Bertone unveils major Montreal development

Bertone unveils major Montreal development

Montreal is getting another major new neighbourhood redevelopment, this one near the Jacques Cartier Bridge. Real-estate company Bertone Development Corp. unveiled plans Friday for a $500-million “multi-purpose living environment” called Quais de Lorimier. It will include a residential tower and townhouses, commercial and office space, a hotel and a winter ice rink.

Montreal Gazette

What makes Starwood’s Barry Sternlicht tick?

In the late 1990s, shortly after Barry Sternlicht, the head of Starwood Lodging Trust (and Starwood Capital Group), went through a dramatic and highly public purchase of ITT Corporation (the conglomerate perhaps best known for Sheraton Hotels), he decided he didn’t want to keep one of the assets: Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Commercial Observer

Firm Capital eyes Delavaco as springboard to U.S.

Real estate and financial services private equity company Firm Capital is setting its sights southward as part of its “workout” of Delavaco Residential Properties Corp., a U.S.-based property developer. Firm Capital, which purchased an eight per cent stake in Delavaco (DVO.U-X), is now managing the restructuring of the American real estate company. 

Property Biz Canada

Under ground zero

It was going to be a dove. And $4 billion later, it’s more of a dinosaur. The new World Trade Center Transportation Hub serves a modest purpose. It is a below-ground landing place for about 50,000 travellers a day into Manhattan – plus a shopping mall. But it sits on the most fraught real estate in the Western world.

Globe and Mail

TTC subway parking lot crunch overstated

In recent years, the Toronto Transit Commission has slowly reduced the amount of parking at its stations. While customers complain about crowded parking lots and parking fees, the TTC’s approach is sustainable and sensible. The TTC has more than 11,000 parking spots spread out at 13 stations across the system — excluding Yorkdale, where the TTC garage is closed for mall expansion.

Torontoist

Industry versus nature in Canada’s busiest port

When we look out at the craggy industrial face of the Port of Vancouver, we see freighters from around the world, piles of sulphur and coal, grain unloaded from rail cars into silos, commercial float planes, tugs, ferries and gantries moving container cargo. Much less obvious is the natural world that defies the odds.

Vancouver Sun – Vancouver Sun

Quebec to firm up light-rail financing

Quebec expects financing for a proposed $5.5 billion light-rail system linking downtown Montreal to several suburbs and the city’s airport to be finalized this year, Transport Minister Jacques Daoust said. Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec is seeking permission to build the 67-kilometre  light-rail network, provided the federal and provincial governments both chip in.

Montreal Gazette

Ottawa mum on LRT impact on LeBreton Flats

RendezVous LeBreton wants to cover Ottawa’s LRT line through LeBreton Flats, but the city is silent about how it would affect its $2.1-billion transit system. The development consortium, headed by the Ottawa Senators, proposes to build over the LRT tracks to ensure the rail corridor doesn’t divide the site.

Ottawa Ciitizen

Harry Rosen invests in Montreal flagship store

Go big — or go home. Canadian menswear retailer Harry Rosen is investing $15 million in a newly designed, expanded flagship in the heart of Montreal. Two years in the making, the 33,000-square-foot luxury emporium is 70 per cent bigger than before. The store is meant to reflect the city, said CEO Larry Rosen, son of founder Harry.

Montreal Gazette – Montreal Gazette

Fort McMurray ponders what’s next

Long before the oil era, Fort McMurray first flourished as a fur trading hub tucked in a valley of northern Canada’s boreal forest. Even then, the area’s shiny black soil stood out. Devastated by wildfires, this outpost for oil sands workers roughly 700 kilometres north of the industry’s high-rise headquarters in Calgary has known boom and bust for generations.

Bloomberg – Globe and Mail – Edmonton Journal – Bloomberg

Helicopter crews battle to save infrastructure

Ken Saumure, flying an AS-350 helicopter, dips a red bucket into a pond near Fort McMurray’s airport at 8:55 a.m. Sunday. He flies north and dumps the 600 litres of water on smouldering ground, only 200 metres from Phoenix Heli-Flight’s two hangars, fuel tanks and his fellow crew members. Two minutes later, he’s back, scooping up more water.

Globe and Mail

Artis’ Fort Mac properties appear safe

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (AX.UN-T) says eight retail properties in owns in fire-ravaged Fort McMurray appear to be OK. “At this time, Artis anticipates that there has been minimal, if any, direct fire damage to these properties,” the trust said in a written statement.

Winnipeg Free Press

Northview REIT assists residents, employees

Northview Apartment REIT (NVU.UN-T) is offering free accommodation in Northview properties across Canada, through to the end of May. Northview also announced it will match up to an additional $25,000 in employee donations made to the Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal.

Marketwired

Labour market impact could be felt for months

The Fort McMurray wildfire could disrupt Alberta’s labour market for months, as displaced workers add to the province’s already higher-than-normal unemployment rate. With 88,000 people displaced by the blaze, economists are bracing to see a significant increase in the province’s jobless rate next month.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Firms come to aid of wildfire victims

* Boston Pizza, (BPF.UN-T), Financial Post   

* Cara Operations Ltd., (CAO-T), Canada Newswire   

* Holloway Lodging Corporation, (HLC-T), Stockhouse  

* Hudson’s Bay Company, (HBC-T), Canada Newswire 

* LCBO, Canada Newswire 

* PetSmart Canada, Canada Newswire 

* SUBWAY, Canada Newswire 

Consolidation in works for non-traded REITs

AR Global, a New York-based asset manager and sponsor of nine independent non-traded REITs, is showing all the signs of consolidating some of those REITs into two others. Rumours of consolidation plans emerged last week that AR Global’s American Finance Trust Inc. and Global Net Lease Inc., would acquire five other real estate companies managed by the firm.

CoStar Group

Colony in talks for NorthStar Asset

Confirming published reports, Colony Capital Inc. and NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc. said they’re in talks for Los Angeles-based Colony to acquire NSAM. Colony, NSAM and NorthStar Asset Realty Finance, which manages NSAM via an affiliate, would engineer a tri-party all stock “at the market” business combination based upon historical trading prices.=

Globest.com – CoStar Group

Featured Column

Saskatoon approves growth plan to half a million

After much consultation with the public and their own administration, the City of Saskatoon approved its official Growth Plan to Half a Million last week during a regularly scheduled council meeting.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Vancouver farmland going to waste: Report

A significant amount of farmland in the Lower Mainland is currently sitting fallow, while owners benefit from the low tax rates of agricultural land, concludes Upland Consulting’s report presented to Metro Vancouver’s planning and agriculture committee on Friday. Farm property is taxed at a fraction of the rate of residential property.

BCBusiness

U.S. hotels in oil, gas regions struggle

According to a new study by STR‘s consulting & analytics division, U.S. hotel tracts dependent on the oil and gas industry continue to see weakened demand as a result of low oil prices. In addition, hotel supply in these regions continues to grow at a strong pace.

World Property Journal – Bloomberg – Bloomberg

What’s behind China’s global shopping spree?

In the recent wave of Chinese investors going global, it is remarkable how much goes into real estate and other businesses that have a large element of fixed assets. In London, which claims to attract more Chinese investors than any other city worldwide, a string of major acquisitions are not takeovers of companies but takeovers of commercial property.

Forbes

REOC Financial Reports

REIT Financial Reports

Latest first-quarter reports:

* CAPREIT, (CAR.UN-T), Marketwired     

* OneREIT, (ONR.UN-T), Marketwired

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Warren likes RioCan, CAP REIT, Crombie

2016 will actually be a slow year for RioCan (REI.UN-T), Canada’s largest REIT, due to the earnings drag of the sale of its U.S. portfolio. However, we feel index changes happening over the summer will benefit this REIT, and long-term holders will benefit from the developments that will start coming in over the next few years. Yield is 5.2 per cent.

BNN.ca

Time is right to buy Smart REIT

Smart REIT (SRU.UN-T) is one REIT I believe has a big advantage over its competitors – an advantage that justifies its somewhat lofty valuation. Often, investors will hate when a REIT collects the majority of its revenue from one tenant. The market is beginning to warm up to these types of REITs, however.

Motley Fool

U.S. retail REITs riding high

Despite the country’s mall woes, U.S. retail REITs have had a nice run over the past five years, and analysts say they still have plenty of juice. The FTSE NAREIT Retail REIT index, which measures retail REITs’ performance, returned on average 14.9 per cent annually in the five-year stretch that ended March 31. Only self-storage REITs did better.

The Real Deal

Legal Corner

Ontario land surveyors lose class action suit

Teranet Inc. has defeated a class action lawsuit in which 350 land surveyors claimed the company was breaching their copyright. Edward Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled Teranet acquires the property rights to the surveys as soon as they’re deposited in the province’s land registry offices.

Financial Post

Retail

More retailers exploring sale/leaseback options

Despite a drop in the number of retail property sale/leasebacks in the first quarter of this year, there appears to be a substantial pipeline of deals building up as more merchants explore the option. Among those actively looking to sell off corporate owned stores is Mattress Firm Holding Corp., (MFRM-Q) which has begun selling 1,050 Sleepy’s stores.

CoStar Group

Target gets tough with vendors

Discount retailer Target Corp (TGT-N) is cracking down on suppliers as part of a multi-billion dollar overhaul to speed up its supply chain and better compete with rivals including Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT-N) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN-Q). The sixth-largest U.S. retailer by sales plans to tighten deadlines for deliveries to its warehouses and hike fines for late deliveries.

Reuters

Greeters returning to U.S. Wal-Mart stores

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT-N) will begin deploying employees to all its entrances and exits in a move to deter shoplifters and improve customer service, reviving a door-greeter program that had languished in recent years. Greeters will return to Wal-Mart’s U.S. superstores in multiple forms, the company said.

Bloomberg

Restaurants and Eateries

New gourmet-burger player arrives in Winnipeg

Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes is the latest gourmet-burger chain to wade into Winnipeg’s fast-food fray with last week’s opening. The new restaurant marks the Plano, Texas-based chain’s third Canadian location. The outlet is owned by Winnipeg’s Dhillon family — Rajpal and Pim Dhillon and their daughter, Rubina — which also owns 10 Subway restaurants in the province.

Winnipeg Free Press

Reimann family adds Krispy Kreme to coffee empire

The investment firm for Austria’s billionaire Reimann family agreed to buy Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (KKD-N) for about $1.35 billion US, adding the doughnut chain to a coffee empire that already includes Keurig Green Mountain and Peet’s Coffee & Tea. JAB Holding Co., will pay Krispy Kreme investors $21 a share in cash, the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company said. 

Bloomberg – Reuters – Business Insider

New Development

Sherwood Co-op unveils plan for new Regina facility

One of the most high-profile spots along the southern commercial stretch of Albert Street is in for big changes under a plan unveiled by the Sherwood Co-operative Association. Starting this summer, the Regina-based retail co-op will start work on building a new gas bar, convenience store and car wash. The cost will be several million dollars.

Regina Leader-Post

Infrastructure

TO-Waterloo region needs better transportation link

The 110-kilometre drive along Ontario’s Highway 401 between Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo is a tedious one, especially when in rush hour it drags out to more than 2 1/2 hours. It’s a commute Lauren Lake, co-founder of Bridgit, makes as often as three times a week. No matter how she travels, it’s a frustrating experience.

Financial Post

Human Resources

Kit and Ace names ex-Roots executive president

Vancouver-based Kit and Ace has hired former Roots executive Wendy Bennison to be its new president. “She was with Roots for a number of years and drove that brand and all of the big results we keep hearing from them over the past years,” former interim CEO Paul Wilson said. Wilson remains the CEO of Hold It All.

Business In Vancouver

Technology

Vancouver Sport Chek features motion-activated technology

If you’re checking out Sport Chek’s newest “flagship” store, which opens today at Robson and Howe in downtown Vancouver, be prepared for much more than a wall of high-tech runners and displays of the latest hockey and golf gear. You’ll be greeted by a digital experience, with screen after screen of interactive and motion-activated technology.

Vancouver Sun – Business In Vancouver

Other