Canadian Urban upgrades, leases Ottawa site to Amazon

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Ottawa

E-commerce giant Amazon is leasing a 100,000-square-foot building in Ottawa’s Hawthorne Industrial Park to serve as its delivery station facility for the region. It also nudges Amazon’s occupied space in the National Capital Region to about four million square feet.

H&R unitholders OK Primaris deal; Davloor named COO

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

The $3.2-billion spinoff of Primaris REIT from H&R REIT (HR-UN-T) into a standalone retail entity has received overwhelming support from unitholders, and is now expected to close by the end of the year.

Xpansion has $1B Mtl. housing project back on track

Residential, Commercial  •  La Presse

The $1 billion Square Candiac intergenerational housing project in Montreal is reviving after a two-year hiatus under the direction of new owners Groupe Xpansion. La Presse also reports the neighbouring lot, the disused Owens Corning plant, is about to change hands.

Equiton acquires London, Ont., property for $11.17M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

The Equiton Balanced Real Estate Fund Trust recently completed an acquisition of a commercial property at 1960-1980 Hyde Park Rd. in London, Ont., for $11.17 million. The property features approximately 19,565 square feet of total retail space across three buildings on 2.6 acres.

Three towers proposed at St Clair-Old Weston Station

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

An Ontario numbered company has proposed 39-, 43- and 49-storey towers for a St Clair-Old Weston Station mixed-use TOD at 2-4 and 80 Union St. The TACT Architecture-designed complex would include 998 condominium units along with 5,240 square feet of retail space at grade.

Amelin proposes 37-storey residential tower

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Amelin Property Management has proposed a 37-storey tower at 95-131 Balliol St. in Toronto’s Davisville Village neighbourhood. The BDP Quadrangle-designed building would include 440 residential units in a mix of 37 studios (8.4%), 261 one bedrooms (59.3%), 80 two bedrooms (18.2%) and 62 three bedrooms (14.1%).

Sponsored by Skyline Group of Companies How an ESG-focused 2021 earned this real estate company two industry awards

Rising awareness of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) concerns, and the expectations of businesses to address them and take meaningful action, became stronger than ever during the past year.

Osgoode proposes 30-storey Ottawa apt. tower

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

Jessica Greenberg, vice-president of asset management, said the intensification target in Ottawa’s new official plan has influenced Osgoode Properties‘ decision to propose a 293-unit, 30-storey rental tower at 1071 Ambleside Dr.  The zoning allows a maximum of 13 storeys on the site.

le Faubourg Cousineau to feature 3,000 LEED homes

Residential  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

Habitations Mont-Royal is building what will become Canada’s largest LEED-certified neighbourhood in the City of Longueuil. About 800 homes in the le Faubourg Cousineau suburban eco-neighbourhood project have been constructed.

Ontario’s remote work messaging amorphous’: Emory

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX

Allied Properties REIT (AP-UN-T) CEO Michael Emory believes Ontario public health is giving “odd and amorphous” messaging by asking employers to allow people “to work from home whenever possible.” “I don’t know what every effort means,” Emory said.

City of T.O., Scotiabank delay workers’ return to offices

Commercial  •  blogTO  •  Toronto Star  •  Windsor Star

The City of Toronto announced on Nov. 30 its office workers would return to their desks on Jan. 4, but that plan has been officially put on hold due to the threat of the new Omicron variant.

SkipTheDishes building ‘dark stores’ across Canada

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

By mid-2022, Winnipeg-headquartered SkipTheDishes plans to build 38 “dark stores” – retail locations that fill e-commerce orders only. It has already launched four locations under the name Skip Express Lane, buying its own inventory to deliver items such as milk and eggs.

QuadReal acquires 46% interest in Ranger Global

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

QuadReal Property Group announced it has acquired a 46% ownership interest in New York-based Ranger Global Real Estate Advisors, a leading investment advisory firm focused exclusively on the management of global listed real estate portfolios.

Hard Rock buying The Mirage resort for $1.1B

Commercial  •  ABC  •  PR Newswire  •  USA Today

MGM Resorts International has agreed to sell the Las Vegas Strip’s first megaresort, the Mirage, to Hard Rock International for nearly $1.1 billion in cash.

U.S. workers in limbo about office return

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

COVID uncertainty has put millions of U.S. workers in limbo about when — or if — they need to return to the office. Lyft employees who were supposed to return in February now won’t be required to show up until 2023.

The death and life of small North American cities

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Main Streets have had to evolve quickly in post-industrial places like Troy, N.Y., and cities big and small can learn from the solutions they’ve come up with for remarkable turnarounds, driven in large part by private enterprise,

Sandpiper increases stake in Extendicare to over 12%

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Sandpiper Group has increased its position through Sandpiper Real Estate Fund 4 Limited Partnership, together with its joint actors, in Extendicare (EXE-T) to approximately 12.06 per cent. The shares were acquired for investment purposes.

Developers cite increased costs for cancelled sales agreements

Residential  •  CBC

Citing insurmountable delays and construction costs related to the pandemic, several Southern Ontario developers have cancelled sales agreements, then offered the same buyers a chance to pay tens of thousands of dollars more for the same units, potential purchasers say.

Montreal housing bubble in sight: QPAREB

Residential  •  La Presse  •  Globe Newswire

The residential market in the Montreal region is showing signs of a growing bubble, warns the Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers of Quebec (QPAREB). “Affordability issues have become critical in the Montreal region, especially for young households,” says QPAREB.

T.O. board proposes framework to increase affordability

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  National Post

The Toronto Region Board of Trade is calling on the provincial government to implement a framework that will increase density and housing options across Ontario. The proposal is to eliminate exclusionary zoning policies that prohibit different “missing middle” building types.