Brookfield buys U.S. shopping mall owner Rouse

Brookfield buys U.S. shopping mall owner Rouse

Mall landlord Rouse Properties (RSE-N) has accepted Brookfield Asset Management’s (BAM.A-T) private takeover of the publicly traded REIT for $24.70 Cdn per share, which values the deal at about $3.79 billion, including debt. A special committee of Rouse’s board of directors unanimously approved Brookfield’s all-cash proposal, the Bryant Park-based retail REIT announced Thursday.

The Real Deal – CoStar Group – National Real Estate Investor – Bloomberg

Pension funds among buyers of London City Airport

An investment group that includes Alberta Investment Management Corp., OMERS and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has agreed to buy London City Airport. Financial terms of the agreement were not immediately available. The group also includes the Kuwait Investment Authority and Wren House Infrastructure Management.

Winnipeg Free Press – Bloomberg – IPE Real Estate – Globe and Mail (Subscription Required)

PacificLink Industrial Park welcomes its largest tenant

Wesgroup Properties’ PacificLink Industrial Park has landed its largest tenant, as Texcan has moved its main distribution centre and consolidated the administrative functions of other sister companies into the Surrey, B.C. space. The master-planned development on the south shore of the Fraser River offers access to Metro Vancouver’s major highway systems, rail networks and the Fraser Surrey Docks.

Property Biz Canada

PSP Investments to buy U.S. hydroelectric portfolio

Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) is buying a U.S. hydroelectric energy portfolio. The Canadian pension fund agreed to take full ownership of the ENGIE Group’s New England portfolio, worth $1.62 billion Cdn. PSP Investments said it would look to maximise the potential benefits of combining its ownership of the assets with its existing hydroelectric power platform, H2O Power.

IPE Real Estate

Developers hoping feds provide transit infrastructure clarity

With promises of greater infrastructure funding from Ottawa, and Victoria’s pledge to ante a third of the cost of new rapid transit funding, Vancouver developers hope at least one level of government allocates dollars this spring. “We’re expecting some clarity on transit funding,” said Jon Stovell, president of Reliance Properties Ltd. and vice-chairman of the Urban Development Institute.

Business In Vancouver

First Nations only bidder allowed on Jericho lands

The B.C. government will not consider any competing bids on a 38-acre site in Vancouver’s West Point Grey after it received an offer to buy its Jericho Land parcel from three First Nations bands. The province confirmed it has accepted a Letter of Intent from the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, according to a release issued by the Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services.

Business In Vancouver

Vancouver offers best quality of life in N.A.: Mercer

Once again, Vancouver has ranked first in North America and fifth globally in terms of quality of living for residents and ex-patriots in Mercer’s annual list, which looks at cities around the world and compares them on the basis of 10 criteria, which include political and social environment, economics, medical and health and education.

Business In Vancouver – Toronto Star – Ottawa Citizen – Montreal Gazette

Hilton to spin off real estate, timeshare

Waldorf Astoria hotels owner Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (HLT-N) will spin off most of its real estate assets into a REIT, joining a list of companies turning to the tax-efficient structure to maximize shareholder returns. In the past year, companies including casino operator MGM Resorts International (MGM-N) and restaurants owner Darden Restaurant Inc (DRI-N) have announced REITs.

Reuters – CoStar Group – Bloomberg – Globest.com

Edmonton CRE sales plummet in 2015

Alberta’s sagging economy is being blamed for a 35 per cent drop in the value of commercial real estate sold in Edmonton last year. The total value of commercial land and buildings sold in the city in 2015 was $1.5 billion, down $800 million from $2.3 billion the previous year, according to figures released Thursday by The Network, a commercial sales database company.

Edmonton Journal

Edmonton’s Chandos still on track

Chandos, a successful general contractor based in Edmonton, has yet to feel the impact of Alberta’s sagging economic fortunes. The company’s roots date back to 1980, shortly after Chandos founders Don Coyne and Dan O’Brien met while working on the construction of Commonwealth Stadium, one of the city’s most iconic structures. Since then, Chandos has grown like a weed.

Edmonton Journal

Loblaw to expand click-and-collect

Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L-T)  will accelerate the click-and-collect program it first began testing in the GTA 14 months ago, executive chairman/president Galen Weston said Thursday. “We are pleased with our progress this year; we will accelerate the roll-out of click-and-collect beyond today’s 39 stores,” Weston told analysts following the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release.

Toronto Star – Globe and Mail – Financial Post

Target, the play: Retailer becomes theatre

Robert Motum, a 24-year-old from Oshawa, Ont., is out to turn the arrival and abrupt departure of American big-box retailer Target (TGT-N) into an immersive theatre experience. Community Target is a production described as an “examination of the ‘still-unfolding’ story of Target’s short foray into Canada, derived from interviews with former employees of the megastore.”

Maclean’s

The reality of the U.S. CRE boom

After months of optimism, commercial real estate forecasters have come back down to earth, with Morgan Stanley predicting no growth whatsoever in commercial property prices this year. The tonal shift is warranted: While rents and prices are soaring in urban areas, CRE is stagnating or even declining in terms of new investment and in most non-urban sectors.

Forbes

Credit tightening for Aussie CRE sector

Australia’s commercial property sector is finding it harder to access capital as tightening measures introduced by regulatory bodies last year begin to take effect. The sale of an office tower in Brisbane owned by the Australian Workers Union fell through earlier this week when financiers withdrew their support, in a sign lending conditions are worsening for CRE.

Sourceable – IPE Real Estate

China banning ‘bizarre’, ‘odd-shaped’ architecture

A pair of shorts, a teapot, a horseshoe — Chinese architecture is known for portraying the weird and the wonderful. But a recent edict from China’s State Council may put an end to the country’s love affair with “bizarre” architecture. “Odd-shaped buildings would be forbidden,” said a China Daily news report posted on the State Council’s website.

Toronto Star

Featured Column

Skyrocketing office vacancy, maturing loan bad combination

The effects of declining oil prices have been felt in a variety of unpleasant ways, particularly in Western Canada. One of the more pronounced repercussions is the office vacancy rates in Calgary and Saskatoon, the largest cities in their respective provinces.

Read more

Are we at risk of becoming tenants in Canada?

Canada is on sale. How could it not be, given the slump in the value of the loonie? But what happens if the buyers lining up at the door want to clean out the store, then buy it, too?

Read more

Market Trends and Research

NYC investors motoring to Detroit

Detroit is drawing New York investors who are attracted to both a lower cost of entry and the opportunity for growth. “It almost has a Brooklyn-type feel,” said Adam Feldman, an acquisitions associate at HFZ Capital Group, which just made its first investment in the Motor City. “It’s what Brooklyn was like 10 to 15 years ago.”

Commercial Observer

Industrial CRE market study: Part 1

U.S. industrial real estate pros remain bullish on the prospects for their sector, but there is increasing sentiment industrial real estate cycle may have reached its cyclical peak. The sentiment is based on the second annual survey of the industrial real estate sector completed by NREI. Year-over-year comparisons reveal where outlooks have changed — and where they haven’t. 

National Real Estate Investor – National Real Estate Investor – National Real Estate Investor – National Real Estate Investor

Real Estate Companies

Blackstone invests in N.Z. retirement properties

Blackstone Group (BX-N) is investing in a portfolio of retirement assets in New Zealand, buying assets for funds it manages. Listed Australian company Lendlease is selling the portfolio of five retirement villages for an undisclosed amount. The assets are worth approximately $71m (€63.6m), according to press reports. Blackstone expects to close the deal in the coming months.

IPE Real Estate

REOC Financial Reports

Latest reports:

* Altus Group, (AIF-T), Marketwired 

* Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Montreal Gazette

* Gap, (GPS-N), Winnipeg Free Press 

* Morguard Corporation, (MRC-T), Canada Newswire 

* OMERS, 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 reports:

* Chartwell Retirement Residences, (CSH.UN-T), Marketwired 

* Crombie REIT, (CRR.UN-T), Canada Newswire 

* Extendicare, (EXE-T), Marketwired 

* Plaza Retail REIT, (PLZ.UN-T), Canada Newswire 

* Sienna Senior Living, (SIA-T), Marketwired 

* Temple Hotels, (TPH-T), Canada Newswire 

* Vital Healthcare Property Trust, (NWH.UN-T), Canada Newswire 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Beaten-down U.S. REITs look attractive

U.S. REITs have taken a beating this year. The threat of a weaker economy has hurt, but REIT investors also have an uncertain outlook for interest rates to worry about. Adam Patti, who oversees an exchange-traded fund focused on REITs as CEO of IndexIQ, thinks all this concern might make for a good time to buy.

Winnipeg Free Press

H&R REIT price refuses to rise

Since the start of 2015, H&R REIT’s (HR.UN-T) unit price has been in a downtrend. That’s in large part due to its exposure to Alberta. About 28 per cent of the REIT’s adjusted same-asset property operating income comes from Alberta. H&R REIT earns 49.6%of its rental income from its top 15 tenants. Four are from the energy industry.

Motley Fool

VEREIT ‘positioned to execute’ in 2016

2015 was a rebuilding year for VEREIT Inc., (VER-N) which in 2014 had seen departures of its senior management team following revelations of accounting irregularities. Last year brought a new name, a new management team including CEO Glenn Rufrano and a reconstituted board. “We are positioned to execute in 2016,” said Rufrano, “which will increase balance sheet liquidity and flexibility, while providing optionality.”

Globest.com

Empire State will continue to play it safe: Malkin

Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT-N) chair and CEO Tony Malkin reaffirmed his company’s strategy for “embedded, de-risked growth” on Tuesday, telling investors he envisioned “no development, no joint ventures, no bidding or buying at current cap rates and no lending” in the near future. The New York City-focused REIT executed 245 new and renewed leases last year.

The Real Deal

Legal Corner

Property flip in bankruptcy sale ‘fraudulent’

A businessman who bought a downtown Toronto property in a bankruptcy sale but secretly flipped it for almost $3 million more before the deal went through is liable for fraudulent misrepresentation, Ontario’s top court ruled Thursday. In upholding a lower court decision, the Court of Appeal found Ahmed Baig had deliberately misled the company handling the bankruptcy by failing to alert them to the resale.

Winnipeg Free Press

Retail

Walmart opens three new supercentres in B.C.

After completing its fiscal year on Jan. 31 with 400 stores, including 312 supercentres, Walmart Canada (WMT-N) Wednesday announced the opening of three new Walmart Supercentres, formerly Target locations, in B.C. The supercentres are located in Coquitlam, Delta and Surrey and represent an investment of 10s of millions of dollars and more than 378,000 square feet of retail space.

Canada Newswire – Montreal Gazette – Globest.com

Ex-Lululemon execs unite in VC firm

An all-star team of Canadian retail talent has lined up behind a new venture capital (VC) firm hoping to exploit the wide-scale disruption in their sector. Vancouver-based Campfire Capital is backed by more than 30 past and present Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU-Q) executives – including partners Christine Day (ex-CEO, now running frozen food startup Luvo Inc.).

Globe and Mail (Subscription Required)

Whole Foods set to capitalize on Chipotle losses

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s (CMG-N) loss may be Whole Foods Market Inc.’s (WFM-Q) gain. RBC Capital Markets estimates Chipotle’s food safety concerns represent a US$933-million revenue opportunity for competitors, with Whole Foods potentially being one of the biggest beneficiaries since half its locations are within a mile of a Chipotle and nearly 85 per cent are within three miles.

Financial Post

New Development

Proposed Sidney shopping centre hits resistance

A coalition of citizens and environmental and community groups is seeking to overturn a decision to remove 10 acres from the Agricultural Land Reserve to pave the way for a proposed $35-million shopping mall in Sidney, B.C. The request for reconsideration was filed by North Saanich resident Springfield Harrison and supported by 10 organizations, including the Sierra Club B.C.

Victoria Times Colonist

Infrastructure

Ontario investing in infrastructure

Ontario’s 2016 budget is building upon much of what was announced in 2015 with regards to infrastructure funding. In a release, the province explains it is investing more than $137 billion over the next 10 years in roads, bridges, public transit, hospitals and schools. This brings the total to $160 billion over 12 years, with the starting point in 2014-15.

Daily Commercial News

Other

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