and liquids.

Edmonton Journal

Dallas skyscraper will be tallest in decades

Chicago-based developer AMLI Residential is building the tallest tower in Dallas in three decades. The 45-storey apartment high-rise will go up on Field Street on downtown’s north side. Amli hired Austin-based architect Page Southerland Page Inc. to design its $150 million residential high-rise. It will be the tallest new downtown building since the 55-storey Chase Tower opened in 1987.

Dallas News – Dallas News

Sports Venues

Kananaskis Golf Course to reopen in 2018

Four years and countless kilograms of debris later, the Kananaskis Country Golf Course is edging closer to reopening. The premier 18-hole courses — Mount Kidd and Mount Lorette — are in various stages of repair following the devastating flood of 2013, but will be fully operational by the first tee times of 2018. 

Edmonton Journal

Infrastructure

Northern group to buy Port of Churchill

CBC News has learned a deal has been struck to sell the Port of Churchill in Manitoba and the rail line connecting it to the south, but one of its principals is slamming the federal government for its lack of support. The port’s owner, U.S.-based Omnitrax Rail, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Missinippi Rail LP to transfer the assets for $20 million.

CBC

Other

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