WeWork eyes 20 more locations in Toronto

WeWork eyes 20 more locations in Toronto

Add co-working giant WeWork Cos. to the growing list of players looking to profit from Toronto’s booming office market. The New York-based company aims to occupy at least 20 different locations in Toronto by 2020, up from three now, said Dave McLaughlin, general manager for the Northeast at WeWork. WeWork opened its first Toronto locations last year, both of which were 98 per cent occupied within the first month.

Bloomberg

Parkland Fuel new Alberta retail powerhouse

As Alberta’s traditional corporate giants grapple with volatile oil and gas prices, a small company with roots in Red Deer is emerging as a star. In the span of three years, Parkland Fuel Corp. (PKI-T) has accumulated more than 1,800 service stations across Canada. Because its locations typically have convenience stores attached to them, Parkland is now the second-largest ‘C-store’ operator in the country.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

CT REIT to build on strong 2017 performance: Silver

CT Real Estate Investment Trust (CRT-UN-T) is poised to continue expanding its portfolio after experiencing growth in every significant financial metric during 2017, says president and CEO Ken Silver. Silver told RENX that after adding 1.5 million square feet of mainly retail space last year, the REIT is also interested in adding industrial and distribution assets to its portfolio.

Property Biz Canada

Peterson, Premise acquire Kelowna, Vernon shopping centres

Vancouver real estate investors Peterson Group and Premise Properties have co-purchased two shopping centres in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, underscoring the region’s growing population and relative value compared to Metro Vancouver. The two companies closed the deal on Feb. 19 to buy the retail properties from RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI-UN-T).

Property Biz Canada

E-commerce not sole cause of death for Canadian malls

Malls were once a go-to shopping destination and a teenager’s hang-out of choice, but now face an uncertain future as some of their biggest tenants lay off employees, file for creditor protection or hang a “closed” sign in the window and leave for good. Beleaguered retailers have been quick to blame online shopping for their decline. But retail experts say scapegoating e-commerce is an oversimplification of a multifaceted problem.

CTV News

Toys ‘R’ Us Canada faces an uncertain future

Can Toys “R” Us Canada survive if its U.S. parent company heads into liquidation and shutters its store network? It’s a possibility, industry experts agree, but one that would hinge on finding a dedicated buyer unswayed by worries about the future of store-based retailing and willing to invest in upgrading the chain’s dated store network.

Financial Post – Bloomberg

Adi Development Group moving into Toronto condos

Adi Development Group chief executive officer Tariq Adi said he had a simple reason for expanding into the Toronto market: “We got tired of being called the Burlington guys, so we decided to make the move into the city and picked up two high-profile sites.” From its roots in Burlington, a city located along Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, the company has grown steadily.

Property Biz Canada

Meet Canada’s marijuana moguls

As thousands of entrepreneurs scramble to make a buck off legalized marijuana, six CEOs leading Canada’s largest cannabis companies have already put their plans for global domination into action. Among them is the longtime CEO of a vitamin company, an investment banker who was in charge of business development at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, and a hockey dad who started out as an electrician.

CBC – CBC – Edmonton Journal – Calgary Herald

When NHL rinks outlast their usefulness

Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome – known previously as the Olympic, Canadian Airlines and Pengrowth Saddledome – is 35 years old. While some might argue it was made to last, it wasn’t made to produce revenue in the deep streams demanded these days by professional hockey. Similarly, Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre – once known as Scotiabank Place, Corel Centre and the Palladium – is an arena pup at 22 years old.

Globe and Mail

Yonge-Dundas Square architect calls it ‘extraordinarily ugly’

As her cab inched through traffic, Kim Storey’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God. Look at that,” she said as she came face to face with the new 15-metre, multi-screen display at  the Yonge-Dundas Square entrance. “That’s extraordinarily ugly.” Storey and James Brown, of Brown and Storey Architects, designed the public square at the turn of the 21st century.

Toronto Star

Firms capitalize on changing office landscape: Starlight

The nature of work, how we work and where we work is constantly changing. The traditional model of commuting to the urban core to work, and then retreating to the suburbs to live and play has been supplanted by the livework-play ethos of the millennial generation, fueling urban renewal and the creative repositioning of previously under-utilized core assets.

Canada Newswire

Artis acquires remaining interest in Denver office properties

Artis REIT (AX-UN-T) announced Thursday it has acquired the remaining 50 per cent interest in 1700 Broadway and Hudson’s Bay Centre, two class-A office buildings in Denver.  The remaining 50% joint venture interest in 1700 Broadway was acquired for US$51.0 million. The remaining 50% joint venture interest Hudson’s Bay Centre was acquired for US$19.0 million. Both transactions are in line with Artis’ most recently reported IFRS value.

Canada Newswire

Complexity the ‘new normal’: Rennie Group

Purchasing, developing, marketing, and selling real estate is a far more complex process than people outside of the industry realize, especially those who just read headlines in a newspaper. What’s needed, according to Jennifer Podmore Russell, senior vice-president at Rennie Group and chair of the upcoming Vancouver Real Estate Forum, is for stakeholders and the general public to fully “embrace the complexity.”

BCBusiness

Hudson Yards project to feature movable building

New York City’s bid to host the 2012 Games in a rebuilt neighbourhood of rail yards and industrial buildings never came to fruition, but Related Companies’ and Oxford Properties Group‘s massive Hudson Yards project rising there now isn’t suffering from a lack of Olympic-size ambition. After five years of construction, a $25 billion mini-city has been taking shape on Manhattan’s West Side.

Winnipeg Free Press

U.S. nursing home chains file for bankruptcy

Two nursing home chains have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month after restructuring deals on their unpaid rent with their REIT landlords. The nursing home chains are Orianna Health Systems and, more famously, HCR ManorCare and their landlords are Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI-N) and Quality Care Properties (QCP-N) in Bethesda, Md., respectively. 

GlobeSt.com

Market Trends and Research

Canada among three economies most at risk of banking crisis

China, Canada and Hong Kong are among the economies most at risk of a banking crisis, according to early-warning indicators compiled by the Bank for International Settlements. Canada — whose economy grew last year at the fastest pace since 2011 — was flagged thanks to its households’ maxed-out credit cards and high debt levels in the wider economy.

Bloomberg – Globe Newswire

12 U.S. industrial markets to watch in 2018

SLIDESHOW: The U.S. industrial sector is booming due to strong economic growth and the rapid rise in e-commerce that has occupiers expanding and modernizing their distribution facilities. While strong activity continues in core markets, the greatest growth is currently happening in secondary markets with high population growth, land available for development and easy access to logistics hubs, including interstate highways, major airports, rail yards and seaports.

National Real Estate Investor

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Slate Office unitholders approve $191.4M portfolio acquisition

Slate Office REIT (SOT-UN-T), announced that, its previously announced agreement to acquire seven properties located in the Greater Toronto Area and Atlantic Canada, was approved by its unitholders at a special meeting. The REIT will acquire the acquisition properties for $191.4 million representing $192 per square foot. 

Globe Newswire

Rate reaction opens U.S. REIT opportunity

Despite a generally healthy real estate market, U.S. REITs have been held back amid heightened short-term sensitivity to interest rates. While rates could remain a factor, we see the recent pullback as a chance to build allocations to REITs: they look attractive next to stocks, bonds and private real estate; equity correlations are at a 16-year low; and better fundamentals may be on the horizon.

IPE Real Assets

Retail

Taking the temperature of U.S. retail real estate

Credit Suisse predicts 25 per cent of the 1,100 enclosed malls currently operating in the U.S. will shutter in the next five years. And though I don’t  quite agree with that prognosticating and certainly not for luxury “A” malls in urban areas, there is a cautionary tale to heed—one that must entail a proper balancing act between three primary elements: bricks-and-mortar, e-commerce and delivery.

National Real Estate Investor – CityLab

Restaurants and Eateries

Ottawa bagel chain looks to buy famous Montreal shop

Despite being replicated around the world, some of Montreal’s favourite foods can’t be duplicated. On that list: Montreal smoked meat, poutine and bagels. But an Ottawa bagel shop founder is prepared to rise to the challenge. Craig Buckley, the founder of Kettleman’s Bagel Co., says Montreal bagels are the next fast-food concept, and he’s looking to expand his shop to the Montreal and Toronto markets.

CBC

New Development

Amazon to open fulfillment centre in Missouri

Amazon has made public plans to build its first Missouri fulfillment centre, which will be located in St. Peters, Mo. The upcoming 800,000-square-foot facility will follow the model used for the online retailer’s newest Baltimore fulfillment centre. The estimated date of completion is the fall of 2019. In order to run the center, Amazon expects to hire more than 1,500 who will pick, pack and ship small items including books, electronics and toys.

CP Executive

Infrastructure

Redwood Bridge over troubled waters

The Redwood Bridge, as most still refer to it despite it being renamed the Harry Lazarenko Bridge in 2014, is Winnipeg’s oldest functioning traffic bridge. It was meant to be a wedding gift, of sorts, to celebrate the union of two communities, but the sentiment was spoiled after an embarrassing administrative gaffe by the city saw the 10-month construction period drag on for two years.

Winnipeg Free Press

107-year-old station still a key source of Winnipeg’s electricity

Entering Rover Station is like stepping into a different ecosystem — and into a piece of Winnipeg’s past. Inside, the air is warm and stale. Sunlight shines through broken windows and a blackish-grey dust coats every surface, even the walls. Pigeons fly near signs warning of electrocution and asbestos. The building smells like a place long neglected. It’s musty, just like “grandpa’s cellar,” says Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Bruce Owen.

CBC

Constructions plugs up Etobicoke harbour front roadways

It’s easy to see why people are flocking to live in Humber Bay Shores. At most times the highrise neighbourhood in south Etobicoke appears an idyllic community. Glistening modern towers stand near a waterfront park, offering scenic views of downtown and ample opportunity to walk, bike or sail along Lake Ontario. But the tranquil scene is shattered every weekday morning when thousands of residents clog the community’s meagre transportation network when they commute to work.

Toronto Star

Technology

Smart learning the next big disruptor in CRE

At the recent Download/V2 conference in Marina del Rey, tech leaders discussed how technology is going to impact the future of business, including commercial real estate. The round table discussion was led by Newmark Knight Frank’s executive managing director Ryan Harding and managing director Jennifer M. Frisk.  “The next big disruptor is the communication between data and technology-driven products,”  Harding  said.

GlobeSt.com

Other

	RENX has surpassed 10,420 Twitter followers
	Recent follower Allaire Group develops communities with west coast living and lifestyles in mind.
	Follow RENXca, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian real estate professionals.