New focus for Strategic Group after 2-year restructuring

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Retail, Apartments  •  National, Calgary

Calgary-based real estate company Strategic Group has come out of a two-year restructuring process by selling 110 office and retail properties, reducing its exposure to the struggling Alberta office market by 92 per cent, and reducing its debt by $1.02 billion.

MDA to build 200K-sq.-ft. global HQ in Brampton

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Financial Post

MDA Ltd. (MDA-T), a leading provider of advanced technology and services to the rapidly expanding global space industry, Thursday revealed details of its new 200,000-square-foot purpose-built global headquarters and Space Robotics Centre of Excellence in Brampton.

Bell to give downtown T.O. building a facelift

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  BlogTO

Bell Media plans to redevelop 299 Queen Street West, the imposing, neo-Gothic, multi-storied building that encompasses significant street frontage and a longtime Toronto landmark. Bell also confirmed a plan to relocate its studios during the construction period.

The Industrial Real Estate Show › Podcast: CRE and the economy, featuring KC Conway

Chad Griffiths: Partner, NAI Commercial

Ottawa finally moves on LeBreton Flats

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

ANALYSIS: After decades of sitting dormant, the large waterfront parcel of federally owned Ottawa land known as LeBreton Flats is finally inching closer to development as the city battles an affordable housing crisis that is growing by the day.

Indigenous-led projects raise bar for city-building

Residential, Commercial  •  REMI Network  •  RENX

The architects and developers behind some of Canada’s new Indigenous-focused projects are designing spaces that harmonize with their natural landscapes, setting a higher standard for how urban buildings impact the environment and their surrounding communities.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Seeking like-minded commercial condo owners

Kelly Macsymic: Business Manager, Stuart Commercial Inc., Sales Associate, ICR Commercial Real Estate

OTT Properties proposes North York private club

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

OTT Properties has proposed to replace a low-rise office and factory complex in North York with a private members’ club. The Kohn Pederson Fox/B+H Architects-designed Phoenix Centre would total 48,761 square feet of office space and 248,797 square feet of club space.

Wpg. office vacancy rates drop slightly: CBRE

Commercial  •  CTV

CBRE said office vacancy rates in downtown Winnipeg went up during the pandemic – from 11.6 per cent in 2020, to 15.3 per cent last year, improving slightly in 2022 to 15 per cent. Downtown Biz CEO Kate Fenske expects workers to return beginning in April.

End of pandemic near for apt. rental market: Minto

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

The message from Wednesday’s conference call hosted by Minto Apartment REIT CEO Michael Waters was that the worst was over — business may be close to pre-pandemic levels by mid-year.

Sobeys owner Empire Co. posts 15.4% profit gain

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

Sobeys owner Empire Company Ltd. (EMP-A-T) reported its profit jumped by 15.4 per cent in the third quarter, even as grocery shoppers are changing their behaviours compared to unusually high demand in 2021.

Real estate podcasts

Residential, Commercial  • 

Brian Rosen, Colliers: Technology, tenant experience and connection, Tenant Experience Network

Makenzie Plusnick, Nat’l Assoc. of Women in Construction: WIC Week, The Construction Record

Tu Nguyen, RSM Canada; Jason Del Vicario, Hillside Wealth: What rising interest rates mean for housing, Down to Business

WeWork reports $803M fourth-quarter loss

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Business Wire  •  Bisnow

Flexible workspace provider WeWork Inc. (WE-N) reported a smaller fourth-quarter loss of $803 million US on Friday, helped by cost cuts and demand for office space from companies switching to a hybrid model of work.

NYC’s third-largest hotel sells at staggering loss

Commercial  •  Bisnow

Host Hotels & Resorts has sold its Sheraton New York Times Square hotel for $365 million, Real Estate Alert reported, far less than the $738 million it paid for the 1,780-room property in 2006.

Russia devises plan to seize abandoned firms

Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen

Russia moved closer to seizing and even nationalizing foreign-owned companies that are leaving the market while planning measures to coax others into staying. The Economy Ministry outlined new policies to take temporary control of departing companies where foreign ownership exceeds 25%.

Regulatory failures revealed at Grenfell Tower inquiry

Residential  •  Daily Commercial News

Central to the government inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed 72 residents have been the building regulations and approval procedures surrounding the cladding system used for the 2016 refurbishment of the 24-storey apartment tower’s exterior.

U.S. rental app Alfred plans expansion to Canada

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

U.S. rental app company Alfred is expanding to Canada with plans to set up its first headquarters in Toronto, becoming the latest real estate player trying to capitalize on the country’s hot housing market.

Household debt-to-income ration hit record high in Q4

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Statistics Canada says the ratio of household debt to disposable income hit a record level of 186.2 per cent in the fourth quarter as mortgage borrowing rose and disposable income fell.

Rental demand slowed in some markets during pandemic

Residential  •  Financial Post

During the pandemic, there were unprecedented increases in the prices and sales of owned housing across the country, while demand for rental housing grew slightly overall, yet slowed in some markets, according to a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. report.

How will mortgage rates react to Putin’s war?

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

OPINION: There’s a very real danger that central banks temporarily lose control of inflation. Textbooks say this risk should be met by aggressive short-term rate tightening. And if it is, variable mortgage rates will go along for the ride.