DIALOG pitches 105-storey hybrid mass timber tower

Residential  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

DIALOG, a leading global design firm based in Toronto, has developed a prototype design that could see hybrid mass timber towers sprouting in major cities and climbing as high as 105 storeys. The patent-pending design also creates a zero-carbon tower.

Avison Young acquires CRE leasing platform Truss

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Industrial, Technology, Retail  •  International

Avison Young has acquired the “intellectual property and other select assets” of Truss, a Chicago-based proptech company which offers a CRE leasing platform. In 2019, Truss said it offered 30,000 spaces in the office, co-working, industrial and retail space.

Credit protection extended for flagship timber tower

Residential  •  Western Investor  •  RENX

Developers behind Terrace House, a proposed 19-storey luxury condominium tower at 1250 West Hastings in Vancouver built from heavy timber once hailed as the flagship project for B.C. wood buildings, have had creditor protection extended to December.

Ottawa’s offices empty out as feds work from home

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Ottawa’s top employer is showing no signs of encouraging its staff to return to their offices, but commercial real estate industry veterans say now is not the time to panic about a mass exodus from the city’s downtown core.

Gordon Reid steps down as Giant Tiger CEO

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

The only CEO of one of Ottawa’s most iconic retail brands is stepping down after 59 years on the job. Gordon Reid is a former travelling salesman who built Giant Tiger from a single store into a multibillion-dollar national chain.

Where the value is among Canada’s 10 largest REITs

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

From a dividend perspective almost all of the names on the REIT list below have maintained their distributions since the start of the pandemic. They look intrinsically undervalued, from a few percentage points to 30.9% in the case of RioCan (REI-UN-T).

Sponsored by MNP Digitization of the construction industry

Moving to a cloud-based system can streamline company processes. While the construction sector has been slow to adopt process and technology innovations, there is also a continuing challenge when it comes to fixing the basics.

Mirvish Village complex finally taking shape

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Two-and-a-half years since the last vestiges of Honest Ed’s iconic sign were removed from Bloor and Bathurst in downtown Toronto, new construction is finally rising as part of the multi-tower Mirvish Village development from Vancouver-based Westbank Corp.

Winnipeg co-working company gets pandemic boost

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

On March 4, Launch Coworking cut the ribbon on 6,400 square feet of office space on the fifth floor of the Grain Exchange Building. Ten days later, the pandemic struck and thousands of Winnipeg workers were sent home from their respective offices.

High-end retailers relocating to West Edmonton Mall

Commercial  •  Global News

Downtown Edmonton high-end retailers are moving to West Edmonton Mall. A Louis Vuitton store opened near where Tiffany & Co., Coach, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Lacoste have opened in recent years. Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent are also heading to WEM.

Retailers continue to struggle: Retail Council

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  CTV  •  CBC

Retail Council of Canada (RCC) notes July retail numbers, as reported by Statistics Canada, show that many categories within the sector are still strained and struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Restaurants to seek help in Throne Speech

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe and Mail

More than 1,200 restaurants have banded together under the banner Save Hospitality to ask Ottawa for long-term pandemic programs, including wage subsidies and rent relief, in Wednesday’s Speech from the Throne amid warnings three-in-five Canadian restaurants could close.

Lululemon bucks trend in plan to add more stores

Commercial  •  Financial Post

The pandemic may have wiped out demand for apparel and driven many remaining customers online, but that isn’t stopping Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU-Q) from eyeing new brick-and-mortar stores across the U.S., says chief executive officer Calvin McDonald.

Facebook to invest $1B in Georgia data centre expansion

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Facebook (FB-Q) has announced a three-building expansion at its Newton Data Center, a 970,000-square-foot facility in Newton County, Ga. In the second phase of the development, the company will add 1.5 million square feet to the existing two-building campus.

Distress deals are coming, but not overnight: Blackstone

Commercial  •  Bisnow

Co-head of real estate Ken Caplan said Blackstone (BX-N) knows from experience the type of distress deals that helped elevate it to new heights coming out of the last recession don’t unfold overnight. Thus, it is playing a waiting game.

IKEA opening a second-hand store in Sweden

Commercial  •  House Beautiful

IKEA is opening its first second-hand store in Sweden later this year. The Swedish retailer will be selling refurbished furniture in the brick-and-mortar store, conveniently located in the ReTuna shopping mall in Eskilstuna, the world’s first second-hand shopping centre.

Ottawa promises $1B to cities for affordable housing

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

Ottawa is promising $1 billion to help cities pay for affordable housing, although it has not provided details about how it will be allocated. Toronto Mayor John Tory called the federal funding “a good start . . . but it is not yet enough.”

Processes, delays add thousands to new GTA homes: BILD

Residential  •  Globe Newswire  •  Toronto Star

A municipal benchmarking study compiled by Altus Group and released by the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) indicated inefficiencies in processes and approval times can add between $58,000 and $87,000 to a typical 2,000-square-foot single-family home in the GTA.

Why real estate prices continue to rise: CIBC

Residential  •  CBC

OPINION: Between February and August, the unemployment rate doubled while the Canadian housing market hit all-time highs. Homeowners who lost their jobs were able to keep their homes thanks to various government programs and banks offering to defer mortgage payments.

More Montreal houses may be for sale by Christmas

Residential  •  La Presse

The end of mortgage payment deferrals and several assistance programs during the COVID-19 crisis will encourage more Montreal homeowners to sell by the end of the year, according to the Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers of Quebec. (APCIQ).