Walmart, global giants enhance Toronto’s status as tech hub

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Technology  •  Toronto / GTA

Walmart’s recent announcement it will create a new global tech hub in Toronto is another indicator of both retail’s increasing reliance on technology and the Greater Toronto Area’s growing importance in the sector.

Shopify to buy logistics firm Deliverr for $2.1-billion

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  Canadian Grocer

Shopify (SHOP-T) said on Thursday it would buy U.S.-based logistics firm Deliverr in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $2.1-billion, a move intended to help mitigate supply chain snarls in the e-commerce sector and expand Shopify’s warehousing and delivery services.

CMHC may not regain mortgage insurance market share

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

At its annual meeting, CMHC’s chief executive said its mortgage insurance business may never return to traditional levels after it made the costly decision to toughen qualification requirements during the early months of the pandemic.

Pointe-Claire council flip-flops and freezes CF project

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  CTV News

Pointe-Claire council reversed course Tuesday when it voted unanimously to adopt a sweeping Interim Control draft bylaw – which now includes the massive Cadillac Fairview proposal for three nearly 30-storey towers in the area subject to a development freeze.

Graywood acquires retail property in Burlington, Ont.

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX  •  RENX

Graywood Developments has completed the acquisition of 2301-2391 Appleby Line, a retail plaza at the intersection of Dundas St. and Appleby Line, considered a prime corner location in North Burlington’s dominant retail corridor.

London OKs Auburn’s controversial 550-home proposal

Residential  •  London Free Press  •  London Free Press

London council has approved Auburn Developments‘ proposal to build 550 houses and townhomes on a site once slated for a cemetery. The veteran developer will instead offer up land for a school on property it owns farther south.

Sponsored by NORR Transforming office buildings to livable spaces

Insight and perspective on key drivers and considerations that are shaping the conversion of commercial office buildings to livable spaces.

Three master-planned communities in Van. suburbs

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

Master-planned communities aren’t new, but recent iterations put a whole new spin on this type of development. Good examples of master-planned communities in Vancouver suburbs are Latimer Heights and The Hive in Langley; and Southgate City in Burnaby.

Ontario invests in public sector co-working spaces

Commercial  •  REMI Network

In Ontario’s 2022 budget, released last week, the province announced plans to design, test and implement co-working spaces in smaller cities and towns for Ontario Public Service employees, as well as optimize more government-owned offices.

Real World of Real Estate › Podcast: Canada rental apt. market update via rentals.ca

Gerald Tostowaryk:

Toronto should approve Regent Park redevelopment

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  RENX

OPINION:  The new plan for the revitalization of Regent Park sets a good example for public building projects: It is economically integrated, thoughtfully designed and dense. Toronto should see it through, and learn from it.

Real estate podcasts

Residential, Commercial  • 

Ric Clark, WatermanClark: Betting on the office sector, Bisnow Reports

Michael Betsalel, JLL: The Canadian apartment sector, CRE Podcast

Laura Fishback, Avison Young: Facilitating a better return to the workplace, Tenant Experience Network

U.S. Fed. raises key interest rate by a half-point

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Bisnow

The U.S. Federal Reserve intensified its fight against the worst inflation in 40 years by raising its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point Wednesday – its most aggressive move since 2000 – and signalling further large rate hikes to come.

Breakthrough acquires U.K. life-sciences building

Commercial  •  PR Newswire  •  IPE Real Assets  •  Commercial Property Executive

Breakthrough Properties, a global developer of life sciences real estate backed by Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital, announced it has acquired The Vitrum Building, located on 1.8 acres inside St. John’s Innovation Park in Cambridge, England.

Lineage Logistics acquires Singapore’s Mandai

Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  Oxford Properties News Release

Lineage Logistics, LLC, the world’s largest temperature-controlled industrial REIT, has acquired Mandai Link Logistic for an undisclosed amount, marking its entry into the Singapore market. Oxford Properties Group invested $360-million US in Lineage Logistics in September 2020.

EU plans to block Russians from buying European RE

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg

The European Union added a ban on property transactions with Russian nationals to its sixth package of sanctions designed to raise pressure on Vladimir Putin. The European Commission’s proposal would halt property deals with Russian citizens, residents and entities.

Ottawa housing starts hit five-decade high: CMHC

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Housing starts in Ottawa soared to their highest level in almost 50 years in 2021. Builders began work on more than 10,000 new housing units in the capital, significantly higher than Ottawa’s five-year average of about 6,600 starts, according to CMHC.

Canmore applies commercial tax to non-residential homes

Residential  •  CBC  •  CTV News

The Town of Canmore is raising property taxes for people who own homes and rent them to tourists without living there themselves. There are more than 600 tourist homes that will now be taxed at the same rate as commercial enterprises.

Vancouver mayor wants new renter-protection policy

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said Tuesday he is pushing for the strongest renter protections the city has ever had. There are concerns new developments that will be allowed along a wide swath of central Broadway will lead to displacement.

Prince Rupert, B.C. cracks down on renovictions

Residential  •  CBC

Prince Rupert is taking steps, in addition to existing provincial legislation, to protect renters from renoviction by licensing multi-family projects larger than homes and duplexes, and raising fines to up to $50,000 for failure to comply with maintenance standards covering 24 categories.