Costco to expand aggressively over the next year

Costco to expand aggressively over the next year

Costco (COST-Q) is aggressively stepping up its expansion in Canada after years of strong success in this market, a move likely to put even more of a squeeze on traditional grocers such as Loblaw and Sobeys. The U.S. warehouse club giant, which has annual sales of close to $21 billion in Canada and 91 stores across the country, will open seven new stores in fiscal 2017.

Financial Post – Toronto Star

Outdoor giant Bass Pro to acquire rival Cabela’s

Outdoor gear giants Bass Pro and Cabela‘s will combine in a $4.5 billion deal. Bass Pro is paying Cabela’s shareholders $65.50 cash per share. The deal creates uncertainty about jobs in Cabela’s home state of Nebraska. The combined companies plan to keep some operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Nebraska, but it’s not immediately clear how many jobs might be lost.

Winnipeg Free Press – CoStar Group

GTA boom behind new Fiera Properties fund

Fiera Capital Corp. unit Fiera Properties Ltd. is launching a new, five-year closed end investment fund designed to capitalize on the rapid and seemingly unstoppable growth of the Greater Toronto Area. The firm’s new GTA Opportunity Fund, currently with committed capital of $55 million after its first closing in July 2016, intends to invest in well-located, value-add and development projects through a joint-venture partnership strategy.

Property Biz Canada

How Ottawa’s new DND headquarters will change the city

On a hot August day in Ottawa’s west end, construction crews are banishing the ghosts of Nortel Networks. In what used to be Lab 8 — one of more than a dozen interconnected facilities — skilled trades are busy securing doorways, installing floor-to-ceiling windows, and upgrading the wiring. The soft whirring of power drills echoes throughout the atrium.

Ottawa Citizen

A CBC inventory of buildings containing asbestos

CBC has produced a national inventory of federal buildings containing asbestos by contacting 24 federal departments and agencies that provided a list of properties containing the substance. The federal government itself does not have a central inventory of this type.  Privately owned buildings are also listed including four locations in Guelph, including five listings for Woodlawn Square – a strip mall in the north end of the city.

CBC – CBC

JLL forms partnerships with regional CRE firms

JLL has formed a national strategic partnership with commercial real estate service providers from three different Canadian regions where it doesn’t have corporate offices or licensing. Capital Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. is based in Manitoba, ICR Commercial Real Estate is in Saskatchewan and Partners Global Corporate Real Estate covers Atlantic Canada.

Property Biz Canada

Michael J.R. Nisker, President, CEO, Trez Capital retires

Trez Capital Mortgage Investment Corporation (TZZ-T) announced today that Michael J.R. Nisker submitted his resignation effective November 11, 2016, as President and Chief Executive Officer as he plans to retire from Trez Capital Fund Management Limited Partnership.  Sandy Manson, who is currently the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer.

Canada Newswire

Aritzia shares rise 16% in Toronto debut

Aritzia Inc., the Canadian women’s fashion retailer, jumped 16 per cent in its trading debut after raising $400-million in its initial public offering. Shares of the Vancouver-based retailer rose to C$18.51 at 9:33 a.m. on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up from its C$16 IPO price. The shares earlier surged as high as C$19.

Globe and Mail

Japanese retailer Uniqlo dips its toes in Canada’s retail sector

When Japanese apparel retailer Uniqlo decided to open its first location in Canada, it sent Yasuhiro Hayashi to Toronto every month for nearly a year to get a read on the Canadian customer. During each visit, Uniqlo Canada’s chief operating officer would spend the week taking notes on what people wore.

The Chronicle Herald

Virtual Reality lands at Alexis Nihon

Alexis Nihon is pleased to announce the arrival of the Virtual Reality Adventure Lounge, a free experience offered by the shopping centre that will run from October 5^th to 30^th inclusively. This is a unique chance for visitors to experience all the latest in innovative and interactive technology.

Canada Newswire

Calgary office vacancy rates nearing 25 per cent: Barclay Street

Vacancy rates in downtown Calgary could be heading to 25 per cent, including in some of the city’s most posh skyscrapers. An office report from Barclay Street Real Estate pegs the city’s current downtown vacancy rate at 22.1 per cent, but notes that skyscrapers still under construction could push the rate to 25.6 per cent next year and 26.4 per cent in 2018.

Financial Post

There’s an entire block in Kelowna you might want

Want to buy an entire city block in downtown Kelowna? It will cost you $9.4 million.  But the possibilities for the former 6,070-square-metre Bargain Shop property at 560 Bernard Ave. are virtually endless.

Vancouver Sun

Landlord protection from unpaid rent and property damage made easy

Aviva Canada, in partnership with RDA Insurance, announces another first today with the launch of the Casalova Landlord Protect program, offering cost-effective insurance coverage for landlords to protect them from issues they are most concerned about. Landlords who use Casalova.com, a one-stop end-to-end solution for long-term rental searches, will be protected for up to $50,000 in unpaid rent and up to $50,000 in property damage caused by tenants.

Canada Newswire

Top marks to Bentall Kennedy for sustainability in GRESB

When it comes to sustainable investing, Bentall Kennedy is far ahead of the curve.  For the sixth consecutive year, the real estate services firm ranked among the top companies globally for its commitment to sustainable investing in the internationally recognized GRESB survey.

Sustainable Biz Canada

CDPQ and Edelweiss enter into long-term partnership

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of North America’s largest pension fund managers, today announced a long-term partnership agreement with Edelweiss Group, a leading diversified financial services company in India. The agreement includes target investments by CDPQ of USD 600-700 million over four years that will provide Edelweiss Group with capital to invest in stressed assets and private debt opportunities in India.

Canada Newswire

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Market Trends and Research

Alberta to top growth rankings in 2017, TD predicts

Pour yourself a drink, folks, and take a seat. Here’s something you probably haven’t heard in a while: Alberta is expected to lead the nation in economic growth next year. And the year after that. No, that’s not a cruel joke or a misprint. According to the latest forecast from the number crunchers at TD Economics, Alberta should regain its once-unassailable position at the top of the provincial leaderboard over the next two years.

Edmonton Journal

Commercial properties gain popularity in Winnipeg

Multi-family buildings in Winnipeg aren’t the darlings they once were for local and out-of-province investors, according to a new Re/Max report. In its recently released 2016 commercial investor report, the real estate firm says while the demand for commercial properties continues to outstrip the supply in Winnipeg, investors aren’t as enamoured with apartment blocks and other multi-family properties as in previous years.

Winnipeg Free Press

Coworking spaces free small businesses from office troubleshooting

A broken printer is the kind of mundane problem that can sap the energy of the most motivated entrepreneur. But tech troubleshooting isn’t in the job description of financial consultant Shannon Simmons. Even though she runs her own small business, she doesn’t worry about a lot of administrative duties that might otherwise fall on her shoulders.

Toronto Star

Why do public art ‘experts’ mess with success?: Keenan

The TORONTO sign — the name of the city spelled out larger than life in bright, primary-coloured lights — is, as I’ve said before, public art lightning in a bottle. An inexpensive and unheralded installation that was supposed to be temporary and almost instantly became much-admired, much-heralded, beloved.  It was the goofy thing we didn’t know we needed to bring a touch of magical life to Nathan Phillips Square.

Toronto Star

Real Estate Companies

Urbanfund completes take-out financing for its Kitchener property

Urbanfund Corp. (UFC-X) announced that the renovations of the multi-residential rental complex redevelopment project located at 48 Weber Street West in Kitchener, Ontario, in which it retains controlling interest, have been completed. Leasing has been underway for some time now and the Property is now 95% leased and occupied.

Marketwired

REOC Financial Reports

	REITs & REOCs – Second-quarter 2016 report
	RENX has prepared a table with a convenient list of the companies and a summary of links to their second-quarter 2016 results. Have we missed any?  Canadian REITs & REOCs – Second-quarter 2016 report

 

Infrastructure

After 26 years, Anthony Henday ring road finally comes full circle

Edmonton, we’ve come full circle.  Twenty-six years after construction began on Anthony Henday Drive, our regional ring road is finally complete. The spanking new northeast leg is the longest segment of Henday yet. And with a budget of $1.81 billion, it’s the most expensive, too. And it brings the total cost of the Henday to just over $4 billion.

Edmonton Journal

Formerly adrift, the Davie shipyard in Lévis rides a rising tide

Four years ago, most people wouldn’t have paid a plug nickel for the Davie shipyard.  Awash in red ink, manned by a skeleton crew and adrift after a failed and controversial bid to land some of the $35 billion in federal contracts awarded under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, the once-proud yard appeared headed for the business-world equivalent of Davy Jones’s Locker.

Montreal Gazette

Fortis Inc. announces pricing of US$2.0-Billion notes offering

Fortis Inc. (FTS-T) has priced its previously announced US$2.0 billion notes offering. The Corporation priced US$500 million of notes due 2021 at 2.100% and US$1.5 billion of notes due 2026 at 3.055%. The offering is expected to close on October 4, 2016.

Marketwired

Technology

Imagine that, a mix-and-match clothing shopping app

Six years after first conceiving of an online wardrobe management tool, Debbie Fraser and John Leahy are preparing to beta-test their mobile app that helps people choose clothes. The two principals of Bedford-based web development company ImmediaC came up with the idea as an enterprise-based application in 2010.

The Chronicle Herald

Other

Sakto and Waterford Property Group celebrate Canada’s 150th year

In honor of Canada’s 150^th birthday, real estate management and development firms Sakto Corporation and Waterford Property Group challenge Preston Square employees, residents, and tenants to participate in the first Preston Square Banner Design Contest. This contest will award a prize package valued at $3,500 to the employee, tenant, or resident who creates the best original design for the six banners on Preston Square.

Canada Newswire

Suburban living reimagined with addition of public art sculpture

Residents of Calgary’s Community of the Year, Legacy, are now living steps away from one of Calgary’s largest-scale works of public art found in a suburban setting. The ‘Open Hearts Icon’ sculpture, an original design created by renowned actress, activist and artist Jane Seymour, was recently unveiled to the public and now stands as testament to the community’s openhearted and welcoming atmosphere.

Marketwired

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