Skyline abandons Port McNicoll project

Skyline abandons Port McNicoll project

Skyline Investments has finally pulled the plug on its Port McNicoll, Ont., project. The Toronto-based development firm, which purchased the waterfront property in 2006, has a deal in place to sell all 334 hectares to Toronto-based Milborne Real Estate. Skyline’s initial project plan included more than 1,400 homes, a yacht club and marina, retail shops and entertainment facilities.

Simcoe.com – CTV – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Major developments loom on Port Moody horizon

The exit of major employers and the arrival of transit is leading to a big transformation of tiny Port Moody, once a multi-company town heavy with industry and now a waterfront link in the SkyTrain Evergreen Line extension. Port Moody’s population of 33,500 could increase by 15,000 if plans to develop mostly old industrial sites into high-density residential neighbourhoods win approval.

Business In Vancouver

Montreal industrial sector now a ‘landlords’ market’

Montreal’s industrial real estate market has become a landlords’ market for the first time in at least 20 years and its office sector is on its way to following suit, says Avi Krispine, managing director of CBRE Quebec. “The market in Montreal is looking very healthy in the next three years,” he says. “We’re in a great place right now.”

Property Biz Canada

Mixed-use development recreates Edmonton Brewery District

The Brewery District transformation is giving a nod to the past as First Capital Realty (FCR-T) begins the renovation and restoration of 104-year-old Molson Tower. Edmonton’s Brewery District is a mixed development on property once owned by Molson and large car dealership west of the downtown core. 

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

Vancouver land deals locked up in municipal processes

Approximately $6 billion worth of residential land traded hands in Metro Vancouver last year, according to figures compiled by Altus Group, but the transactions are insufficient to alleviate the housing crunch. While speculators are holding some of the land,  Scott Brown, president of Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing Ltd. in Surrey, believes municipal approval times are a bigger systemic issue.

Business In Vancouver

RE crowdfunding picking up steam in GTA

Real estate crowdfunding is experiencing explosive levels of growth, particularly in Mississauga and across the GTA. NexusCrowd, a Canadian real estate crowdfunding platform, has a number of projects on the go through crowdfunding, including a $12-million real estate redevelopment project announced in 2015 boasting three properties — one in Mississauga.

Mississauga.com – Property Biz Canada

CF Galeries d’Anjou fills gap left by Target departure

CF Galeries d’Anjou in Montreal will fill a significant gap in its retail space with the additions later this year of Old Navy, WINNERS and Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH. Shopping centre co-owners Cadillac Fairview and Ivanhoe Cambridge made the announcement this week. They will all open by the fall.

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

Metro Toronto Convention Centre earns TOBY award

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) has received The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award and Certificate of Building Excellence in the public assembly category by the Building Owner’s and Management Association (BOMA) of Toronto. The honours recognize facilities with the highest levels of quality in several categories, including energy conservation, building performance, security standards and community impact.

Property Biz Canada

RioCan appoints Qi Tang CFO

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI.UN-T) announced it has promoted Qi Tang to senior-vice president and chief financial officer. She will continue to report to CEO Edward Sonshine. Qi joined RioCan in September and has been acting CFO since April 3. Qi previously held the positions of vice-president, Finance & Accounting for Dream Global REIT (DRG.UN-T). 

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

Slate Retail adds Florida, Pennsylvania assets

Slate Retail REIT (SRT.U-T) announced it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a portfolio of five grocery-anchored assets for $105 million ($160 per square foot). The Portfolio is 94% occupied, comprises 654,610 square feet of gross leasable area and is anchored by Publix, The Fresh Market, Weis Markets and Giant Food. Closing is expected to occur in Q3 2017.

Marketwired

Dream Global increases German office portfolio

Dream Global REIT (DRG.UN-T) announced it has signed a purchase and sale agreement with Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (LBBW) for Bollwerk, a multi-tenant office property located in Stuttgart, Germany, for approximately $139.6 million, representing a going-in capitalization rate of 5.3%. The acquisition of Bollwerk will increase the REIT’s exposure to the Big 7 office markets in Germany.

Marketwired

HBC to cut 2,000 jobs as losses mount

Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) is cutting 2,000 jobs in its core North American retail business, or four per cent of its workforce, as its losses mount amid falling sales in a fast-changing retail climate. HBC said its first-quarter loss climbed to $221-million, or $1.21 a share, from $97 million, or 53 cents, a year earlier. Its sales slipped to $3.2 billion from $3.3 billion.

Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Winnipeg Free Press – Reuters

Amazon, Walmart leave middle class behind

Amazon and Walmart are battling for shoppers at the highest and lowest ends of the income spectrum. Amazon, whose Prime service claims more than 70 per cent of upper-income households in the U.S. — those earning more than $112,000 a year — is suddenly going after customers on government assistance who earn less than $15,444 a year. 

Business Insider – Business Insider

Developer Avie Bennett dead at 89

Passionate advocate for Canadian literature, quiet philanthropist and real-estate developer Avie Bennett has died at the age of 89. Bennett, who founded the real estate firm First Plaza Inc., is credited with “pioneering the retail plaza concept in Canada, opening the nation’s first strip malls in Toronto in the early 1950s,” according to his University of Toronto alumni profile.

Toronto Star – Globe and Mail

Priciest skyscrapers of the last 30 years

PHOTO GALLERY: Over the last few decades, skyscrapers’ heights — and thus their costs — have continued to climb. Business Insider rounded up the most expensive towers built in the last 30 years, defining a skyscraper as a building that measures at least 500 feet tall.

Business Insider

Market Trends and Research

Are new Trump hotels exploiting presidency?

The name of the new hotel chain is American Idea. It was inspired by stories heard in small towns on the campaign trail. The owner is now president of the United States. That said, the Trump Organization wants to make something perfectly clear: It is not exploiting the presidency for profit.

Winnipeg Free Press

Are reports of the mall’s death greatly exaggerated?

Talk of the demise of the shopping mall may be overdone, according to Fitch Ratings, which  took a neutral stance on retail REITs. Mall REITs are popular with investors for their attractive dividend yields, but the sector has come under pressure this year amid a wave of closure announcements from department store chains, sporting retailers and teen clothing retailers.

MarketWatch

Real Estate Companies

Home Capital fielding private-equity takeover offers

Mortgage lender Home Capital Group Inc. (HGC-T)  is fielding preliminary takeover offers and is in negotiations to settle regulatory allegations as it bounces back from a financial crisis. Home Capital recently received proposals from groups led by Toronto-based private equity firms Onex Corp. (ONEX-T) and Brookfield Business Partners, a unit of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., (BAM.A-T) according to sources. 

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Financial Post – Reuters – Bloomberg

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Northwest Healthcare completes acquisition of Generation units

NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH.UN-T) announced today its wholly owned subsidiary, NorthWest Australia, has acquired 93.6 per cent of all units in Generation Healthcare REIT, completing its $2.33 Cdn all cash unconditional offer. Northwest Australia will now proceed to compulsorily acquire all of the units it has not yet acquired under the offer. 

Canada Newswire

Are U.S. investors ready to return to non-listed REITs?

The non-listed REIT industry has seen capital flows drop off a cliff in the past several years. But recent data shows the market may be ready for a rebound. Investor capital flowing into non-listed or non-traded REITs has been plummeting since hitting a high of $19.6 billion in 2013, according to Robert A. Stanger & Co.. In 2016, sales dropped to $4.5 billion.

National Real Estate Investor

Retail

Nordstrom soars as family mulls plan to go private

The Nordstrom family is considering taking private its eponymous department store chain as it confronts the deepening troubles in American retailing. The news sent Nordstrom Inc. stock (JWN-N) — listed in 1978 — on its biggest rally in more than eight years. The 116-year-old Nordstrom has struggled to cope with the decline of shopping malls and the relentless rise of internet retailing. 

Bloomberg – Winnipeg Free Press

Skidmore Group sells auto-glass repair companies

Burnaby’s Skidmore Group has closed a deal to sell the auto-glass repair companies Speedy Auto Glass USA Inc. and Novus Inc., among other assets, to Montreal’s Fix Auto World for “10s of millions of dollars,” Skidmore Group chief commercial officer Rick Christiaanse said. The transaction leaves the Skidmore Group with a mountain of deployable capital.

Business In Vancouver

Restaurants and Eateries

DavidsTea slows U.S. expansion

The CEO of DavidsTea (DTEA-Q) says the beverage retailer is slowing its U.S. expansion because it didn’t understand American tastes. Joel Silver says the Montreal-based company has discovered U.S. customers prefer iced tea over hot brew and have a sweeter palate. DavidsTea plans to open up to five stores south of the border this year after launching 49 locations since 2011. 

Montreal Gazette – Financial Post

Infrastructure

Chief Peguis Trail extension plans revving up

Winnipeggers got a chance Tuesday to tour the proposed Chief Peguis Trail Extension West that’s supposed to clear some clogged old arteries in a city that’s growing. They viewed the proposed design at a packed open house at Red River Community Centre, asked questions of city representatives and project team members, and offered feedback on plans to extend Chief Peguis Trail from Main Street west to Brookside Boulevard (Route 90).

Winnipeg Free Press

Technology

IKEA to try selling through third-party websites

IKEA plans to test selling its products on websites other than its own, the head of brand and strategy owner Inter IKEA Group said Wednesday, as the world’s biggest home furnishing retailer targets more online customers. The move means IKEA’s customers may soon be able to buy its flat-pack furniture and other home furnishings through the likes of Amazon.

Reuters

Other

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