Vancouver shops squeezed as land prices soar

Vancouver shops squeezed as land prices soar

Prices considered shockingly high just months ago seem almost quaint when compared with what speculators are paying this spring for commercial land assemblies in Metro Vancouver. In January, an offshore investment group paid $19.8 million for a 20,000-square-foot site – less than half an acre – on Granville Street at West 68th Avenue.

Business In Vancouver

Frustration growing for Vancouver landlords

Many landlords are losing sleep over Vancouver’s short-staffed planning department, which is taking weeks to process permits for building improvements. Many are expecting a snarl of tenant transitions this summer as leases end without new premises for some tenants being ready for occupancy, thanks to delayed approvals.

Business In Vancouver

Property market making REITs attractive

Increasing confidence in the Canadian property market prompted a more bullish outlook by REIT analysts at TD Securities. Sam Damiani and his colleagues raised their target prices on several names in anticipation of private property market valuations will remain high and investors will continue to be attracted to the sector.

Financial Post

Infrastructure gets nod in Federal Budget

The Liberals’ push to fund public transit and unglamorous projects like upgrading water systems is being met with approval from the mayors of Canada’s two largest cities. Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s first budget committed $11.9 billion over five years for new infrastructure spending.

Toronto Star – Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Calgary Herald

Budget addresses public transit’s ‘lost productivity’

The Liberal government is spending billions of dollars to improve transportation within cities, but is giving Via Rail Canada only a tiny portion of the money it says it needs to improve transportation between cities. Public transit is a key focus of the five-year, $11.9-billion infrastructure-spending plan outlined in the 2016 budget.

Financial Post – CBC News – Globe and Mail – Vancouver Province

Teachers’ owns major stake in Brussels Airport

The terrorist attack in Brussels on Tuesday morning hit close to home for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The pension fund owns 39 per cent of the Brussels Airport. “We are deeply saddened and shocked by the tragedy in Brussels and our thoughts are with all of those that have been affected,” said a statement on the pension fund’s website.

Financial Post

Edmonton to expand crackdown on vacant CRE

A seven-month crackdown on derelict commercial properties saw three buildings torn down and seven fixed up or reopened, City of Edmonton staff told councillors Monday. Twelve more that are a serious blight on Edmonton’s commercial strips are scheduled for remediation this summer.

Edmonton Journal – CBC News

Crombie REIT closes on portfolio disposition

Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust (CRR.UN-T) announced it has closed on 10 properties of the previously announced 11-property portfolio. Proceeds from the 10 properties were approximately $142 million. The transaction comprises nine properties located in Ontario and one property in Quebec with a total gross leasable area of 791,000 square feet.

Canada Newswire

Macy’s getting serious about making money off RE

Just days after announcing it was hiring a specialist to help it negotiate deals to extract more money from its property, Macy’s Inc. (M-N) said Tuesday it was adding a real estate executive to its board of directors. The department store has been pressured by activist investor Starboard to spin off its most valuable locations into a REIT.

Fortune – Bloomberg – MarketWatch – Buffalo Business First

DavidsTea co-founder, namesake resigns

David Segal — the David behind DavidsTea (DTEA-Q) — has resigned as brand ambassador for the Montreal-based tea retailer he created and co-founded. Segal founded the company in 2008 with his cousin Herschel Segal, the magnate behind Canadian fashion chain Le Chateau Inc. (CTU.A-T) 

Financial Post – Toronto Star

Waterloo facing oversupply of student housing

The oversupply of student housing in Waterloo, Ont., is far worse than previously thought, says an expert who tracks the investment real estate market.  One of the new student apartment buildings in the university town already is in power of sale proceedings, Karl Innanen, managing director of the Waterloo Region office of Colliers International, said recently.

Waterloo Region Record

MGM, Dubai World sell Las Vegas mall

MGM Resorts International (MGM-N) and Dubai World’s Infinity World Development Corp. will sell a Las Vegas luxury shopping centre to mall operator Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG-N) and Invesco Ltd. for about $1.1 billion US, the latest payoff on a bet to remake the Las Vegas Strip. The Shops at Crystals comprises 324,000 square feet in all.

MarketWatch – CoStar Group

U.S. self-storage riding economic wave

Among the few commercial property sectors to actually benefit from the economic turbulence of the past couple of years, self-storage has been gliding along anyway on the tailwinds of broader macroeconomic trends, according to Marcus & Millichap’s latest National Self-Storage Investment Forecast.

Globest.com – National Real Estate Investor

Buffalo no longer just shuffling along

Something seems to be stirring in Western New York. The area is undergoing more than $5.5 billion US in new economic development, mostly in downtown Buffalo. Projects include the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the recreational facilities at the Canalside park and SolarCity’s gigafactory, the largest solar panel manufacturing plant in the Western Hemisphere.

Globe and Mail

The world’s most audacious real estate project

Flying in a helicopter 700 feet above the Panama Canal, Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski peers down at what was, until 1999, a U.S. military airfield. “From here to the water is all ours,” he says, pointing at a patch of land the size of a small city. “It was a white canvas to develop from the beginning.”

Forbes

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

Crowdfunding has permanently changed CRE

Behind stocks, bonds and cash, commercial real estate has emerged as the fourth-largest asset class in the U.S. over the last few decades. Among institutional investors, investments in commercial properties represent nearly 10 per cent of their holdings. For many investors, however, this particular asset class is a relative unknown.

Forbes

Will international investment in U.S. RE continue?

The recent $12.8-billion US bid by Anbang Insurance for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, even if it proves to be unsuccessful, highlights the ongoing flow of international capital into the U.S. real estate market. The U.S. is perceived as a safe haven for capital, especially for investors experiencing volatility in their local markets.

Urban Land Magazine – Globest.com

Is hotel sector due for a setback?

Hotels set a record for occupancy in 2015 and performed well in 2014. Analysts have pointed to employment increases as a sign of an improving U.S. economy, but will another sign of a stronger domestic economy — the growing value of the U.S. dollar — negatively impact the U.S. hospitality industry?

National Real Estate Investor

Tech-heavy CRE markets at risk of slowdown

The tech boom since end of the recession has been manna for a number of commercial real estate markets, but can it last in the face of recent jitters about softness in some tech sectors? According to a recent report by Fitch Ratings, tech-oriented U.S. CRE market fundamentals have cooled but are unlikely to collapse.

Multi-Housing News

Real Estate Companies

Four breweries set to open in Vancouver

Vancouver’s brewery boom is set continue this year with at least four more craft breweries preparing to open their doors in coming months, joining 10 others that have opened in the city since 2014. Experts and those in the business say the craft beer rush will likely continue as Vancouverites’ demand for craft beer appears to be stronger than ever.

Vancouver Province

Saputo closing three Canadian plants

Saputo says it will close three plants in Eastern Canada that employ some 230 workers in a move to cut costs and boost efficiency. The Montreal-based dairy processor and cheese maker said its plant in Sydney, N.S., will close in June, followed by another in Princeville, Que., in August. A third facility in Ottawa will close in December 2017. 

Montreal Gazette – CBC News – Halifax Chronicle Herald

Real-estate lender provides strong returns

Walker & Dunlop Inc. (WD-N) is a provider of commercial real estate financial services in the United States, with a primary focus on multifamily lending. The company originates, sells, and services a range of multi-family and other commercial real estate financing products. It has a market cap of $760 million US.

Globe and Mail

REOC Financial Reports

Latest report:

* Genesis Land Development Corp., (GDC-T), Canada Newswire 

REIT Financial Reports

Latest fourth-quarter reports:

* Automotive Properties REIT, (APR.UN-T), Canada Newswire 

* BTB REIT, (BTB.UN-T), Canada Newswire

* Inovalis REIT, (INO.UN-T), Canada Newswire 

* Nobel REIT, (NEL.UN-X), Canada Newswire 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Milestone announces deal equity offering

Milestone Apartments REIT (MST.UN-T) and MileSouth Apartment Portfolio LP today announced they have reached an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters co-led by BMO Capital Markets and CIBC, whereby MileSouth has agreed to sell an aggregate of 6,070,000 trust units of the REIT at a price of $16.50 per unit for gross proceeds of approximately $100.2 million.

Marketwired

BTB has solid yield, relatively low volatility

BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB.UN-T) is a small cap REIT that over the years has provided investors with a stable distribution with relatively low volatility. BTB holds commercial, office, industrial, and general-purpose properties concentrated in Quebec. As of Sept. 30, the trust owned 75 properties in Quebec and Eastern Ontario.

Globe and Mail (Subscription Required) – Property Biz Canada

First Potomac repositioning for Washington growth

First Potomac Realty Trust’s (FPO-N) new CEO Robert Milkovich sees multiple drivers of growing demand in the Washington, D.C., office market  following a period of protracted softness. To ensure First Potomac can tap that potential, Milkovich is overseeing a strategic plan that aims to reduce the risk of the company’s portfolio.

REIT.com

Qatar-backed Coima launches first Italian REIT

Italian asset manager Coima has launched an initial public offering for an Italian REIT. The Coima RES vehicle will be the first Italian REIT to emerge without conversion. So far, the country’s nascent REIT, or SIIQ (Società di Investimento Immobiliare Quotata) regime has been taken up by existing property companies.

IPE & Real Estate

Legal Corner

Contractor filed inflated invoices: RCMP

The RCMP allege the main contractor at Winnipeg’s police headquarters padded construction invoices after the scandal over cost hikes had already erupted at city hall and an audit concluded the project was severely mismanaged. In court documents, the Mounties allege Caspian Construction inflated quotes or invoices from nine of its subcontractors.

Winnipeg Free Press

Retail

Couche-Tard’s purchase of Denmark’s Shell approved

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD.A-T) announced it received approval today from the European Commission for its deal to acquire A/S Dansk Shell’s downstream retail business in Denmark, subject to divestment commitments. Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur in May 2016. It will be financed from Couche-Tard’s available cash and existing credit facilities.

Canada Newswire

Online retailers flocking to Nordstrom

In the past few years, Nordstrom (JWN-N) has struck distribution deals for such hot, online-only brands like Bonobos, Shoes of Prey, and Baublebar, making the upscale brick-and-mortar department store a retail partner of choice for many hot up-and-coming e-commerce players. Nordstrom now gets 21 per cent of its revenue from digital sales.

Fortune

The problem with stores’ comeback plan

As department stores look for ways to jump-start their revenues, several have turned to the popular off-price category as a potential solution. But as it turns out, the category may not be the magic bullet some had hoped. Over the past few months, there have been several signs the business of selling name-brand goods at a discount might be harder than it looks.

CNBC

New Development

Developers target Lions Gate north neighbourhood

An ambitious plan by the District of North Vancouver to remake the area as a neighbourhood centre known as Lions Gate Village is attracting significant investment from the likes of Larco Investments Ltd., owner of Park Royal. Local coffee-shop chatter tells tales of offshore investors offering 10s of millions of dollars for rezoned properties.

Business In Vancouver

Aragon takes on Esquimalt Village Project

The long-imagined Esquimalt Village Project has taken a big step closer to reality, with construction expected to start in the spring of 2017 on a development plan that includes residential and retail space, a proposal for a relocated library and a new public square. The township has signed a memorandum of understanding with Aragon Investments Ltd. to proceed.

Victoria Times Colonist

Infrastructure

UPX boss resigns over troubled airport train service

The head of Toronto’s troubled airport train service has resigned in the midst of an organizational review examining if the Union Pearson Express should be rolled into GO Transit operations. On Monday, Kathy Haley, president of UPX, announced she would step down as of March 31, just nine months after the highly-touted express train service was launched in June.

Toronto Star – Globe and Mail

Infrastructure funding announced for N.W.T.

Major investments are headed to the Northwest Territories. The funding, falling under the New Building Canada Plan‘s Small Communities Fund, will provide improvements to community roads, recreation facilities, water treatment facilities, wastewater and solid waste facilities.

Daily Commercial News

Other