Pandemic hits Canadian REIT earnings, returns: RBC’s Blair

RENX  Commercial  •  Investment  •  National

Canadian real estate investment trusts have experienced dramatic highs and lows in the capital markets over the past year, RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group managing director Carolyn Blair said during a presentation at the virtual RealREIT conference.

How landlords are trying to lure new tenants

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

The eCentral building in midtown Toronto, owned by RioCan REIT, is offering one month of free rent for select units. The Grid 5 Apartments in downtown Calgary, owned by Killam Apartment REIT, is doling out $1,000 signing bonuses.

Office leasing won’t fully rebound until 2025: C&W

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Global pricing and demand for office space will take almost five years to recover from the damage wrought by the pandemic, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield (CWK-N). Vacancies worldwide are expected to peak at 15.6 per cent in 2022.

Brookfield plans to reduce U.S. mall portfolio

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Brookfield Property Partners (BPY-UN-T) plans to whittle down its portfolio of more than 170 U.S. malls, saying it was forced to accelerate plans to overhaul its malls after local government restrictions temporarily closed indoor spaces, which contributed to its huge Q2 loss.

MaRS plans $60M innovation hub with UCalgary

Commercial  •  Financial Post (Sub. required)

MaRS Discovery District, Canada’s largest innovation hub, is planning a $60-million tech accelerator in Calgary, in partnership with the University of Calgary. The proposed expansion, dubbed MaRS West, would be the first facility outside Toronto.

Alberta residential developers stockpiling land

Residential  •  Western Investor

Some of Alberta’s largest residential developers are staking out huge parcels of land, especially in the south, in anticipation of what they see as the inevitable post-pandemic recovery. Qualico Communities paid $173,313 per acre for a 490-acre parcel north of Calgary.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Government collaboration will deliver safer downtown Saskatoon

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

Colonnade trims height of planned Ottawa apt. building

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  RENX

Ottawa developer Colonnade Bridgeport has significantly revised its plans for a residential high-rise near the Canadian Museum of Nature, shrinking the proposed building from 21 storeys to 10 in documents recently filed at City Hall.

Rx Drug Mart Canada’s fastest-growing company

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Canada Newswire

While COVID-19 has been an challenge, it also presents a big opportunity for Rx Drug Mart CEO Chris Gardner. Many pharmacy owners worry if they sell to Shoppers or Rexall, “their people will get fired and the name will change.”

Lush seeks court permission to dissolve Canadian arm

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Continuing conflict between the U.K.-based owners of the Lush Cosmetics brand and its Vancouver-based partner, Mark Wolverton, has prompted the retailer to ask the BC Supreme Court to step in and settle the dispute.

U.S. retailer Ulta Beauty shelves plans for Cdn. expansion

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Toronto Star  •  CBC

U.S. cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA-Q) has shelved its plans to expand into Canada. The popular beauty chain had initially planned to begin opening stores in Canada in late 2020 or early 2021, The Globe and Mail reported last year.

MEC board considered turning to members for funding

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post (Sub. required)

Struggling outdoor retailer MEC considered turning to members for funding to save the business before selling it to a U.S. private equity firm, but ultimately decided the option would have been “impractical to impossible,” according to an affidavit filed Wednesday.

Colony Capital to sell $2.8B hospitality portfolios

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Colony Capital Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell six of its hospitality portfolios to Highgate Hotels, a private investor. The deal is valued at $2.8 billion, including $67.5 million of gross proceeds and the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt.

WeWork sells control of China unit for $200M

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  CNBC

Office-sharing firm WeWork on Thursday said it will sell control of its China division to one of its investors – private equity firm Trustbridge Partners – for $200 million as it steps back from a competitive market where it has suffered low-occupancy rates.

How Simon has navigated the pandemic

Commercial  •  Commercial Observer

U.S. mall colossus Simon has been duking it out in courts with tenants to pony up the rent and with Taubman Centers over backing out of the $3.6-billion buyout of its rival. Simon’s also seen its stock drop by nearly 53%.

BSR REIT acquires Texas apartments for $51.8M

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

BSR REIT (HOM-UN-T) announced it has acquired Aura Castle Hills Apartments, a 276-suite, garden-style residential community in Lewisville, Texas and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan Statistical Area for $51.8 million ($187,681 per suite).

Toronto’s rental shortage expected to skyrocket

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

An Urbanation report suggesting the GTA could face a shortage of 200,000 rental apartments within a decade highlights the conundrum of a region building more high-rise apartments than anywhere in North America, but still facing an unaffordable housing situation.

Ottawa’s price gains fastest in country since 2017

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

Since February 2017, Ottawa’s single-family homes have appreciated nearly 33 per cent to a benchmark price of $566,100 in August. Not only is that the fastest growth in the country, it far outpaced price gains in Toronto of less than four per cent.

House prices will fall by nearly 10 per cent: Siddall

Residential  •  Bloomberg

CMHC president/CEO Evan Siddall is warning the domestic housing market isn’t out of the woods just yet. Even though the most bearish case for home prices doesn’t seem likely, he still sees a price decline by just under 10 per cent.

‘Dangerous’ oversupply of Calgary, Edm. homes: Moody’s

Residential  •  Global News

There is a “dangerous” oversupply of new, single-family homes in Calgary and Edmonton, on top of affordability issues in Vancouver and Toronto, Moody’s Analytics Inc. said in a report this week.