Suburban shift creates new issue for Van. office sector

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Metro Vancouver

The burgeoning demand for suburban office space in the Vancouver area has led to record low vacancy rates in some markets and a growing need for more supply to meet the continued appetite for new office space.

Centurion to acquire new 345-apt. Gatineau complex

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Quebec

Centurion Apartment REIT and Centurion Asset Management Inc. have announced the pending acquisition of a new 345-unit apartment development in Gatineau, Que., in the National Capital Region.

Concord Brentwood to include beachfront lagoon

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Daily Hive  •  Burnaby Now

Concord Oasis, the next phase of Concord Brentwood east of SkyTrain Brentwood Town Centre Station in Burnaby, will include a 2.75-acre dipping lagoon area, including its tropical beach enclosure. Concord Oasis entails three towers with over 900 homes, plus street-level retail.

BAM considers spinoff of asset management

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post  •  Toronto Star

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) is mulling whether to carve out its core business into a separate company, a move that could create a new company worth as much as US$100 billion, CEO Bruce Flatt said in a quarterly letter.

Bluevale acquires hotel; will convert to apt’s

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Bluevale Capital Group announced the $8.2-million acquisition of the former Queensway Hotel in St. Catharines, Ont. The historic 52-unit building will be revitalized as an apartment complex focused on providing affordable housing in the region.

Sponsored by Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB) Building better with Canada’s values-based bank

Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB) is Canada’s first values-driven bank. As a Schedule I federally chartered bank, VCIB provides financing, investing, and banking solutions to help purpose-driven businesses thrive. VCIB’s specialized financing supports social-purpose real estate and clean energy projects.

Empire to build fourth fulfilment centre in Van.

Commercial  •  Retail Insight Network  •  Canadian Grocer  •  Canada Newswire

Empire Company (EMP-A-T) announced its fourth e-commerce customer fulfilment centre (CFC) will be located in Greater Vancouver. The CFC, which will be leased from Beedie, will benefit from new technology announced by Ocado which comes with more efficiencies.

The Industrial Real Estate Show › Podcast: Sandy Shindleman with host Chad Griffiths

Chad Griffiths: Partner, NAI Commercial

Downtown Ottawa biz agonizes over whether to open

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

The owner of Toro Taqueria, a restaurant located about four blocks from Parliament Hill, has been weighing the pros and cons of going to work each day for more than a week as the protest continues to tie up traffic.

Design competition brings Montreal’s Biodome to life

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

The $37-million renovation of the Montreal Biodome has turned out to be one of Canada’s greatest design projects of the past decade. Architecture firm Kanva Kanva managed the complexities of zoology, geometry, climate control, construction cost overruns and a pandemic.

Calgary’s Arts Commons to get $450M facelift

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Calgary Herald

Calgary’s Arts Commons announced its design team for Arts Commons Transformation, a $450-million project that will add a 173,000-square-foot expansion  including a 1,200-seat theatre, will be led by Marianne McKenna of KPMB Architects; Wanda Dalla Costa of Tawaw Architecture Collective.

Latest Sustainable Biz Canada headlines

Residential, Commercial  • 

T.O.’s Exhibition Place signs Net-Zero Carbon Events Pledge
Retail Council of Canada appoints VP of sustainability
Parkland’s EV charging station of the future

Why can’t the Flames and Calgary seal an arena deal?

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

OPINION: It took just five years for Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena and New York’s UBS Arena both arenas, each costing US$1.1-billion, to move from development proposal to opening day. Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames are no closer to a new arena.

BGO, Garymark acquire Calif. MOB for $190M

Commercial  •  CP Executive  •  IPE Real Assets

A joint venture of BentallGreenOak and Graymark Capital has acquired a 230,000-square-foot life sciences office building in San Carlos, Calif., for $190 million. The sellers acquired the property for $99 million in 2019.

U.S. office absorption turned positive in Q4

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  JLL Blog

Nationwide office net absorption turned positive in Q4 for the first time since 2019, according to quarterly reports from brokerage houses CBRE, JLL and Lee & Associates.

Prices soaring in top U.S. migration destinations

Residential  •  Business Wire

Phoenix was the most popular U.S. migration destination of 2021, followed by Dallas and Orlando, according to a new report from Redfin. Redfin estimates the Phoenix metro gained roughly 85,000 residents from other metro areas in 2021.

New immigrants in a rush to buy first home: TRREB

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

As Canada’s housing market continues to be whipped to new price heights, a Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) survey of new immigrant home buyers suggests some may be willing to pay more than non-immigrants to land that first home.

Rural population growth maintains decline

Residential  •  CityNews  •  Toronto Star  •  The Signal

The share of Canadians living in rural areas has declined for the ninth census in a row, Statistics Canada said, dropping from 18.7 per cent in 2016 to 17.8 per cent in 2021.

Kingston has fastest-rising home prices in Canada

Residential  •  CTV

According to a report by Royal LePage, the aggregate price of a home in Kingston reached $722,100 in Q4 2021, the 38.1 per cent year-over-year jump the largest in the country. The median price of a single-family detached home increased 44.3 per cent to $780,600.

Average Hamilton-area home price passes $1M

Residential  •  CBC

New data from the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington shows the average price for residential properties in Hamilton, Burlington, Niagara North and Haldimand County during January 2022 was $1,058,756 — a record high. The average sales price in Hamilton specifically was $976,423.