The Well is taking shape, and leasing-up retail tenants

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Retail, Apartments, Condominiums  •  Toronto / GTA

Construction and leasing are both progressing well at The Well, a 7.8-acre mixed-use residential, office and retail site which is one of the most prominent ongoing developments in downtown Toronto.

Montreal Mini-Storage buys 5 Quebec facilities for $40M

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Investment, Land  •  Quebec, Greater Montreal

Montreal Mini-Storage continues to aggressively expand its real estate portfolio with huge growth plans for the future. CEO Simon Berman told RENX it has acquired 1,500 additional units in five facilities in Quebec’s Laurentians for $40 million.

Fitzrovia: Toronto’s largest rental developer

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX  •  RENX

Over the last nine months, Fitzrovia and its institutional capital partners have acquired three master-planned development sites in Toronto for a total of eight high-rise towers, 2.8 million square feet of density, and almost 3,000 purpose-built rental units.

19-storey Yonge St. mixed-use building proposed

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

There may be more density coming soon to Rosedale as Zinc Developments has submitted a zoning bylaw amendment application to the City of Toronto for 1087 Yonge Street, to build two 19-storey, mixed-use buildings designed by architects—Alliance.

First downtown Vancouver office tower post pandemic

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  RENX

The top floors of a 32-storey office tower that is about to begin construction in downtown Vancouver will each have large, private outdoor spaces in the form of cascading green terraces down the front of the building.

Sponsored by Austin Birch Austin Birch assesses effective marketing in new report

Austin Birch, the GTA’s specialized pre-construction sales services company, shares insights into compelling marketing strategies in the latest Austin Birch Report. The report delves into successful tools, platforms and messaging that help developers cut through in a particularly competitive market.

Montreal suburban mayor strives to stop development

Commercial  •  LaPresse  •  Montreal Gazette  •  LaPress

The mayor of the Montreal suburb of Saint-Lin–Laurentides has said no to “frenzied growth”.  The municipality had land-use planning policies that called for expansion with the strongest population growth in Quebec. It has nearly 25,000 inhabitants, 8,000 more than 10 years ago.

What derailed the Caisse’s REM de l’Est?

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  Montreal Gazette – Call for a moratorium

Experts say management missteps may have played a bigger role than technical considerations in the project’s transfer into public hands. Quebec and Montreal announced last week they’ll take over management of the REM de l’Est from CDPQ Infra.

Saskatoon finalizes options for downtown event district

Commercial  •  Western Investor

Saskatoon city council hopes to receive a shortlist of options for a new downtown entertainment and event district along the lines of Edmonton’s Ice District. A shortlist of six potential locations is to be reviewed by June 30.

Complex, controversial London plan clears committee

Commercial  •  CBC

London, Ont.’s Victoria Park secondary plan will allow heights of up to 30 storeys on two sites, with maximum heights staggered downward to five storeys. It excludes a 17-storey building by Auburn Developments already approved by council and currently under appeal.

Gateway Newstands goes into creditor protection

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Gateway Newstands — the ubiquitous convenience and news stores found in TTC stations and across Canada — has filed for creditor protection. After years of declining sales and with foot traffic slow to recover from the pandemic, the company is restructuring.

REIT Q1 financial results

Commercial  • 

Boardwalk REIT (BEI.UN-T), PR Newswire

BTB REIT (BTB.UN-T), PR Newswire

CT REIT (CRT.UN-T), PR Newswire

Inovalis REIT (INO.UN-T), Businesswire

InterRent REIT (IIP-UN-T), Businesswire

Slate Grocery REIT (SGR.UN-T), Businesswire

RioCan REIT (REI.UN-T), Globe Newswire

‘Onslaught’ of office reno as hybrid work takes hold

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  The Guardian

For the first time, U.S. architectural firms are making more income from renovations than new construction, said American Institute of Architects economist Kermit Baker, who expects the run on retrofitting to be more than a late-pandemic blip.

OMERS to acquire Asia-Pacific digital infra portfolio

Commercial  •  OMERS News Release

OMERS Infrastructure has signed an agreement to acquire, from TPG Telecom Limited, 100% of its mobile towers and rooftop portfolio, for an enterprise value of CAD $860M. After the transaction, the tower assets will consist of over 1,230 sites across Australia.

Cambridge Assoc. touts lending to Chinese developers

Commercial  •  Pensions and Investments

Cambridge Associates LLC, the Boston-based investment firm and adviser to some of the world’s biggest endowment funds, is urging clients to consider what it’s calling an unusually attractive tactical opportunity now — lending directly to embattled Chinese real estate developers.

Loblaw investors, BMO question ties to forced labour

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Loblaw is facing pressure to release supply chain records amid concerns from activist investors and BMO that it could be importing goods from suppliers with ties to forced labour in China despite its code of conduct which explicitly prohibits it.

Anti-flipping proposal may be delayed by exemptions

Residential  •  Investment Executive

Ottawa’s proposed anti-flipping rule represents a significant change in real estate taxation, providing the Canada Revenue Agency with clarity regarding when profits on a home sale are subject to full taxation and limiting access to the principal residence exemption.

Vancouver businesses beg for red-tape relief

Commercial  •  Business in Vancouver

From homeowners and builders applying for residential projects, to businesses applying for patios and other post-COVID measures, residents are bogged down, confused or otherwise tangled in red tape which is much worse in Vancouver than in lower mainland municipalities.

Racist clause remains on West Vancouver land titles

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

A West Vancouver woman found racist language on a ‘British Properties’ homeownership document two years after the district vowed to take action to strike out covenants saying people of “African or Asiatic” can only live there if they are servants.

Lawyer disbarred over syndicated mortgages scheme

Commercial  •  CBC

Christopher Di Giacomo acted on behalf of 84 clients who invested more than $7.7 million on 16 real estate projects with Black Bear Homes, controlled by a convicted fraudster. The syndicated mortgages were extremely high-risk with no restrictions on the use of funds.