Industrial leads 2021 MSCI/REALPAC Property Index

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

The Canadian commercial real estate total return rate bounced back to 7.9 per cent in 2021 after plummeting to negative 4.1 per cent a year earlier due to the pandemic, according to the latest MSCI/REALPAC Canada Property Index.

‘Flight to quality’ in downtown Calgary buildings

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Calgary’s downtown office vacancies are disproportionately concentrated in the west end of downtown, according to CBRE. There, where the leasable space is mostly in older buildings, the vacancy rate is close to 50 per cent versus 20 per cent in newer buildings.

Land prices for select T.O. lots have tripled in a year

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Unable to ignore new online habits, businesses like Microsoft are scooping up industrial land and converting it into data centres and facilities to receive, store and ship out goods directly to consume.

Soneil tops $1B in AUM with GTA industrial acquisitions

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Toronto / GTA

Family-owned real estate owner/operator Soneil Investments has topped $1 billion in assets under management with two Greater Toronto Area industrial acquisitions; properties on Keele Street in Vaughan and Clark Boulevard in Brampton for about $105 million.

Summit acquires 50% stake in Kitchener site

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Summit Industrial Income REIT (SMU-UN-T) has acquired a 50% interest in a 19.5-acre development site in Kitchener’s Grand River West Business Park. Summit paid $5.5 million for its 50% interest and expects to acquire the remaining 50% of the completed development project upon stabilization.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Best practices for negotiating commercial real estate

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

Ranee proposes four mixed-use towers in North York

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Ranee Management has proposed 14-, 30-, 36- and 40-storey mixed-use towers and a two-storey recreation centre at 470 Sentinel Rd. in North York. The Kirkor Architects And Planners-designed towers would bring 1,720 new rental units as well as 11,300 square feet of retail gross floor area.

Cachet withdraws MZO application for housing

Residential  •  CBC  •  Waterloo Region Record

Vaughan-based Cachet Developments has withdrawn its application for a ministerial zoning order (MZO) in Wilmot Township near Waterloo. Cachet had been seeking approval for an MZO that would have cleared the way for a 1,200-unit housing development.

Melcor enters Alta. leases comprising over 40K sq. ft.

Commercial  •  Global News

Melcor REIT (MR-UN-T) has entered into leases for over 40,000 square feet. Innovate Edmonton’s first physical home will take up 18,000-plus square feet at 10107 Jasper Ave. Habitat for Humanity will lease 22,000-plus square feet at Red Deer’s Liberty Crossing.

GSR Capital loses court battle over B.C. condo proposal

Residential  •  CBC

GSR Capital Group, a Calgary-based developer trying to build a 12-storey condo tower in White Rock, B.C., has lost a years-long court battle against the city after taking the case all the way to the province’s highest court.

Supply chain issues could impact grocers for years

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Between shipping delays, worker absences due to COVID-19 and a dearth of trucks available to collect the goods from inland ports in the U.S., Toronto-based Ontario Food Terminal‘s Larry Davidson said his produce is experiencing disruptions “like never before.”

Ottawa business groups ask for financial support

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Globe and Mail  •  Canada Newswire

Business organizations in downtown Ottawa are calling on governments to roll out monetary support for businesses that have been forced to shut down during a week of protests against COVID-19 measures, demonstrations that show no signs of abating.

Top 10 largest construction project starts

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

The accompanying table records the 10 largest construction project starts in Canada in December 2021. Also included is the latest trend graph on starts. This looks at 12-month moving totals of the civil and non-residential building categories in Canada.

PSP, Eurazeo to invest $435M in European hotels

Commercial  •  Boutique Hotelier  •  IPE Real Assets

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board and global investment group Eurazeo have established a partnership which will initially focus on European hotels, investing up to $435 million Cdn in large assets or portfolios well-positioned to benefit from the recovery.

Amazon slowing down rampant warehouse growth

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  RT  •  Globe and Mail

U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN-Q) will start slowing its industrial real estate growth, after leasing and buying hundreds of millions of square feet of logistics space in the last few years, according to CFO Brian Olsavsky.

The future of offices: Closer to where you live?

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

VIDEO: Stephane Theuriau, head of real estate at London-based private equity firm BC Partners, discusses the future of  commercial real estate post-pandemic. “Some office space is going to get closer to where people live,” he said Friday on Bloomberg Television.

Montreal had weakest January sales in 4 years

Residential  •  Global News  •  Globe Newswire  •  Globe Newswire

Home sales in Greater Montreal sank in January to a level the market hasn’t seen since 2018 as listings dropped and prices soared. The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says sales last month totalled 2,836, down 27 per cent from 3,905 last January.

Ottawa home prices resume relentless rise in January

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen  •  CTV

Residential resale homes sold for an average of nearly $772,000 across Ottawa and the Valley — up 14 per cent year over year according to data published Thursday by the Ottawa Real Estate Board. This, after two years of stunning increases.

Canadians deepening faith in red-hot housing market

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post  •  Globe and Mail

Real-estate-addicted Canadians aren’t being scared off by the threat of higher interest rates. Some 64 per cent expect the value of real estate in their neighbourhoods to increase over the next six months, according to Nanos Research‘s latest weekly survey.

Empire unveils Empire Rental

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

Empire Communities‘ new rental division Empire Rental Living is currently leasing condominiums at Toronto’s Empire Maven and townhomes at Empire Imagine in Niagara Falls with new rental homes coming to Stoney Creek’s Empire Lush in the near future.