Downtown Saskatoon office vacancy soaring

Downtown Saskatoon office vacancy soaring

As Saskatchewan’s resource economy continues to deteriorate, companies are abandoning their expensive downtown offices, creating an exodus that could push the vacancy rate in Saskatoon to a 17-year high by the end of 2016, according to ICR Commercial Real Estate.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

CPPIB JVS on Birmingham shopping centre

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is taking a stake in a retail property scheme in Birmingham. The Canadian institution acquired a 50 per cent stake in Hammerson’s Grand Central mall in the U.K.’s second-largest city. The latter last month said it was paying $673 billion Cdn for the mall.

IPE Real Estate

Urbanfund continues SW Ontario property push

Urbanfund Corp.‘s recent acquisition of a multi-residential rental development site in Kitchener, Ont., is as much about the market as the property for president and chief executive Mitchell Cohen. “We really like Kitchener-Waterloo. We think it is a great residential, commercial and retail marketplace,” Cohen said.

Property Biz Canada

LaSalle acquires rebranded office complex

LaSalle Investment Management has acquired four Burlington, Ont., office buildings it’s rebranding as Burloak Towers from an investor represented by Dream (DRM-T) for $64.75 million. “Burlington is well-positioned with a high quality of life, including excellent housing and recreation opportunities and a highly skilled workforce,” said LaSalle managing director Greg Spafford.

Property Biz Canada

Feds should boost stimulus spending: Scotiabank

Canada’s economy needs a boost from the federal budget, especially in infrastructure projects such as the Energy East pipeline, Scotiabank (BNS-T) CEO Brian Porter said Friday. The budget will likely be delivered in March. PM Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party won Canada’s federal election on the promise to bolster infrastructure spending.

Bloomberg – Globe and Mail – Winnipeg Free Press

Port Metro Vancouver expansion planned

Port Metro Vancouver is planning a major expansion for Centerm — one of the largest container terminals in the region. About 20 per cent of container goods shipped through the city are already handled at Centerm and if the $320-million project goes ahead next year, container capacity at the Burrard Inlet terminal would be boosted by two-thirds by 2019. 

Vancouver Sun

Contract signed for Edmonton Valley Line LRT

Construction on Edmonton’s Valley Line LRT is set to start this spring, after the city signed a contract Thursday with the consortium in charge of the project. City spokesman Quinn Nicholson said the 30-year contract with the TransEd Partners P3 is within the $1.8-billion budget to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the 13-kilometre line.

Edmonton Journal – Canada Newswire – Montreal Gazette – Canada Newswire

Winnipeg plaza boosted by new Sobeys store

A 58,000-square foot Sobeys grocery store opened in Winnipeg’s Fort Richmond Plaza on Jan. 29, and the expectation is the shopping centre will be entirely leased within the next two years. “There are older portions of the shopping centre that are already fully leased,” said John Pearson, a broker for ICI Properties and Shindico Realty Inc.

Property Biz Canada

HBC eyeing bankrupt Dutch store chain

Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T), the Toronto-based owner of Saks Fifth Ave. and Lord & Taylor is in the running to buy bankrupt department store chain V&D of the Netherlands, according to multiple Dutch media reports. HBC governor Richard Baker is reportedly squaring off against Dutch retail and real estate investor Roland Kahn of Cool Investments.

Financial Post – DutchNews.nl – RetailDetail – RetailDetail

DavidsTea hoping it’s tea time in North America

It’s generally considered fashionable to be late to a party. DavidsTea CEO David Segal is hoping it’s also profitable. In its last fiscal year, Montreal-based DavidsTea (DTEA-Q) opened 39 stores and it is planning the same number this year. DavidsTea, which opened its first bricks-and-mortar outlet in 2008 in Toronto, boasts 156 stores in Canada and 37 in the U.S. 

Winnipeg Free Press

Holt Renfrew to close Sherway Gardens store

Luxury Canadian retailer Holt Renfrew announced Wednesday it will close its small Sherway Gardens store, just as Saks Fifth Avenue prepares to open a location in the Toronto mall on Feb. 25. Holt Renfrew president Mark Derbyshire said in a statement Holt’s is focusing on flagship markets and larger stores.

Toronto Star – Vancouver Province

B.C. ski slopes are booming

A combination of ample snow and a low currency is setting off a boom on B.C.’s renowned ski slopes. Just ask the owners of Whistler Blackcomb (WB-T). Customers are flocking in record numbers to Whistler, with visits to the mountain made by those within driving distance up a sharp 33 per cent this season compared to last.

Global News – BC Business – Vancouver Sun

Bill would track info on B.C. buyers

B.C.’s finance minister said Thursday there’s merit to better tracking the foreign purchase of real estate. Green party leader Andrew Weaver introduced private member’s legislation that would amend the Land Title Act to require someone buying property to disclose whether they are a Canadian citizen, an immigrant, a citizen of a foreign country or a resident of another province.

Vancouver Sun

Landowners plagued by inactive well sites

There have been close to 450,000 oil and gas wells drilled in Alberta, about one-third of which are now considered “abandoned” or “inactive” by the industry. The economic downturn in the oil and gas industry has hurt thousands of property owners like Kelly Nelson, who has about 15 inactive wells which no longer collect rent on her Vulcan farm.

Edmonton Journal – Calgary Herald – Calgary Herald – Calgary Herald

Canaccord Genuity cuts 125 staff

The weakness experienced in stock markets around the world has taken a toll on one of Canada’s largest brokerage firms, Canaccord Genuity (CF-T), which is cutting seven per cent of its workforce. The company — which has its principle offices in Vancouver and Toronto — says the staff reduction affects 125 people in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. 

Financial Post – Globe and Mail – Canada Newswire

Market Trends and Research

Manitoba building permits continue downward trend

Manitoba posted only its second year-over-year decline in building-permit activity in a decade in 2015, new Statistics Canada numbers show. The agency said Monday just under $2.3 billion worth of residential and non-residential permits were issued in the province last year. That was down 19.2 per cent from 2014’s total of just more than $2.8 billion.

Winnipeg Free Press – Regina Leader-Post

Calif. spec office development back in gear

After a roughly eight-year hiatus during and after the Great Recession, speculative office development is finally returning to the Southern California marketplace. The fact that development is happening at all is a testament to the national and local economy and the industry’s confidence in Southern California as an attractive market for jobs.

Globest.com

Real Estate Companies

U.S. CRE industry has concerns

It should come as little surprise respondents to The Real Estate Roundtable’s quarterly sentiment index are worried. They are worried about global economic weakness. They are worried about financial market volatility. Plunging oil prices. Regulations emanating from Dodd-Frank and Basel III that could well dry up liquidity.

Globest.com

NBCUniversal Telemundo signs huge Miami lease

In what will surely be one of the most valuable commercial leases in Florida’s history, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises has signed a build-to-suit lease totaling 560,000 square feet in two buildings located at Prologis’ Beacon Lakes development within the Miami Airport West Industrial submarket of South Florida.

CoStar Group – Miami Herald – CoStar Group

Storefront expands to four new U.S. cities

Storefront, the startup that provides a marketplace for short term real-estate rentals, is expanding into four new U.S. metropolitan areas. The company, which is currently operating in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, will add Atlanta, Boston, Miami and Washington to its roster.

TechCrunch

ATP takes first steps into direct residential investment

Denmark’s ATP is now looking to include direct residential investments in its overall real estate portfolio. In a bid to broaden the spectrum of opportunities available in an expensive market, ATP, which runs the giant labour market supplementary pension fund, is considering housing.

IPE Real Estate

REOC Financial Reports

Latest reports:

* Brookfield Asset Management Inc., (BAM.A-T), Winnipeg Free Press

	REITs & REOCs – Fourth-quarter 2015 report
	RENX has prepared a table with a convenient list of the companies and a summary of links to their reports that will be updated quarterly. Fourth-quarter results are now arriving. Canadian REITs & REOCs – Fourth-quarter 2015 report

 

REIT Financial Reports

Latest fourth-quarter reports:

* Dream Unlimited Corp., (DRM-T), Marketwired 

* Smart REIT, (SRU.UN-T),  Marketwired 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Pinnacle expects REIT deal to close in spring

Gaming operator Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK-N) said Thursday it hopes to finalize the $4.75 billion purchase of its casinos by a real estate investment trust sometime this spring. Pinnacle executives said the company plans to conduct a shareholder vote on the transaction with Gaming and Leisure Properties next month.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Top two REITs for dividend-growth investors

Canadian REIT (TSX:REF.UN) is one of the largest owners of commercial real estate in North America with a diversified portfolio of 198 retail, industrial, and office properties that total approximately 33 million square feet. Plaza Retail REIT (TSX:PLZ.UN) is one of the largest developers and owners of retail properties in Canada with 306 properties in eight provinces.

Motley Fool – Financial Market News

HCP’s 31-year dividend record at risk

On Tuesday, HCP Inc. (HCP-N) investors took it on the chin as shares in the $24 billion healthcare REIT fell by 21 per cent. The one-day slide was attributed to HCP’s Q4-15 earnings results and specifically worsening conditions related to the company’s largest tenant, HCR ManorCare.

Forbes – nInvestorplace.com

Strong fundamentals lead to stable outlook for 2016

With 2016 underway, Moody’s outlook for rated U.S. REITs and REOCs is stable for each of the major underlying property sectors. The one exception is the multi-family sector, which has a positive ratings outlook. For third-quarter 2015, the majority of investment-grade-rated REITs reported solid core earnings growth, driven by continued rental rate increases and occupancy gains.

Commercial Property Executive

Retail

Star Wars drives Cineplex to record quarter, year

The Force was with Cineplex (CGX-T) last year as the latest instalment in the Star Wars saga helped propel the theatre chain to its best-ever annual and fourth-quarter financial results. Box office revenue was $196.3 million in the final quarter of 2015, up $23.8 million or 13.8 per cent from a year earlier.

Globe and Mail – Montreal Gazette – Financial Post

U.S. retail sales rise despite stock price drop

Retail sales increased for a third straight month in January as Americans kicked off 2016 by spending freely on cars, clothing and online merchandise. The 0.2 per cent gain matched the previous month’s advance that was initially reported as a decline, Commerce Department data showed Friday.

Bloomberg – Winnipeg Free Press

New Development

Algonquin looks to ignite entrepreneurial spirit

The opening of Ignite AC, Algonquin College’s new Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is an exciting day for the college and its future, college president Cheryl Jensen said Thursday. Ignite AC is one part of the Capital Entrepreneurs program, a joint venture with Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, and La Cité collegiale.

Ottawa Business Journal

Renovation and Restoration

Telus World of Science to get a facelift

Edmonton’s Telus World of Science Monday unveiled ice-inspired designs for a $40-million expansion and renovation project set to start this spring. Radiating lines will extend out from the original building and fold down to the ground “almost like ice shards … ,” says Donna Clare, the Dialog architect in charge of the project.

Edmonton Journal – CTV News – Global News

Infrastructure

Montreal to build new bridge to Ile-Bizard

The City of Montreal’s executive committee approved $100 million for the construction of a new bridge between Île-Bizard and the island of Montreal on Wednesday. The funds will also be used to reinforce the existing Jacques-Bizard Bridge, the only road connection to the island.

Montreal Gazette

Other

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