Sequioa Grove buys 1799 St. Clair West, plans 3-tower redev.

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

Sequoia Grove Homes’ $75-million acquisition of a former bingo hall on Toronto’s St. Clair Avenue West closed on Sept. 29, but its plans for a three-tower, mixed-use multiresidential redevelopment have been in motion for months.

Canadian CRE takes higher share of property taxes

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Investment  •  National

The new Canadian Property Tax Rate Benchmark Report by Altus Group Limited and REALPAC indicates seven out of 11 cities surveyed in Canada have a commercial tax rate which is more than double the residential tax rate of equally valued properties.

Métis Nation plans Surrey mixed-use project

Residential  •  CTV  •  CHEK

Métis Nation British Columbia has announced the largest acquisition of land in its history: A $6 million purchase in Surrey it intends to develop for a variety of purposes, including housing, child care, office space and governance.

Liberty Village residents fear a lack of planning

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  RENX

Liberty Villagers wonder if it’s possible to have too much of a good thing should their cosy Toronto neighbourhood start to feel cramped — a concern that has been heightened in light of a proposal to build three mixed-use towers.

Tesla to open battery gear factory in Markham

Commercial  •  Reuters

Tesla plans to open a factory to produce battery manufacturing equipment in Markham, Mayor Frank Scarpitti said, as the carmaker ramps up the production of 4680 battery cells. The facility will be the first branded Tesla Canada manufacturing facility in Canada.

Drone Delivery Canada opens commercialization centre

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Drone Delivery Canada (FLT-X) announced it has opened a new commercialization centre to augment its main facility and test range. The commercialization centre is on approximately 100 acres west of the company’s Toronto headquarters and will be a permanent facility.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Preparation is vital for hard-to-place CRE tenants

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

RMI, BGIS, QuadReal explore retrofits at BLC

Residential, Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

Decarbonizing a mid-to-large size property portfolio requires a detailed roadmap that will provide the most bang for the retrofit buck, expert panelists told attendees at the Canada Green Building Council’s recent Building Lasting Change conference.

Plaza Partners proposes four-building complex

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Plaza Partners has proposed a four-building complex at 150-160 Cactus Ave. in North York’s Newtonbrook neighbourhood. The IBI Group-designed redevelopment would consist of 15- and 12-storey buildings as well as two four-storey townhouse blocks encompassing a total of 483 residential units.

Reasons for optimism in Calgary office market: AY

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Globe and Mail  •  RENX

The vacancy rate in downtown Calgary rose slightly in the latest quarter, but Avison Young’s latest report on the CRE market says there are reasons for optimism, including a more rapid return to the workplace than in other Canadian cities.

SERIES: Can Hamilton let go of the suburban dream?

Residential  •  CBC  •  CBC  •  CBC

This week, after months of public input, Hamilton city councillors will once again discuss expanding its boundary. That move would see houses built on so-called whitebelt land between the edge of urban Hamilton and the lush, provincially protected greenbelt.

REOC third-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

Brookfield Business Partners, (BBU-UN-T), Globe Newswire
Genesis Land Development Corp. (GDC-T), Canada Newswire
Morguard Corporation, (MRC-T), PR Newswire

Gatik and Walmart achieve fully driverless deliveries

Commercial  •  Business Wire

Gatik announced it is operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel on its delivery route for Walmart (WMT-N) in Bentonville, Ark., moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a neighborhood market in autonomous box trucks.

CorePoint to be acquired by Highgate, Cerberus for $1.5B

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

CorePoint Lodging Inc. (CPLG-N), a select-service hotel owner, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired through a joint venture between affiliates of Highgate and Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. for $1.5 billion in cash.

Freshii to open 20 new franchise restaurants in Texas

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe Newswire

Toronto-based Freshii Inc. (FRII-T) says it has signed a deal with a hospitality operator to open 20 new restaurants in Texas over six years — the largest multi-unit franchise agreement in the company’s history. The focus will be on Houston and Austin.

Brookfield raises $500M for built-environment tech

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets  •  Globe Newswire

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) today announced the closing of its growth fund, Brookfield Technology Partners II, with total equity commitments exceeding $500 million. The fund aims to help its companies accelerate their growth by delivering commercial opportunities and driving strategic initiatives.

Ont. proposes housing affordability task force

Residential  •  CTV

Ontario is planning to establish a housing affordability task force, as both prices and the number of home sales have grown in the past year, though it’s a pledge the opposition parties dismiss as meaningless.

Vancouverites hopeful redev. will preserve False Creek

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

The residents of Vancouver’s False Creek South, built in the 1970s and ’80s as an experiment in a new kind of central-city living, are hopeful a coming redevelopment will preserve the neighbourhood’s original features and ideals.

Vancouver home sales down Y-O-Y, benchmark price up

Residential  •  CTV  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Daily Hive

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says October home sales fell 5.2 per cent year-over-year, but remained above historical averages. The board says home sales totalled 3,494 in October, down from 3,687, but still 22.4 per cent above the 10-year October sales average.

Montreal October home sales down Y-O-Y, but prices up

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe Newswire  •  Globe Newswire

The pace of home sales in Montreal in October fell 24 per cent year-over-year, while prices soared higher. The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says sales in Montreal totalled 4,320 in October, down from 5,684 in October 2020.