Realstar acquires GTA’s The Taunton apartments for $164M

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Toronto / GTA

Realstar Group has acquired the purpose-built The Taunton apartments in the suburban GTA city of Oakville for $164 million from Branthaven Homes. The 12-storey, 286-unit luxury property sold for $523,427 per unit – one of Canada’s highest-ever, per-unit multires transactions.

Proptech brings with it privacy, legal implications

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Technology  •  National

Reports suggest global investment in property technology has grown from $1 billion in 2012 to $18 billion in 2018. As it becomes more pervasive, however, so do legal concerns about how data is being collected, and how it can affect privacy.

Winnipeg’s class-A office vacancy rate falls: CBRE

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The vacancy rate for top-tier offices in downtown Winnipeg shrank during 2019 as the market absorbed new office space in True North Square. The fourth-quarter level fell from 12.8 to 10.9 per cent year-over-year, CBRE’s latest quarterly report shows.

Nestlé forges JV on Centreport protein plant

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg’s CentrePort Canada is about to become home to a 94,000-square-foot plant that will supply the world’s largest food company with plant-based protein. Nestlé is partnering with Merit Functional Foods and Burcon NutraScience to supply protein from peas and canola.

Public weighs in on Edmonton’s old Northlands site

Residential, Commercial  •  Edmonton Journal

Edmontonians were given one final look at the plans for the Exhibition Lands Thursday night as the city continues to define what will happen to the second largest infill site in the city.

Mattel shuttering Montreal Mega Bloks factory

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  CBC

U.S. toy maker Mattel is closing its Mega Bloks factory in Montreal’s St-Laurent suburb in a move that will slash 580 jobs. Production of the plastic snap-together sets will be shifted to other Mattel facilities in Mexico and China.

The Apartments Broker › Apartment building transactions: The cost of direct deals

Ramona Ursu: Partner and Broker at Baron Realty

Canada in need of more purpose-built rentals: Editorial

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

What Canada needs are a lot more purpose-built rentals, such as those the country built in the decades after the Second World War. These days, after decades of inaction, rental construction is rising, but much more is needed.

Big tech fish migrating to ‘small pond’ Victoria

Commercial  •  Western Investor

When Matt Celuszak’s London-based firm embarked on the hunt for a city in which to launch its global research centre for artificial intelligence, many global metropolises entered into the conversation. However, the team at Element Human Ltd. settled on Victoria.

Red Deer, Alta., plagued by economic slump

Commercial  •  CBC

In the City of Red Deer, more storefronts, industrial bays and offices are being emptied out as Alberta’s economic slump enters its sixth year. Economic diversification and resuscitating the downtown are some of the priorities in the blue-collar city.

St. Albert Crossing may finally see some life

Commercial  •  St. Albert Today

There is fresh optimism afoot for a building with a troubled history and absolutely zero tenancy for the last 10 years. St. Albert Crossing, just north of Edmonton and owned by Calgary’s Prime Real Estate Group, was constructed in 2009.

Giant Tiger shuttering its Hull location

Commercial  •  CBC

Trouble finding basic groceries in downtown Hull just got worse. The Giant Tiger store on Eddy Street has announced it’s shutting down this spring after an estimated 60 years in business.

CoreLogic acquires geospatial analytics company Location

Commercial  •  Insurance Business Magazine

CoreLogic has revealed that it has completed its acquisition of Location, Inc., a company that utilizes geographic data sciences and predictive, location-based analytics to provide insights to clients in the U.S. and Canada.

LRT evaluators sought to disqualify SNC’s bid

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Citizen

Newly released documents show the extent of the failings in SNC-Lavalin’s original bid to take on the southern extension of Ottawa’s light-rail transit system, as the technical evaluators sought to disqualify the ultimately successful proponent from continuing through the process.

Firm Capital acquires 50% interest in Houston apartments

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Firm Capital American Realty Partners Trust (FCA-U-X) announced it has entered into a $27.9-million joint venture located in Houston. The trust and an unrelated third party have acquired the Woodglen Village Apartments, a 250-unit, multifamily residential building.

Inovalis REIT acquires full stake in French property

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Inovalis REIT (INO-UN-T) announced it has completed the purchase of its JV partner’s 75% ownership interest in an Arcueil, France office property. The property consists of nine upper levels and two basement levels and office floor plates of approximately 27,000 square feet.

Evictions on the rise as Montreal’s vacancy rate hits 15-year low

Residential  •  CBC  •  CBC

Housing advocates say parts of Montreal are seeing a spike in eviction letters and repossession notices for rental units. With the city’s vacancy rate at a 15-year low, that’s raising concerns for moving day.

P.E.I. has Canada’s worst rental housing crisis

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

In P.E.I., rental housing is in short supply. The circumstances behind its crisis mirror those of distressed markets such as Toronto and Vancouver: Years of lacklustre rental construction, combined with rapid population growth, led to a steep decline in vacancies.

Tarion reform plan leaves consumers exposed: Critics

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Ontario’s home warranty provider may be attempting to water down or delay changes it has publicly agreed to, say critics and consumer advocates who have seen a draft copy of the provincial agency’s plan for reform.

Employers can help with Toronto’s housing crisis: Report

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Can Toronto avoid the kind of housing crisis that afflicts Silicon Valley? The San Francisco-area tech hub’s real estate prices have soared and so have homeless rates. Even people in middle-class occupations are leaving in droves.