Amazon plans 3 Ont. facilities, opens Hamilton centre

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Retail  •  Ontario, Toronto / GTA, Ottawa

Amazon Canada has officially opened its latest advanced robotics fulfillment centre, an 885,000-square-foot facility near the Hamilton airport, and confirmed the development of three additional Ontario facilities, in Ottawa, Whitby and Southwold.

Bold, varied visions for Ottawa’s Block 2 office proposal

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

OPINION: The federal government hasn’t commissioned a great building for half a century in Ottawa. That is likely to change with Block 2, a new office complex to be built across the street from Parliament Hill.

Brivia launches 500-unit Mont-Tremblant mixed-use

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Brivia Group has launched a sustainable mixed-use real estate project to be built on the Versant Soleil of Tremblant, Que. The multi-phase YOO Design Studio project will feature more than 500 residential units, including mountain homes, mountain towns and mountain condos.

The People Space › People Space: New Cominar CEO, senior execs at CPP, LaSalle…

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Edmonton industrial heads south of city: AY

Commercial  •  Western Investor  •  RENX

Space and favourable tax rates are drawing industrial users to Leduc County, south of Edmonton. While the industrial parks of Nisku and Leduc have long served Alberta businesses, the tenant mix is transforming to logistics and distribution, AY says.

Retail will top cap rates in 2022: CBRE

Commercial  •  Western Investor  •  Retail Insider

This year could be the time for  investors to look at the retail sector, according to the CBRE 2022 Canada Real Estate Market outlook. The report suggests the lifting of pandemic restrictions and pent-up consumer demand will drive retail returns higher.

Taco Bell plans to double Canadian location count

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

Matthew Shaw, general manager for Taco Bell in Canada, said the company within the next five years will double its footprint of free standing, solely branded Taco Bell locations in Canada to over 100.

Popeyes plans 200 new stores in Canada, U.S. in 2022

Commercial  •  CNN

Popeyes has big expansion plans for 2022. The chicken chain plans to open more than 200 new locations in the U.S. and Canada this year. Popeyes also said it will launch additional locations in South Korea, France, India, China and the U.K.

A peek inside Marlin Spring’s The Dawes

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Marlin Spring Developments is bringing The Dawes to the Danforth. The 24- and 38-storey condominium towers will rise from a shared podium, Designed by IBI Group, the development at 10 Dawes Rd. will have 631 residential condo units within its two towers.

Inflation rate’s 6.7% Y-O-Y increase largest since 1991

Residential, Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Toronto Star  •  Financial Post

Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation hit 6.7 per cent in March, the largest year-over-year increase in the consumer price index since January 1991. The increase compared with a year-over-year gain of 5.7 per cent in February.

Canadian cities poised for economic recovery in 2022

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  CTV

As social distancing restrictions ease, major cities across the country are poised for economic recovery, according to new research from The Conference Board of Canada. An increase in travel and tourism and high vaccination rates are key reasons.

B.C. construction sector booming

Residential, Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

According to a recent survey by the BC Construction Association (BCCA), the total value of construction in B.C. is up a whopping 79% over a five-year period to $134 billion, and up 17% from pre-pandemic levels.

Blackstone to buy American Campus for $12.8B

Residential  •  Reuters  •  Bisnow

Blackstone Inc. (BX-N) will buy American Campus Communities Inc. (ACC-N) for $12.8 billion including debt, the student housing company said on Tuesday, as the world’s largest alternative asset manager bets on rents rising after colleges reopen.

Teachers’ to invest $175M in KKR road platform in India

Commercial  •  MarketWatch  •  IPE Real Assets

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will invest up to $175 million in private-equity company KKR & Co.’s road platform in India. The platform comprises a portfolio of 12 road assets, which includes six that are proposed to be acquired after agreements are signed.

Real estate auctions catching on in Ontario

Residential  •  Toronto Star

The expanding presence of auction companies like On the Block Auctions and Unreserved is raising questions about whether they should be subject to the same provincial regulations as realtors, who hold deposit cheques in trust and guard clients’ personal information.

Ont. homebuyers may see all bids on sales

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  CTV  •  Hamilton Spectator

Home-sellers in Ontario will soon have the option of allowing their real estate agents to share the contents of competing offers with the buyers bidding on their properties. The current system of blind offers leads to bidding wars.

Scant supply cripples rate hike impact on housing

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

A record mismatch between U.S. and Canadian housing demand and supply is forcing economists to reconsider the role interest rates will play in cooling runaway house prices. Typically, rising rates cool a hot housing market by making mortgages more expensive.

Canadians increasingly tapping HELOCs: StatsCan

Residential  •  Bloomberg

Canadians are increasingly tapping the equity in their homes for loans as higher prices and the loosening of restrictions encourage spending. The balance of home equity lines of credit rose one per cent to $162 billion in February, says Statistics Canada.

Toronto condo rental prices soar, vacancy rate drops

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Toronto area tenants are once again facing a squeezed rental market similar to what they experienced before the pandemic, according to reports by Urbanation and Rentals.ca, released on Tuesday.

Vancouver world’s third-least affordable city: Survey

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Bloomberg

Vancouver is now the third least-affordable city in the world after Hong Kong and Sydney, according to a Demographia International Housing Affordability survey that compared housing unaffordability by examining median home prices and household incomes in key markets.