DND plans $1.1B Ottawa operational HQ

DND plans $1.1B Ottawa operational HQ

The Department of National Defence is planning a new $1.1-billion building in Ottawa’s west end, even while employees are settling into its $800-million headquarters complex at the former Nortel campus. The department has set its sights on what it calls a new operational headquarters, which it expects to host 4,500 civilian and military personnel. The headquarters at at the former Nortel campus will house nearly 9,000 employees.

Ottawa Citizen

Infrastructure should spur Edmonton redevelopment: Altus

Bonnie Doon and other Edmonton malls along new LRT routes offer strong redevelopment possibilities, but the companies involved will need money and patience, a commercial real estate specialist says. Many mature neighbourhoods with aging populations and homes have shopping centres that could be repurposed to provide the modern housing and amenities tenants want, says Jonas Locke, Western Canadian vice-president for Altus Group.

Edmonton Journal

H&R to sell U.S. retail properties, focus on residential

H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (HR-UN-T) says it will sell 63 U.S. retail properties for $633 million US and use a “significant share” of the proceeds to fund acquisitions for its Lantower Residential division. The sale includes all of H&R REIT’s retail properties in the United States, with the exception of  16 gas stations and convenience stores. The buyer has not been disclosed.

Property Biz Canada

True North buys Toronto Yonge St. office tower

True North Commercial REIT (TNT.UN-T) has purchased an 18-storey office tower along the northern portion of Yonge St. in Toronto for $85.15 million. 5775 Yonge St., is a class-A, LEED Gold building containing 274,085 square feet of leasable space. “We are extremely pleased to have successfully and fully deployed the proceeds from our March equity raise into this superior asset located in Toronto,” said REIT CEO/president Daniel Drimmer.

Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Shopify to expand Toronto and Montreal offices

Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify (SHOP-T) is on a hiring spree and planning on expanding its offices to make space for hundreds of new employees. In Montreal, the company aims to nearly double the workforce with 120 new employees in the next few years. Those people will have a roomy office space, though, as Shopify is expanding its Montreal footprint to accommodate as many as 450 employees.

Financial Post

Jean Coutu worth steep price: Metro CEO

The cost of buying the Jean Coutu Group (PJC-A-T) was high but it will generate a good return on the investment, Metro Inc. (MRU-T) chief executive Eric La Flèche said Monday. “Yes, the price was not ‘cheap,’ but it was justified and the potential is there,” he said. The Quebec-based grocer officially purchased the chain of pharmacies Friday with the closing of the $4.5-billion transaction announced in October.

Canadian Grocer

Canadian hotel values set for another large jump: Colliers

While 2018 Canadian hotel transaction volume likely won’t match last year’s $3.5 billion, Colliers International (CIGI-T) expects it to be in line with the 2011 to 2017 average of $2.3 billion.  The average total price per room rose to a record $161,400 and hotel values increased by 13.2 per cent last year. Values are forecast to rise by 12.8 per cent in 2018, according to Colliers’ “2018 Canadian Hotel Investment Report.”

Property Biz Canada

Plazacorp earns Tarion honour, keeps building condos

Plazacorp was named high-rise builder of the year at Tarion’s Homeowners’ Choice Awards on May 1, and senior vice-president Scott McLellan said it’s an honour the company really wanted. “It’s really the only one where you’re judged, rated and marked on what your purchasers think. That’s probably the most important award you can have in any industry, but certainly ours.”

Property Biz Canada

GrowForce to open cannabis facility in Winnipeg

Producers are taking a pot shot in Winnipeg. GrowForce Holdings will open what company officials are calling their “flagship cannabis cultivation facility” in Winnipeg. It will be the third facility for the new Canadian firm. GrowForce is renovating a 120,000-square-foot building in St. Boniface to bring it into compliance with Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations.

CBC – Winnipeg Free Press – Global News

ALR land should be made available for cannabis: Colliers

The provincial government should make parts of Metro Vancouver’s agricultural land reserve (ALR) available for the soon-to-be-legalized cultivation of recreational cannabis, says Colliers International. Using greenhouses on portions of the least-arable ALR land would provide a viable alternative to Metro Vancouver’s scant industrial land for cannabis production, the property brokerage said in a recent white paper.

Vancouver Sun

Rising farmland values a mixed blessing for farmers

For the majority of farmers in Canada, the latest Farm Credit Canada farmland price report is good news. Unlike hard assets such as machinery, buildings and tools that depreciate over time, the value of this key asset continues to rise at rates that aren’t far off medium- to high-risk investment portfolio returns. At least, its commercial value continues to rise.

Winnipeg Free Press

A&W’s first female CEO doubles down on growth strategy

The first woman to take the helm of A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. (AW-UN-T)  spent nearly three decades preparing to lead the company and said the transition “happened very naturally.” Susan Senecal, who in February became the company’s fifth CEO in its 62-year history, plans to double down on the fast-food chain’s strategy to rapidly grow its store count and continue incorporating more quality ingredients.

Winnipeg Free Press

U.S. shopping centre demand falls to six-year low

Demand growth for mall and shopping centre space by U.S. retailers fell to its lightest level in six years in Q1 as retailers continued to focus on their top-performing locations and shed marginal stores, with announced store closures totaling nearly 100 million square feet already this year. The balancing act was reflected in the Q1 2018 U.S. retail vacancy rate, which at 4.6% was unchanged from Q4 2017.

CoStar Group

Edmonton plans to overhaul 50th Street

Edmonton’s plan to overhaul 50th Street north of the Sherwood Park Freeway will alleviate traffic tie–ups but getting through the construction phase may create some major headaches for local businesses. Hardeep Baraich, who owns a handful of stores, is worried work to improve traffic flow in the area, including widening the street between 76th and 90th Avenues, may hurt his business.

CBC – CBC

OK, computer: Design me a building

There’s a strange corner in the Autodesk Canada offices. Two walls slide past each other at an oblique angle, and stop short of the windows. Into this gap slides a little cubed-off office with glass doors, topped off with an awkward sprig of ductwork painted blue. Who designed this thing? A computer did.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Market Trends and Research

Hamilton’s trendiest offices located on upper floors

People have been noticing a blossoming of businesses on the street levels of Hamilton’s High Street downtown, but what’s happening upstairs is another sight to behold. Some visually impressive spaces are being created, or already exist, along Hamilton’s High Street in older buildings that suddenly feel very new.

Hamilton Journal News

Real Estate Companies

Home Capital secures new credit line

Alternative mortgage lender Home Capital Group Inc. (HCG-T) has secured a smaller, less expensive credit line from two Canadian banks to backstop any unexpected funding needs. At the end of June, the two-year, $500-million credit facility will replace an existing $2-billion line of credit from Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A-N) – the firm run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Home Capital’s largest shareholder.

Globe and Mail

Amazon, Starbucks blast Seattle business tax

The Seattle City Council’s approval of a scaled-back corporate tax aimed at addressing the city’s rising housing prices and burgeoning homeless crisis brought harsh words from Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN-Q) and Starbucks Corp. (SBUX-Q), two of the city’s largest employers set to bear the brunt of the new employee tax. Seattle city officials reduced the per-worker tax levy by nearly half before approving the tax Monday.

CoStar Group – CBC

Amazon to open sixth fulfillment facility in Ohio

Continuing to expand its operations even as it considers the finalists for its new co-headquarters complex dubbed HQ2, Amazon.com (AMZN-Q) said it will open an 855,000-square-foot customer fulfillment centre in West Jefferson, Ohio. The new warehouse, where workers will pick, pack and ship items such as electronics, books, housewares and toys to customers, will be the sixth Amazon facility in Ohio and its third in the Columbus area.

CoStar Group

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Dream Unlimited Corp., (DRM-T), Globe Newswire

* Invesque Inc., (IVQ-U-T), Canada Newswire

* StorageVault Canada, (SVI-X), Globe Newswire

* Trez Capital Mortgage Investment Corp., (TZZ-T), Canada Newswire

* Trez Capital Senior Mortgage Investment Corp., (TZS-T), Canada Newswire

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Automotive Properties REIT, (APR-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* Boardwalk REIT, (BEI-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* Inovalis REIT, (INO-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT, (NWH-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* PIRET, (AAR-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Top up your monthly income with SmartCentres

SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T) is a prime example of a REIT that can give income investors a raise without the added risk. I believe fears over the “death of the shopping mall” are so overblown shares have an implied margin of safety and could be due for a bounce to higher levels over the next three years, as more attention is drawn to the revamped management team.

Motley Fool – Property Biz Canada

Retail

Home Depot’s Q1 profit overshadowed by same-store sales

Home Depot (HD-N) reported strong first-quarter profits, though sales at comparable stores were dampened by inclement weather and revenue was weaker than expected. Shares fell 2.9 per cent before the opening bell Tuesday. The Atlanta company earned $2.4 billion, or $2.08 per share, for the three months ended April 29. A year earlier the home improvement retailer earned $2.01 billion, or $1.67 per share.

CTV – Bloomberg – Reuters – Canada Newswire

Restaurants and Eateries

Tim Hortons franchisee sues parent over licence renewal

A Tim Hortons franchisee filed a $4-million lawsuit against the coffee-and-doughnut chain’s parent company after he says it refused to renew a license of one of his stores in bad faith. “The actions of the defendant were callous, wanton and in total disregard of the rights of the plaintiff,” reads a lawsuit Mark Kuziora filed against TDL Group Corp., a subsidiary of parent company Restaurant Brands International (QSR-T).

CBC

Cannabis industry news

NordikLeaf plans 100,000-square-foot pot farm in Ottawa

Several former executives from a Carleton Place cannabis firm are launching a new venture and hope to construct a 100,000-square-foot facility in West Ottawa and start cultivating marijuana by May 2019. NordikLeaf CEO James Mackenzie says the firm has raised $1 million to date and is looking to raise a total of $25 million from high-net-worth individuals to launch the project.

Ottawa Business Journal

Pot companies face resistance as they look to grow

When SvN Architects and Planners was designing a cannabis facility for medical marijuana producer Cronos Group (CRON-X) in Stayner, Ont., it needed to include a 25-foot-high “landscape mound with plantings” to hide the property from the adjacent landowner. “The pushback was from the adjoining property owners who were not used to having large-scale facilities,” Sony Rai, SvN’s lead architect, said at a land development conference in Toronto on Tuesday.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Toronto Star – Canada Newswire

Infrastructure

B.C. premier applies brakes to Victoria light rail

B.C. Premier John Horgan not only dashed the hopes of light-rail transit fans in the capital region on Tuesday, he got a nice round of applause for doing so. Addressing the 400-member massed forces of all the local chambers of commerce, Horgan parked the light-rail dream in short order.

Victoria Times Colonist

Ottawa will not oppose Site C injunction

The federal government is not going to argue against halting construction of the controversial Site C hydroelectric dam in British Columbia while a B.C. court decides if the project violates constitutionally protected treaty rights. However a spokeswoman for Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the government will continue to defend the federal approval given for the project in December 2014.

CBC – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Vancouver Sun

Other

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