Winnipeg feels pain of losing head offices

Winnipeg feels pain of losing head offices

When HudBay Minerals moved its head office to Toronto from Winnipeg in September 2008, it did not cause much of a stir. But it was part of a trend. In the last 10 years, three other corporate head offices in the city have shut down or moved away — Agricore, Canwest Global and Ridley Corp.

Winnipeg Free Press

REIT investors face new risk as CEOs age

When the founders of the various Canadian REITs retire, their replacements will need to gain the confidence of the market and may embark on a different strategy. That in a nutshell is the gist of a 35-page report released Thursday by Alex Avery, a real estate analyst with CIBC World Markets.

Financial Post – Globe and Mail (Subscription Required)

Fronsac REIT posts strong results, prepares new property

March came in like a lion for Fronsac Real Estate Investment Trust, and it will go out the same way. The small-cap REIT (GAZ.UN-X) announced strong fiscal 2015 results earlier this month and commercial operations will begin before the end of it on a property it purchased in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., last summer. 

Property Biz Canada

Bosa breaks ground on Victoria tower

Bosa Properties officially broke ground on its second tower at Bayview Place on Wednesday, adding another piece to what is expected to be a more than $1 billion jigsaw puzzle on the 20-acre Songhees site. The $40-million Encore project is expected to be completed in spring 2018.

Victoria Times Colonist

Stampede expansion would double size of BMO Centre

The Calgary Stampede confirmed Thursday the days are numbered for the 66-year-old Stampede Corral because of a proposed half-billion dollar expansion at Stampede Park that would double the size of the nearby BMO Centre. The $500-million development would transform the BMO Centre, already Calgary’s largest convention centre.

Calgary Herald

Edmonton seeks answers on Northlands

The City of Edmonton will spend the next five months reassessing Northlands’ massive redevelopment plan before it decides whether to sign off on the project, or waive the organization’s existing $48-million debt. Edmonton city council voted on a motion Tuesday to have administration further evaluate 11 aspects of Northlands’ Vision 2020 plan.

CBC News – Edmonton Journal – CTV News – Edmonton Journal

Winning bid for Edmonton LRT under budget

The winning bid to build and run Edmonton’s Valley Line LRT was $500 million under budget. City administration initially estimated it would cost $2.7 billion to build, maintain and operate the 13-kilometre line between downtown and Mill Woods for 30 years. The bid by TransED Partners came in at $2.2 billion.

Edmonton Journal

Starwood gets bid, Marriott may counter

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., (HOT-N)  owner of brands such as Westin, Sheraton and W, said it plans to accept a $13.2 billion takeover bid by China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. and gave suitor Marriott International Inc. (MAR-Q) a March 28 deadline to make a counteroffer.

Bloomberg – Winnipeg Free Press – CoStar Group – CBC News

Brookfield refinances One New York Plaza

Brookfield Office Properties (BPO.PR.X-T) refinanced its office tower One New York Plaza with a $750 million US loan from Wells Fargo, according to public records filed with the city Thursday. Brookfield took over the 2.59-million-square-foot building at 1 Water Street in 2006, when it bought Peter Munk’s Trizec Properties for $8.9 billion in partnership with the Blackstone Group.

The Real Deal

CBRE shuffles affiliate leadership

CBRE Group, Inc. made several changes in the senior leadership ranks of its investment management and development services affiliates. Current CBRE Global Investors chief executive Matt Khourie will become CEO for CBRE’s development services company, Trammell Crow Co. Replacing Khourie as CEO will be T. Ritson Ferguson, CBRE Global Investors’ chief investment officer.

CoStar Group – Commercial Property Executive

Genesis appoints interim CFO

Genesis Land Development Corp. (GDC-T) Wednesday announced the board of directors has appointed Kirsten Richter as interim chief financial officer effective April 18. Richter, who brings to Genesis extensive financial leadership and business experience from roles across diverse industries, is currently interim CFO of Chatters.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

New CEO sets Lululemon in a new direction

Laurent Potdevin is the first to admit he’s a bit of a behind-the-scenes guy. “My passion is in building the best team the brand needs,” says the French-Swiss CEO of Lululemon (LULU-Q), clad casually in a black cotton shirt, forest green khakis and slip-on black sneakers as we chat in his Kitsilano office.

BCBusiness

Global transaction volumes to surge: JLL

The global aging population will drive real estate transaction volumes to surpass $1.3 trillion Cdn globally by 2020, up from $909 billion in 2015, according to a new report released by JLL at the MIPIM real estate fair in Cannes. Institutions are also set to increase their market share, which currently sits at 20 per cent.

PropertyEU – The FINANCIAL – PropertyEU – CNBC

More institutions investing in REITs

CenterSquare Investment Management’s clients include pension plans, sovereign wealth funds and endowments. Todd Briddell, CEO and chief investment officer, said most large institutional investors generally maintain permanent real estate allocations of eight to 10 percent of their portfolios.

REIT.com

U.S. REIT stocks to get boost from new classification

Shares of REITs should get a bump up this year as mutual fund managers buy ahead of a September move by Standard & Poor’s to create a new real estate sector in its classification systems. By some reckoning, fund managers could direct as much as $100 billion at the sector as they try to boost REIT holdings.

Reuters

Featured Column

Alternative asset classes a riskier investment

Generally, investors in commercial real estate are familiar with more mainstream assets usually classified as multi-family or apartments, retail property and office property. For investors they are usually not as big a risk as investing in alternative asset classes.

Read more

Crowdfunding: Making CRE investing a reality for more Canadians

Real estate investing is a staple for Canadians. Whether it’s owning your own home, buying a publicly listed REIT or buying and renting a condo unit, Canadians are obsessed with investing in real, tangible assets they can see and touch.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

The world’s richest real estate barons

Despite the uncertainty roiling global financial markets, the real estate barons of the world are doing relatively well in 2016. Twenty-two people made the FORBES Billionaires List for the first time this year thanks to their real estate holdings, bringing the total number of the property-rich on the Forbes list to a whopping 184.

Forbes

Iranians set to invest in overseas property

Wealthy Iranians, companies and state-backed buyers will spend up to $11 billion Cdn on overseas real estate over the next five to 10 years following the lifting of international sanctions, says a report by London estate agency Rokstone. High-net-worth Iranians are likely to look to buy properties in London, Dubai, Switzerland, Germany or the south of France.

CNBC

Fed rate decision welcome news for CRE borrowers

After months of market volatility, the Federal Reserve opted to leave its key interest rate steady during its March meeting, betraying a more subdued outlook for the U.S. economy. The Fed decided to maintain the current level of interest rates at 0.25 to 0.50 percent, following the two-day discussion of economic outlook both globally and in the U.S.

National Real Estate Investor

Real Estate Companies

Trion Properties launches first fund

Trion Properties has launched its first investment fund. The $30-million fund will deploy $100 million capital, targeting multi-family value-add investments in four core West Coast markets: Los Angeles, San Diego, the bay area and Portland. The fund will purchase individual assets for $5 million to $20 million, and spend an additional $10,000 to $15,000 per unit on renovations.

Globest.com

Blackstone’s COO talks real estate

VIDEO: Blackstone (BX-N) president and COO Tony James discusses private equity, real estate and credit. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets.”

Bloomberg

REOC Financial Reports

REIT Financial Reports

Latest fourth-quarter reports:

* OneREIT, (ONR.UN-T), Marketwired 

* Partners REIT, (PAR.UN-T), Marketwired 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Partners internalizing property management

Partners Real Estate Investment Trust (PAR.UN-T) is implementing changes to the real estate management of its Canadian properties. Throughout the second quarter of 2016, Partners will be internalizing the management of its 25 properties in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Marketwired

Nobel about to close on Montreal property

Nobel REIT (NEL.UN-X) intends to complete the acquisition of 50 per cent of the units of Société en commandite 2045 Stanley, the limited partnership that owns the office building located at 2039-2047 Stanley in Montreal, as well as 50% of the shares of 9301-6897 Québec Inc., the general partner of 2045 Stanley LP, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $12.5 million.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

H&R announces senior unsecured credit facility

H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (HR.UN-T) announced it has entered into a new senior unsecured credit facility for up to $200 million with Bank of Montreal, available on a non-revolving basis, maturing March 17, 2021 with no scheduled principal repayments prior to maturity.

Canada Newswire

Things looking up for Slate Office REIT

Slate Office REIT‘s (SOT.UN-T) portfolio consists of 34 properties, 28 office properties and six non-office properties, located across Canada. The REIT, whose portfolio is geographically diversified with 37 per cent of Slate’s gross leasable area in Ontario, is seeing a shift with positive price momentum in 2016.

Globe and Mail (Subscription Required) – Property Biz Canada

Legal Corner

B.C. court tosses lawsuit against Babcock

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has one less thing on his mind as he tries to salvage the rest of the NHL season now that the Supreme Court of B.C. has tossed out a lawsuit against him over his investment in a failed hotel project north of Vancouver. 

Globe and Mail

Retail

Retail sales rise at fastest pace since 2010

Canadian retail sales rose at the fastest pace in almost six years, driven by car sales. Sales rose 2.1 per cent to $44.2 billion, Statistics Canada said Friday, the biggest gain since March 2010. Sales increased in seven of 11 categories marking 82 per cent of total sales.

Bloomberg – Globe and Mail – Edmonton Journal

Sears Canada to cut even deeper

Sears Canada Inc (SCC-T) says it’s planning to cut its overhead costs by a further $100 million to $127 million this year, on top of about $125 million in expense reductions it made last year. The national retail chain expects to have the “vast majority” of the plan implemented within Q1 2016.

Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Reuters

Nordstrom’s e-commerce strategy: Failure or success?

Whatever a Nordstrom customer wants, a Nordstrom customer gets. So it made sense when Nordstrom (JWN-N), based in Seattle, announced in 2014 it would continue to invest in e-commerce, to deliver merchandise to its customers in whichever way they preferred. In Q1 2014, the retailer’s direct net sales had increased year by 33 per cent.

National Real Estate Investor

Amazon thinks long-term

While many public companies focus their attention on embellishing their quarterly results, Amazon (AMZN-Q) has always taken the long view. The online retailer leader has invested heavily in infrastructure including a nationwide network of warehouses, robots which help ship orders, and even predictive technology that helps the company know what a customer plans to buy before ordering it.

Motley Fool – Globe and Mail (Subscription Required)

Restaurants and Eateries

Dunkin’ Donuts ordered to pay Quebec franchisees

Former franchisees that ran coffee shops under the Dunkin’ Donuts banner in Quebec have won a 13-year battle against the parent company. The ruling forces Dunkin’ Brands Canada Ltd. (DNKN-Q) to pay the 21 former operators of 32 locations in the province nearly $18 million, including interest and legal costs.

Toronto Sun – Canada Newswire

New Development

Omicron getting second opinion on Sidney Gateway

The developer for the proposed $35-million Sidney Gateway shopping centre is paying for an independent evaluation of the impact of its 100,000 square feet of commercial space could on the town’s core. Omicron says its proposal will attract shoppers heading to downtown Victoria or to the West Shore — and won’t undercut small businesses on Sidney’s main street.

Victoria Times Colonist

Infrastructure

Ottawa seet to boost infrastructure funding

Ottawa appears ready to boost its share of the funding it provides municipalities as it looks to fast-track an infrastructure spending spree, the Star has learned. Finance Minister Bill Morneau will take the wraps off the Liberals’ first budget on Tuesday — and its contents will put smiles on the faces of municipal leaders, sources say.

Toronto Star – Montreal Gazette

Rubber roads not quite ready for prime time

A five-year European research study into a paving material made from rubber tire crumb, using polyurethane as a binder instead of bitumen, also highlights more work needs to be done. Dr. Luc Goubert of the Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC) says the premise was to investigate whether the paving formula would reduce road noise.

Daily Commercial News

Human Resources

AutoCanada undertakes major management shakeup

AutoCanada Inc. (ACQ-T) founder and executive chairman Pat Priestner is leaving the executive chairman’s office to become non-executive chairman in a series of succession moves at the largest publicly traded auto-dealership company in Canada. Former Chrysler Canada Inc. president Steven Landry has been appointed CEO.

Globe and Mail

Other