AY CEO talks office, retail, stay-at-home economy at world forum

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

From the metaverse to office occupancy, bricks-and-mortar shopping to quasi-retail fulfillment centres, Avison Young chair and CEO Mark Rose had a lot on his mind as he prepared for a presentation at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Gehry’s first T.O. tower could be a ‘game-changer’

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Nearly a decade ago, Toronto-born Frank Gehry announced he would be designing a major development project in downtown Toronto. Now, that project, named Forma, is about to begin sales – and featuring the tallest building by the world’s most famous architect.

Demand for Halifax industrial space ‘ravenous’: Colliers

Commercial  •  Saltwire  •  RENX

Demand for industrial space in the Halifax area remains “ravenous,” says a report from Colliers Nova Scotia. Colliers expects the Halifax industrial market to stay at record low vacancy rates and benchmark highs in asking net rent for Q2 2022.

KingSett acquires Sagitta’s $461M industrial portfolio

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Toronto / GTA

KingSett Capital has acquired a 21-building industrial portfolio in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for $461 million from Sagitta Development & Management.

Industrial land shortage ‘a crisis’: Re/Max

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Ottawa Business Journal

The demand for industrial land and warehouse space in Canada is at an all-time high and growing, creating challenges in business expansion due to land constraints in the GTA and other large markets, according to a report from Re/Max Canada.

The Industrial Real Estate Show › Podcast: Industrial electrical power explained

Chad Griffiths: Partner, NAI Commercial

Ottawa planning committee backs 18-storey mixed-use

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa planning committee members gave their blessing Thursday to a proposal to transform a parking lot at the corner of Somerset Street West and O’Connor Street into an 18-storey mixed-use building. Ottawa-based Gemstone‘s building would include 156 units and 65 parking spaces.

Lash proposes 44-storey mixed-use in Scarborough

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Lash Group Of Companies has proposed a 44-storey mixed-use tower at 1151 Markham Rd. in Scarborough. The Turner Fleischer Architects-designed building would include 440 residential units and 2,400 square feet of retail next to a stop on the Durham-Scarborough Bus Rapid Transit corridor.

Crown bringing 11-storey condos to Scarborough

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Crown Communities’ Narrative Condos in Scarborough will consist of a pair of L-shaped, 11-storey buildings with 422 suites. Originally 140 stacked townhouses were planned, but with rising construction costs and development fees, units would have had to have been priced at $1 million-plus.

B.C. investors scout Alberta single-tenant CRE deals

Commercial  •  Western Investor

With oil trading north of US$100 a barrel and net migration also at the highest level since 2014, Alberta is attracting more B.C. investors and a popular target is single-tenant commercial property, according to agents with Marcus & Millichap’s triple-net (NNN) team.

The rise and fall of Chinatowns

Residential, Commercial  •  Global News

For the people who love Chinatown, a piece of this place only lives in memory. And memories of Chinatown can be vivid, but you need a good memory in Chinatown because so much has been lost.

Real estate podcasts

Residential, Commercial  • 

Mark Rothschild, Canaccord Genuity: REITs in a changing market, CRE Podcast
Corey Hawtin, Core Development Group: Amassing $11.6 billion in AUM, CRE Library
David Sol, IBI Group: Flood planning, The Construction Record

TD’s Q2 profit boosted by real estate lending

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

Toronto-Dominion Bank’s (TD-T) second-quarter profit beat analyst estimates thanks to its Canadian personal and commercial banking arm, with loan growth rising nine per cent from the year prior, driven by residential real estate and commercial lending.

Couche-Tard attracts new bull with outperform rating

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-A-T) picked up another fan in the analyst community Wednesday, as Wells Fargo initiated coverage of the Montreal-based convenience store operator with the equivalent of a buy recommendation.

WeWork leads $30M funding for software startup

Commercial  •  Bisnow

WeWork (WE-N) is the lead investor behind a new $30-million funding round for a flexible workspace tech startup it began partnering with earlier this year. Upflex also received funding from Newmark, Cushman & Wakefield and others as part of the Series A round, it announced Wednesday

EQ Office completes Willis Tower redevelopment

Commercial  •  Chicago Sun Times  •  Business Wire  •  Business Wire

EQ Office, the U.S. office portfolio company wholly owned by Blackstone, announced the completion of its over $500 million street-to-sky transformation of Chicago’s Willis Tower, ensuring its future as a top destination for the next generation of talent.

T.O.’s pre-construction condo market cooling

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Investor sentiment has started to cool for new Toronto condos, the latest sign that the sharp rise in borrowing costs is slowing the country’s frenetic real estate market, according to Urbanation president Shaun Hildebrand.

RBC executive bemoans extreme home prices

Residential  •  Bloomberg  •  Canadian Mortgage Professional

Royal Bank of Canada’s mortgage clients are wealthier than they used to be. That’s good for the bank’s credit quality, but it’s a depressing statement about the struggle younger people face to buy a home, says senior executive Neil McLaughlin.

National Bank predicts drop in housing prices

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

National Bank’s chief rates and public sector strategist Warren Lovely published a timely research report entitled Canadian housing springs a leak Wednesday. The report leaves a lot to reader interpretation, with only a brief description followed by more than 20 charts.

3-day ‘cooling off’ period recommended for B.C.

Residential  •  CBC  •  Vancouver Sun

British Columbia’s real estate regulator B.C. Financial Services Authority has recommended that the province adopt a so-called “cooling-off” period of three business days to protect people buying a home, through legislation tabled this spring.