Crown adds IBM office complex to growing Ottawa portfolio

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Ottawa

Crown Realty Partners has grown from three to 40 employees in Ottawa and now owns or manages 2.7 million square feet of space in the region since entering the market in 2019. The firm just added another marquee property, and plans more investments.

Canada’s retail vacancy to be ‘stable’ into 2024: Colliers

RENX  Commercial  •  Retail  •  National

Despite the continuing economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the national retail vacancy rate is expected to see only a slight decrease of less than one per cent by 2024, a new report by Colliers International predicts.

Industrial rental rates continue upward climb

Commercial  •  REMI Network

Industrial rental rates trended upward in 11 of the 12 metropolitan areas Colliers Canada tracks during Q4 2021. A new snapshot finds vacancy rates below one per cent in five markets and between one and 5.4 per cent in the seven other urban centres.

Great Gulf’s Yonge + Rich Condos merges new and old

Residential  •  Daily Commercial News

Toronto’s 46-storey, 694-unit mixed-use Yonge + Rich Condos was constructed to create a blend of the past and present, incorporating a former printing company into its modern design, explains David Stevenson, development manager, high-rise projects with Great Gulf.

Choice, Woodbourne plan 29-storey North York tower

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust  (CHP-UN-T) and Woodbourne Canada Management have proposed a 339-unit, 29-storey residential tower at 123 Parkway Forest Dr. in  North York. The IBI Group-designed building would include 25 studios, 193 one-bedrooms, 87 two-bedrooms and 34 three-bedrooms.

LCH proposes 13-storey mixed-use in Scarborough

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

LCH Developments has proposed a 13-storey, mixed-use building at 4630 Kingston Rd. in  Scarborough. The Turner Fleischer Architects-designed building would contain 2,900 square feet of retail space and 417 condo suites consisting of 16 townhouses, 58 studios, 122 one-bedrooms, 32 one-bedroom-plus-dens, 31 two-bedrooms, 117 two-bedroom-plus-dens, 14 three-bedrooms and 27 3-bedroom-plus-dens.

Real Estate Wealth Insights › Canadian apt. investments offer far smoother ride than major stock indexes

Chris Nickerson: Managing Director, Equiton

Cresa acquires Ottawa’s Agile Work Evolutions

Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  Canada Newswire

Cresa, an occupier-focused CRE firm, has acquired Ottawa-based Agile Work Evolutions (AWE), a real estate technology company focused on workplace strategy and implementation. AWE also provides assessment and change management, integration, alignment and training related to workplace.

Harbour Equity’s JV Fund V over 80% committed

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Harbour Equity Capital Corp. announced its latest fund, Harbour Equity JV Development Fund V, is over 80% committed after closing on its 11th investment this week. Harbour Equity has committed over $94 million to new investments since closing Fund V in December 2020.

Best Buy launching smaller store format

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

Canadian retailer Best Buy is launching a new smaller format store at the Sherwood Park Mall just east of Edmonton. More than half of the 7,700 square feet of space will be allocated to warehouse space reflecting a post-pandemic trend.

Sportscene shareholders okay plan to privatize firm

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  La Presse

A significant majority of Sportscene Group Inc. (SPS-A-X) shareholders voted in favour of the special resolution to which the restaurant chain will be privatized by president/CEO Jean Bédard and a consortium of Québec investors led by Champlain Financial Corporation.

Windsor’s Silver City poised to cease operations

Commercial  •  Windsor Star  •  CBC

Windsor’s Silver City, a 12-screen movie theatre complex, will be shuttered after roughly 25 years of operation, says building owner Joe Mikhail.  The movie multiplex operated by Cineplex is currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Ontario government.

French bank Natixis sells Fiera Capital stake for $105M

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  RENX

French bank Natixis SA is selling its stake in Canadian asset management firm Fiera Capital Corp., (FSZ-T) cutting ownership ties despite what the two companies called “a long-term strategic partnership” forged only two years ago.

U.S. inflation rises to another 40-year high of 7%

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC  •  Bloomberg  •  CTV

The U.S. inflation rate is at its highest level in 40 years. The Consumer Price Index rose by 0.5 per cent in December, pushing the annual inflation rate to seven per cent for the first time since 1982.

Blackstone to enforce vaccine mandate

Commercial  •  Bisnow

The Supreme Court blocked a nationwide worker vaccine mandate, but some U.S. employers are moving forward with requiring employees to get COVID-19 booster shots, with Blackstone the latest to join a league of Wall Street firms announcing new vaccine mandates.

China Evergrande secures payment extension

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Business Insider  •  Reuters

China Evergrande Group on Thursday secured a crucial approval from onshore bondholders to delay payments on one of its bonds, as other cash-strapped developers also scrambled to negotiate new terms with creditors to avoid defaults.

Investors account for 19% of homebuyers: B of C

Residential  •  Bloomberg  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

A new study from the Bank of Canada released Thursday found investors accounted for 19 per cent of home purchases dating back to 2014, a figure that has rapidly outpaced other types of buyers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crypto-backed mortgages raise red flags: B.C. regulator

Residential  •  New West Record

The BC Financial Services Authority continues to sound warnings about anyone considering purchasing a home with cryptocurrency due to limited protections and persisting unknown risks in doing so.

Royal LePage predicts a hot spring housing market

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  PR Newswire

The last quarter of the year is traditionally the slowest in real estate. However, last year’s record-breaking sales and prices bucked tradition through to the end, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey, which portends a busier-than-usual spring.

Startup Unreserved aims to reduce blind bidding

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa startup Unreserved Inc. says it wants to bring more transparency to the home-sales process through online auctions, hoping to reduce the blind-bidding rounds and bully bids that have been widely criticized in Canadian housing markets.