Top-10 CRE transactions in Metro Van., Victoria in 2021

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Apartments, Land  •  Metro Vancouver

British Columbia’s commercial real estate had a banner 2021 with a higher-than-usual number of deals worth over $100 million, creating an impressive Top-10 transactions list. The industrial, multiresidential, mixed-use development land and office sectors show no signs of slowing.

Tipalti leases 27K sq. ft. at Van.’s Bentall One tower

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Silicon Valley fintech Tipalti Inc. is putting a recent US$270-million capital infusion to work in downtown Vancouver, scooping up prominent office space as it ramps up expansion efforts. At the end of 2021, Tipalti leased 27,000 square feet at Bentall One tower.

National Bank analyst downgrades Dream Office REIT

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

As the Omicron variant delays a return to the office for workers in Canada, National Bank financial analyst Matt Kornack is downgrading Dream Office REIT (D-UN-T) as rising vacancies hurt the company’s operating performance.

Real Estate by the Numbers › Crypto and real estate: What you need to know

Volodya Gusak: President, Denciti Development

FCL, AGT Foods building $360M canola crush facility

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Federated Co-operative Limited (FCL) has signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with AGT Food and Ingredients Inc. to construct a $360-million canola crush facility near Regina as part of a $2-billion integrated agriculture complex.

Grocery store closures loom amid shortages

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Canadian Grocer

Gary Sands, Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers‘ senior vice-president of public policy, says employee absenteeism due to COVID-19 protocols has hit about 30 per cent across Canada. If the situation worsens, some grocery stores won’t be able to open.

Sponsored by Trez Capital 2022 commercial and residential real estate recovery and growth

North American real estate markets soared throughout 2021, fuelled in large part by monetary and fiscal stimulus from governments in relation to the pandemic. Other factors that increased demand across all asset classes included pent-up consumer demand, migration . . .

Single-tenant retail a pandemic winner: M&M

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Stand-alone retail properties, occupied by a corporate client such as a major bank, grocery store or big pharmacy, has proven a clear winner during the pandemic, according to Curtis Leonhardt, vice-president, investments, at Marcus & Millichap in Vancouver.

U.K.-based Specsavers plans 200 Canadian stores

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

U.K.-based Specsavers, the world’s largest optometrist-owned-and-led business, is investing $100 million to open 200 locations across Canada by 2024. The company, which bought B.C.-based Image Optometry in March 2021, has four stores in Canada – Kelowna, Nanaimo, Coquitlam and Chilliwack.

Asian grocery chain announces third Burnaby store

Commercial  •  Burnaby Now

Asian grocery store giant Sungiven Foods continues to expand its footprint in Burnaby by announcing it will open a third store later in 2022 – just days after opening its second store in the B.C. city.

MOD proposes 35-storey residential tower

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

MOD Developments proposes to build a 35-storey residential tower at 241 Redpath Ave. in Midtown Toronto. The architects—Alliance-designed building would contain 341 apartments – 48 studios (14%), 176 one-bedrooms (52%), 82 two-bedrooms (24%), and 35 three-bedrooms (10%). Of those, 46 would be rental replacement units.

London factories, plazas redeveloped for residential

Residential, Commercial  •  London Free Press

From a vacant retail plaza to dozens of new condos. Offices recast as apartments. New housing is popping up in unexpected places in London, with living spaces carved out of longtime commercial sites and properties meant for business.

Cineworld argues judge ‘erred’ in Cineplex decision

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Cineworld Group PLC is appealing a court ruling that awarded $1.24 billion to Cineplex Inc. (CGX-T), the theatre chain Cineworld was once due to takeover. In documents, British movie theatre giant Cineworld says Justice Barbara Conway erred in her Dec. 14 decision.

Walmart plans to create its own cryptocurrency and NFTs

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Globe and Mail

Walmart Inc. (WMT-N) is preparing to create its own cryptocurrency and collection of non-fungible tokens, filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show, setting the stage for meeting its customers in the emerging metaverse.

Investors scoop up office tower bonds

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

U.S. office buildings are increasingly going delinquent on their mortgages, and yet bond buyers can’t seem to get enough of the properties, according to a Jan. 10 report from DBRS Morningstar.

U.S. home sales tumble most in 18 months

Residential  •  Bloomberg  •  Business Wire

U.S. home sales in December had their biggest plunge since the early months of the Covid-19 lockdowns as listings sank to record lows. Transactions fell 11% from a year earlier, the biggest annual decline since June 2020, according to Redfin Corp.

Kelowna vs. Calgary vs. Vancouver real estate

Residential  •  Kelowna Now

While home prices in Kelowna and Vancouver enter the stratosphere, Calgary’s straggle. “Kelowna prices surpassed Calgary’s years ago and at the same time Kelowna prices started to soar as money from Vancouver flowed here,” said ReMax Kelowna realtor Rick Hamer-Jackson.

Repeat buyers, investors behind B.C. boom

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

Low interest rates during the pandemic were assumed to be a boon for first-time homebuyers. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case, as analysts say repeat buyers and investors are behind B.C.’s recent real estate boom, not first-time buyers.

Housing starts slow amid record shortage for sale: CMHC

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Canada Newswire  •  Toronto Star

The pace of new home construction slowed in December after soaring in November, as the country deals with a frothy real-estate market that pushed housing prices to record highs last year, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported Tuesday.

B.C. sales could drop 25% with rate hike: BCREA

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

The number of B.C. home sales is expected to fall and price growth will moderate because of rising interest rates, says the British Columbia Real Estate Association report Too Tight? The Impact of Bank of Canada Tightening on BC Housing Markets.