Liberty buys $48M Vaughan assembly for redevelopment

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Land  •  Toronto / GTA

Liberty Development Corporation has purchased a three-property assembly from three private owners in the rapidly growing Greater Toronto Area City of Vaughan for $48 million.

QuadReal, Store Space ink $1B JV for U.S. self-storage

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  International

QuadReal Property Group and Winter Garden, Fla.-headquartered Store Space Self Storage have announced a strategic partnership which plans to amass a $1 billion portfolio of self-storage properties across the United States.

PCI’s proposed 39-storey tower headed to Van. hearing

Residential  •  Globe and Mail  •  RENX

PCI Developments‘ proposal to build the tallest tower in Vancouver’s “second downtown” is headed for a public hearing tonight. The 39-storey tower above a new rapid-transit station would have nine floors of office space, a grocery store and 223 rental apartments.

Kelowna bursts onto the national real estate map

Residential, Commercial  •  iNFOnews  •  RENX

“Kelowna, a couple of years ago, would have been off the radar for most pension funds or institutional investors,” says realtor Taylor McFadyen. “A lot of them have shifted their focus to say: ‘We need to get into that market.’ ”

Vancouver retail one of most resilient in Canada

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

The Vancouver retail market remains one of the most resilient in Canada, says a JLL first-quarter report. “The prospects for Vancouver post-pandemic remain bright. Its population will grow by more than one-third in the next generation, adding one million residents.”

Sponsored by Grosvenor Grosvenor appoints Cindy MacMillan as Vice President of Investment

Grosvenor appoints Cindy MacMillan to lead the investment program at its 7.9-acre master plan project in Brentwood, Burnaby.

CanFirst Industrial Development Fund closes

Commercial  •  CanFirst Capital Management media release

CanFirst Capital Management announced the official closing of the CanFirst Industrial Development Fund (CIDF). The fund launched with a first close of $120 million supported by a pipeline of several greenfield development sites.

N.L. court approves cold storage facility, wharf

Commercial  •  Saltwire

Opponents of a cold-storage facility and wharf in Conception Bay South have lost their appeal to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. As a result, the Omni Marine Services project can proceed on the 4.2-acre site.

Le Château makes brick-and-mortar comeback

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  Retail Insider  •  Canada Newswire

Canadian retailer Le Château is making its brick-and-mortar store comeback. The clothing brand says its latest collection is now online and will be available in 37 Suzy Shier locations across the country later this month.

Real Estate with Howard Drukarsh › Podcast: RE with Howard Drukarsh Short Cast, with Tim Hudak

Howard Drukarsh: Host, Real Estate with Howard Drukarsh

New Laurentian buildings hastened insolvency: AG

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Globe and Mail

Laurentian University’s capital expansions and “poor management of its financial affairs” were big factors in the Sudbury school’s insolvency last year, says a preliminary report by Ontario’s auditor general. Its problems started in 2010, when it went on a building spree.

Latest Sustainable Biz Canada headlines

Residential, Commercial  • 

Toronto Green Standard rules take effect May 1
Lithium-ion battery recycler Li-Cycle expands operations
mCloud to install AssetCare platform at auto dealerships

Fengate acquires communications towers in nine states

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Fengate Asset Management has acquired a significant portfolio of high-quality wireless communications towers, located in nine U.S. states, from Florida-based TowerCom. Fengate is managing this acquisition on behalf of the Fengate Infrastructure Yield Fund.

Google budgets $9.5B for U.S. office, data centres

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  The Street.com  •  National Mortgage News

Google plans to spend $9.5 billion in 2022 on office space and data centres. The company has not been shy about expansion in the past, spending $37 billion over the past five years on office space and data centres in 26 states.

WeWork wants to be a tech company again, sort of

Commercial  •  Wealth Management  •  PR Newswire  •  Commercial Property Executive

WeWork Inc. will partner with the real estate software maker Yardi Systems Inc. to develop WeWork Workplace, a tool that will let companies manage their employees and their office space the same way WeWork does.

Canada’s housing bubble a cautionary tale for the U.S.

Residential  •  Business Insider  •  Motley Fool

Canada’s red-hot housing market is in overdrive as housing affordability sinks — it sounds too familiar to Americans. In both the U.S. and Canada, there just aren’t enough homes to buy, following years of underbuilding and investors entering the market.

Interest-rate hike unlikely to cool Montreal housing market

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette  •  Financial Post  •  CTV

Higher interest rates might soon push some would-be homebuyers to the sidelines — but don’t expect Montreal’s red-hot housing market to cool down significantly anytime soon, says Dominic St-Pierre, vice-president and general manager of Royal LePage for Quebec.

Toronto listings increase, taking the edge off buyers

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Patrick Rocca, a broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., believes a bump in listings is taking the pressure off buyers to make quick decisions, creating a time of uncertainty in the Toronto-area real estate market.

Online landlord complaint hearings a barrier to many

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Online legal hearings have become an obstacle for renters seeking recourse in landlord-tenant disputes, especially those who have limited access to technology. Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), the body charged with resolving rental disputes, went virtual in March 2020.

Concord CEO can’t keep amenity space to himself

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The City of Vancouver has refused an application by developer Concord Pacific to amend a permit so president/CEO Terry Hui can keep a massive amenity space for his sole use in a Yaletown luxury condo where he owns the penthouse.