QuadReal invests in U.S. student housing

QuadReal invests in U.S. student housing

QuadReal Property Group, CA Student Living and GI Partners have formed a joint venture to acquire, develop and manage student housing at select universities throughout the U.S. QuadReal has invested $823 million of equity into the joint venture. CASL and GI are co-investors and general partners, with CASL serving as the operating partner. 

Canada Newswire

Bentall Kennedy EVP on attracting new investors

Last year, Chicago real estate executive Doug Kinney moved from the Carlyle Group to join the Bentall Kennedy team. Kinney brought global investing experience and a strong background in private fund and securities to his new role. He has been putting that knowledge to work as Bentall Kennedy seeks new opportunities worldwide.

CP Executive

Vancouver ‘shinier than ever on the world stage’

Land’s pricing and its role in major deals was the topic of discussion among five real estate executives during a panel session at the May 3 Land & Development Conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. In the Vancouver region, there’s insufficient land or housing to meet demand and residential land transactions reached a record high of $6 billion last year.

Property Biz Canada

Record flood overwhelms Ottawans, forces PS shutdown in Gatineau

Federal and provincial government workers in Gatineau were told to stay home Monday to help clear the way for emergency workers. The City of Gatineau announced it would close most municipal buildings, including city hall (except the municipal court), service centres, libraries and sports centres. In Gatineau, 443 buildings have been evacuated and 794 people have been displaced. (PLEASE SEE FURTHER FLOODING COVERAGE IN THIRD SECTION)

Ottawa Citizen – CBC – CBC – CBC

Serruya family buys Thornhill Promenade Shopping Centre

It’s one of those feel-good examples of local boys making good and wanting to give back to the community. The Serruya family, in partnership with Liberty Development Corporation, has purchased Promenade Shopping Centre in Thornhill, Ont. from Cadillac Fairview for an undisclosed price.

Property Biz Canada

New infrastructure bank to call TO home

Canada’s largest city is getting itself a new resident this year: the headquarters of the federal government’s new infrastructure financing agency. The Canada infrastructure bank will be located in Toronto, where its members will have easy access to investors in the city’s financial district whose dollars the Liberals need to make the agency a success.

Globe and Mail – Canada Newswire

Home Capital bleeding deposits

Home Capital Group Inc. (HCG-T) has continued to burn through capital, announcing Monday it has drawn down $1.4 billion of its $2 billion credit line and has suspended its dividend as deposits sink further. It also appointed three new directors to its board as part of its governance “renewal process,” and has named director Brenda Eprile as its new board chair. 

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

Montreal mayor extends state of emergency

Flanked by his fire chief, and with mobile command posts of the army, fire department and police behind him, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said the current state of emergency will continue at least until the weekend. Speaking to reporters Monday morning, Coderre said water levels could be stabilizing in the coming hours or days.

Montreal Gazette – CBC – CBC – CBC

Lake Ontario residents seethe over floods

Four months after an international body approved a new plan for regulating Lake Ontario’s water level, property owners who had claimed the rules favoured muskrat lodges over lakeside homes are piling sandbags against just the kind of floodwaters they had feared. But a joint U.S.-Canadian commission says its new rules aren’t to blame for the current flooding. 

National Post

Flooding cycle must end: Expert

Once again, homes located alongside a Canadian river have flooded, affected homeowners are shocked, the local government is wringing its hands, the respective provincial government is ramping up to provide taxpayer-funded disaster assistance and the feds are deploying the Armed Forces. In Canada, it is the plot of the movie Groundhog Day.

Globe and Mail

Lowe’s Canada network aiding victims

Lowe’s Canada (LOW-N) has implemented a nationwide campaign that supports the efforts of the Canadian Red Cross to help spring flooding victims. Starting today, customers from Lowe’s Canada’s extensive network, including all Lowe’s, RONA, Réno-Dépôt, Marcil and Ace stores, will be invited to make a donation in the amount of their choice towards the Quebec Flood 2017 and Canada Flood 2017 funds.

Canada Newswire

Fairfield owner to share CRE knowledge with students

Calgary commercial real estate broker Michael Kehoe is off to Las Vegas next month where he’ll speak at the International Council Shopping Centres RECon gathering. The world’s largest retail real estate convention annually attracts more than 37,000 participants representing 58 countries. Kehoe, broker/owner of Fairfield Commercial Real Estate, will address students on careers in retail real estate.

Calgary Herald

Will a ‘city within a city’ at Woodbine ever happen?

Discussions about what to do with the Woodbine Racetrack lands have been happening for at least four years now. With a 275-hectare site and plans that potentially include a new music venue, hotels, condos, shops, offices, and sports fields, the scope is equivalent to a development the size of downtown Toronto.

Toronto Star – Property Biz Canada

Neighbourhood malls struggling to survive

Mohammed Polani remembers the days when Whitby Mall was packed with people who would line up outside his store at 7 a.m. to buy newspapers and magazines. They were educated and literate, with a wide variety of hobbies and interests — buying titles like Vintage Fire Truck and Equipment and Wrist Watch Magazine and the Harvard Business Review.

Toronto Star

IAM announces opening of IAM Real Property Fund

Integrated Asset Management Corp. (IAM-T) and its real estate team, IAM Real Estate Group, announced the opening for investment of the IAM Real Property Fund. Originally launched in 2014, the fund is now an open investment vehicle, having been closed for the initial investment period. The IAM Real Property Fund is currently at $150 million. 

Marketwired

Real Estate Companies

Andrew Agencies buys Winnipeg insurance outlets

Virden, Man.-based Andrew Agencies has expanded into Winnipeg with the acquisition of three Waggoner Insurance outlets in the city. The acquisition gives the 104-year-old, multi-line brokerage 19 retail locations in the Prairies. The company said all the Waggoner outlets will be rebranded to Andrew Agencies, and all of the company’s employees have been retained.

Winnipeg Free Press

Honeywell to raze buildings, sell Amherstburg property

Several small buildings on the old Honeywell property in Amherstburg, Ont., will soon be torn down as its U.S. parent company prepares to sell off that land and its adjacent General Chemical property. Honeywell plans to bundle the properties into a 156-acre investment opportunity.

Windsor Star

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Brookfield Business Partners L.P., (BBU.UN-T),  Marketwired   

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial reports:

* InterRent REIT, (IIP.UN-T), Marketwired     

Real Estate Investment Trusts

RioCan has paid 256 consecutive dividends

RioCan REIT (REI.UN-T) hasn’t missed a dividend since 1994, before it even began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. That’s 256 consecutive dividends without a missed payment. Canada’s largest REIT is poised to pay another 256 consecutive dividends. The company’s portfolio spans more than 300 properties, and its share of total square footage exceeds 45 million square feet. 

Motley Fool – Motley Fool

Retail

HBC taps debt adviser: Sources

Hudson’s Bay Co (HBC-T) has hired a debt restructuring adviser to review potential options for combining its business with debt-laden U.S. department store operator Neiman Marcus Group, according to sources. The move is the clearest indication yet Neiman Marcus’ $4.7 billion debt pile poses significant challenges to a merger between Hudson’s Bay and private equity-owned Neiman Marcus. 

Reuters

The unprecedented fall of Sears

In 1989, Sears Roebuck & Co. (SHLD-Q) ruled America as its biggest retailer. It loomed over rivals from a perch high above Chicago, inside what was once the world’s tallest building—one bearing the company’s name. Over the course of almost three decades, the company experienced one of the most monumental collapses in business history. 

Bloomberg

Dov Charney: They trashed American Apparel, but I’ve moved on

American Apparel was very successful. Nearly all the stores were profitable, we had a vibrant online business, and we paid living wages to our workers. And for 25 years but one, we had positive EBITDA. There was an attempt to sell the company. This hedge fund took control of American Apparel, and then expulcated me and my management team.

Globe and Mail

Increased competition on horizon for U.S. groceries

The American grocery store has so far been mostly immune to the ravages of online shopping, but a war is coming to the staid supermarket, and that could mean more consolidation, bankruptcies, and falling prices. Lidl, a German retailer known for low prices and efficient operations, is expected to start an aggressive U.S. expansion in the coming weeks.

Bloomberg

Restaurants and Eateries

Tim Hortons CEO brushes aside expansion skepticism

The CEO of the parent company of Tim Hortons (QSR-T) is brushing off skepticism the British will embrace its offerings as it readies to open its first location in the United Kingdom next month. The coffee-and-doughnut chain may be a national institution in Canada, but in the country synonymous with tea time, it has received a mixed reception. 

CTV

New Development

Marriott adopts modular construction

Marriott International (MAR-Q), the largest hotel company in the world, is betting big on modular construction to drive its growth in North America. The Bethesda, Md.,-based company expects to sign 50 hotel deals this year that would incorporate prefabricated guestrooms and/or bathrooms. That would make up about 13 per cent of signings for North America this year. 

USA TODAY

Infrastructure

Aéroports de Montréal investing in improved customs

In a bid to lessen wait times at the Canadian customs area, Aéroports de Montréal announced at its annual general meeting on Thursday it will invest $14.2 million to improve the situation. ADM will make the improvements in conjunction with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and a firm of experts in airport planning and design.

Montreal Gazette

SNC-Lavalin seeks continued Caisse backing

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC-T) wants to tap the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec again to help finance future acquisitions as it tries to complete the purchase of British-based WS Atkins PLC, its biggest ever takeover. The Montreal-based engineering firm confirmed its partnership deal with the Caisse on the Atkins bid was not necessarily a one-time event,

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Montreal Gazette

Technology

Walmart still catching up: Online chief

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s (WMT-N) e-commerce chief said the world’s biggest retailer still has plenty of ground to cover as it expands its online business in the face of fierce competition from digital leaders like Amazon.com Inc. “There are certainly areas where we are playing defence, and we’re behind and need to catch up,” said Marc Lore.

Toronto Star – Toronto Star

Other

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