TSX celebrates 25th anniversary of REITs

TSX celebrates 25th anniversary of REITs

Canada’s premier equity markets, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange, hosted members of REALPAC, Canada’s real estate industry association, for a market open ceremony on Wednesday in celebration of the 25th anniversary of real estate investment trusts in Canada and the listing of the first REIT on TSX.

Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire

Blackstone has Canadian multifamily on its radar

Blackstone Group‘s $3.8 billion deal for Canada’s largest industrial real estate investment trust was probably enough to shake the Canadian property market on its own. But now it seems the world’s biggest real estate private equity firm is ready to give the country another jolt.  Speaking at the Canadian Apartment Investment Conference this week, Olivia John, a managing director at Blackstone said the company has Canada on the radar for multifamily investment.

CoStar Group – Property Biz Canada

Been away? Here’s a RENX summer CRE review

Welcome back. If you’ve been away on vacation or spending some down time at the cottage, you might’ve missed some of the more significant commercial real estate stories during the past eight or 10 weeks. RENX is here to help. We’ve compiled this list (in no particular order) of some of our most important, and most-read, Property Biz Canada stories from mid-June through August to help you get caught up.

Property Biz Canada

Seeking a real estate agent? Nobul has an app for that

Nobul Corporation founder, chief executive officer and chairman Regan McGee has grand plans for his online marketplace which connects real estate agents with homebuyers and sellers. “There’s a full transparency that the public and regulators have been demanding for decades,” said McGee. The platform offers a range of features designed to appeal to buyers, sellers and agents.

Property Biz Canada – Canada Newswire

Thousand residential units proposed for Richmond site

The historic shops and restaurants on No. 3 Road, across the street from CF Richmond Centre, will soon be all gone and replaced by nine new towers. The three proposed developments at the intersection with Cook road will include 1,132 residential units, which are part of a “Brighouse Village” the city has planned near the Brighouse Canada Line station.

Business in Vancouver – Richmond News

Residential building boom on Halifax Peninsula

The Halifax Peninsula has seen plenty of multi-residential development in recent years, and there’s no sign of any slowdown in the sector. “Over the past 24 months, we’ve seen real growth in people moving back on to the peninsula, and they need places to live,” said Gordon Laing, the president and chief executive officer of Southwest Properties Limited, which builds, owns and manages residential, retail and commercial properties in Halifax.

Property Biz Canada

The last dance: Canadian strip club a dying institution

Back in the early 2000s, the ATMs at the Cotton Club in St. John’s used to run out of money. “It was nothing for the guys to get home from Alberta and come in here and spend two or three grand,” Jacquie Tew, the strip club’s manager, remembers. But the Cotton Club doesn’t see cash like that today. Fluctuating commodity prices have sent workers home from the oil sands.

Globe and Mail

Owners slapping name on a business choose glory over growth

Naming your business after yourself demonstrates that you prioritize glory and profit over growing and attracting investment, according to a new analysis of records from more than a million firms. Their research helps us understand why the founders of Google/Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft made very different naming decisions than old-school tycoons such as Henry Ford, James C. Penney and Walt Disney.

Financial Post

Doug Ford sets sights on Ontario Place redevelopment

Premier Doug Ford, whose grandiose schemes for Toronto’s waterfront were thwarted when he was a city councillor and his brother was mayor, is setting his sights on redeveloping Ontario Place. Sources told the Star that Ford wants to scuttle proposals that were being considered by the previous Liberal government and start anew with an international competition to rethink the sprawling green space along Lake Shore Blvd. W.

Toronto Star

True North acquires Ottawa office property

True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (TNT-UN-T) announced it has agreed to acquire a 40,000-square-foot office property located at 2300 St. Laurent Boulevard in Ottawa.  The purchase price is approximately $6.3 million, exclusive of closing costs, and is expected to be satisfied by the proceeds from the REIT’s July 2018 public unit offering, and first mortgage financing.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Slate completes acquisition of Chicago office building

Slate Office REIT (SOT.UN-T) is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced acquisition of 120 South LaSalle in downtown Chicago, Illinois for a price of US$155.5 million. As a result of this acquisition, 13% of the REIT’s gross leasable area will be located in the downtown Chicago area, after adjusting for the completion of previously announced dispositions.

Financial Post

Concept for Place des Montréalaises public square unveiled

Montreal Gazette

Brookfield closes $1bn US multifamily value-add fund

Brookfield Asset Management and Fairfield Residential’s third multifamily value-add fund has raised $1bn (€860.3bn) at final close. Brookfield Fairfield US Multifamily Value Add Fund III (VAMF III) seeks to invest in multifamily assets throughout the US by acquiring and renovating existing apartments and engaging in ground-up development in select coastal markets.

IPE Real Estate

Blackstone tops Oxford Properties’ bid for Investa Office Fund

Blackstone has increased its takeover bid for Investa Office Fund as it battles with Oxford Properties for control of the listed Australian vehicle. The US private firm is now offering AUD5.62 per security for all of IOF shares – up by 17 cents from AUD5.45. The offer price takes into account forecast dividend payment of around 10 cents per security.

IPE Real Estate

Bigger leases, pricier deals 2019 Manhattan’s office market

Shared work spaces, a rezoning of the eastern part of midtown Manhattan that may add 6.8 million square feet of commercial space, and development of the Hudson Yards district are shaping a surging office market this year in New York City.  According to CoStar data, no fewer than 26 office leases have been signed in excess of 100,000 square feet each.

CoStar Group

Market Trends and Research

Labour shortage the ‘new norm’: BDC

Canada’s small and mid-sized companies must find ways to adapt to a “new norm” of worker shortages that will likely persist for a decade, says Pierre Cleroux, chief economist for the Business Development Bank of Canada.”They represent about 50 per cent of the Canadian economy. So they are very important. Also, they are very important in smaller communities,” Cleroux said in an interview ahead of a report issued Wednesday.

CTV – Financial Post – Canada Newswire

More than $30B in fund assets to hit market by 2028

More than $30 billion Cdn of real estate assets are expected to be released back into the market, over the next 10 years, as funds reach their end of life according to a report. The latest Funds Termination Study 2018 published by real estate associations INREV shows 92 European closed end non-listed real estate funds are set to terminate over the next decade.

IPE Real Assets

GTA leased industrial space up year-over-year

TREB Commercial Network Members reported more than 275,000 square feet of leased space, in transactions undertaken on a per square foot net basis with pricing disclosed, across the industrial, commercial/retail and office market segments. While the overall amount of space leased was down year-over-year, the amount of space leased in the important industrial market segment was up substantially. 

Globe Newswire

Real Estate Companies

Fiera Capital announces renewal of assets

Fiera Capital Corporation (FSZ-T), a leading independent asset management firm, announced it has agreed on the terms and conditions of a renewal until June 30, 2022 of the assets under management agreement with National Bank of Canada and Natcan Investment Management Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of National Bank of Canada.

Canada Newswire

Time to get carried away with Brookfield Asset

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM-A-T) recently threw Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner a lifeline, acquiring the 99-year lease on 666 Fifth Avenue, the Manhattan building Kushner’s family paid US$1.8 billion for in 2007, and have struggled to maintain the interest payments on it ever since. To lend Kushner a helping hand, Brookfield Properties will own and operate the building, putting US$600 million into renovating it.

Motley Fool

Downtown Edmonton hotel loses Hyatt branding

A downtown hotel in Edmonton’s burgeoning Quarters district has lost its Hyatt branding and is no longer affiliated with the worldwide brand, the company confirmed Thursday. The decision to pull the Hyatt Place branding comes two weeks after the hotel failed an Alberta Health Services health inspection, though Hyatt is not confirming whether the decision was directly linked to the failed health report.

Edmonton Journal

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Canadian REITs that offer safety and value

My associate, Allan Meyer, and I thought we would analyze Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) using our investment philosophy focused on safety and value. The sector has performed well in spite of rising interest rates over the past year. We started with Canadian-listed REITs with a market capitalization of $1-billion or more, sorted from largest to smallest.

Globe and Mail

Three rock-solid REITs for income seekers

SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T) offers a stable portfolio of more than 150 outdoor malls and a robust development pipeline that includes retail, residential and office properties. H&R REIT (HR-UN-T) has faced its share of challenges, including the loss of Target and Sears stores. RioCan REIT (REI-UN-T) is in transition as it releases former Sears space, works to sell off about $2-billion in non-core assets and increasingly focuses on mixed-use developments.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Partners REIT updates western property transactions

Partners Real Estate Investment Trust (PAR.UN-T) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced sale of the Mariner Square property in Campbell River, British Columbia.  After repaying two mortgages, the net-cash proceeds from the sale of Mariner Square will be approximately $13 million. 

Globe Newswire

Retail

New CEO has Lululemon on a roll

The new chief executive of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU-Q) says he plans to cash in on the momentum at the yoga-wear chain by tapping into the “spirit of a disruptive innovator” it shares with Sephora − the beauty retailer where he was previously a leader. Calvin McDonald said the company shares a number of similarities with Sephora in culture and values, enabling him to propel the business further.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Business In Vancouver

Couche-Tard Q1 profits surges 25 per cent

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-A-T) posted strong earnings and revenue growth from acquisitions in the first quarter of its fiscal year, even though a gap in the switch to the PC Optimum loyalty program from Aeroplan hurt sales at its Esso-branded convenience store locations. The Quebec-based retailer said its net income attributable to shareholders surged 25 per cent to US$455.5 million, up from US$364.7 million a year earlier.

Financial Post – Canada Newswire – Canada Newswire – Montreal Gazette

Amazon second U.S. company to reach $1-T market value

Amazon (AMZN-Q) has become the second publicly traded company to be worth $1 trillion US, hot on the heels of iPhone maker Apple. Amazon has revolutionized how people shop online and is the world’s dominant internet retailer. In two decades the company expanded far beyond its bookseller beginnings, combining its world-spanning retail operation with less flashy but very profitable advertising and cloud computing businesses.

CBC

Cannabis industry news

What a legal cannabis dispensary will look like in Edmonton

Edmontonians will get their first look at a legal cannabis dispensary this week. Behind Fire and Flower’s nondescript, windowless exterior on Jasper Avenue and 115 Street, the retail space is spacious and modern.

Toronto Star

New Development

Developer skips Winnipeg council committee, places faith in courts

The developer of the Parker lands is placing more faith in the courts than city council to ensure a plan to build in Winnipeg’s Fort Garry neighbourhood sees the light of day. Gem Equities and its owner Andrew Marquess plan to skip a Monday council property committee meeting where city planners will advise councillors not to allow the firm’s plan to proceed to the public hearing phase.

CBC

Infrastructure

Metrolinx settles lawsuit over Crosstown light-rail project

Metrolinx is tapping into its contingency fund for Toronto’s Crosstown light-rail project to get assurances that the job will be finished on time. It will not say how much extra money is involved, but notes that the overall budget of $5.4-billion has not risen. The Ontario government transit agency had been in negotiations about how to resolve delays in construction since late winter.

Globe and Mail

Sustainability

Assessing the damage from 2017 U.S. hurricanes

A year ago, three devastating hurricanes struck the United States. Since then, commercial real estate professionals in the affected regions have been dealing with the aftermath. In many cases, commercial properties in the storm-ravaged areas of Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico either did not sustain significant damage or were able to bounce back. Some in the industry also say investor interest in these markets continues to be high.

National Real Estate Investor: Part I – National Real Estate Investor: Part II

Other

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