Hopewell, Nicola buy GTHA industrial dev. sites for $80M

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Land  •  Ontario, Toronto / GTA

Calgary-based Hopewell Development has partnered with Nicola Wealth Real Estate to purchase two industrial development sites in the Hamilton area for a total of $80 million.

Rimap proposes 35-storey Ottawa hotel/apt complex

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Montreal’s Rimap Development is proposing a 35-storey tower at 395 Slater St. in downtown Ottawa that would include about 270 rental units and 230 hotel rooms. Co-president Marc Varadi said Rimap bought the half-acre site from Toronto-based Main + Main late last year.

T.O.’s downtown core hit hardest by restrictions

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star

The Toronto Region Board of Trade published new data Wednesday showing that in-person spending declined after November 2021, especially in the metropolitan centre, where spending was 44 per cent below 2019 levels as workers continued to telecommute instead of returning to the office.

Waterfront Toronto picks Dream, Great Gulf for Quayside

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Retail, Apartments, Condominiums  •  Toronto / GTA

A joint venture of Dream Unlimited (DRM-T) and Great Gulf Group has been selected to negotiate with Waterfront Toronto to develop the high-profile Quayside site in downtown Toronto.

Tech sector growth fuels demand for Van. office space

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver  •  RENX  •  RENX

While some cities across North America are struggling with high vacancy rates, experts say Vancouver has been defying such trends as the booming tech sector leads the way in filling up empty office space.

Value: Weighed and Measured › Inflation, interest rates and those troublesome boomers

John Clark: AACI, FRICS | Vice President, The Regional Group of Companies Inc.

Reactions mixed over Pointe-Claire’s dev. freeze

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Some are rejoicing, others are shaking their heads after Pointe-Claire’s city council voted last week to impose a temporary freeze on development in several key sectors of the city as it revamps its urban planning program.

Blockades devastate Canada’s supply chain: CoC

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

Ongoing blockades of critical infrastructure are damaging the country’s economic recovery and the harm is both immediate and severe, says the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in an open public letter.

Report suggests dropping four-plex dev. charges

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force’s recent report suggests that for proposed four-plex buildings on a single lot, all development charges should be waived. Those charges are designed to offset the cost of new infrastructure such as parks, water and roads.

Inflation surges to three-decade high

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

The consumer price index (CPI) increased 5.1 per cent in January from a year earlier, marking the first time the index has exceeded five per cent since September 1991, Statistics Canada reported on Feb. 16.

REIT fourth-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

CT REIT, (CRT-UN-T),Canada Newswire
Dream Industrial REIT, (DIR-UN-T), Business Wire
Morguard North American Residential REIT, (MRG-UN-T), Canada Newswire
SmartCentres REIT, (SRU-UN-T), Globe Newswire

REOC financial results, business updates

Residential, Commercial  • 

Chartwell Retirement Residences, (CSH-UN-T), Canada Newswire
Dream Impact Trust, (MPCT-UN-T), Business Wire

Brookfield, CVC, funds eye stake in Starbucks franchise

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and CVC Capital Partners, alongside sovereign wealth funds, are among parties that made first-round bids for a minority stake in Kuwaiti conglomerate Alshaya Group’s Starbucks Corp. franchise, according to sources.

Blackstone announces $30.3B last-mile recapitalization

Commercial  •  Blackstone media release  •  Bisnow

Blackstone (BX-N) announced that existing investors in Mileway, its 158-million-square-foot pan-European last-mile logistics company, have agreed to recapitalize the company for $30.3 billion Cdn alongside Blackstone’s Core+ strategy and to hold the business for the long term.

U.S. REITs set record with $126B in capital raised

Residential, Commercial  •  Bisnow

U.S. REITs raised more than $126 billion from equity and debt offerings, plus initial public offerings, during the first three quarters of 2021, more than any other full year, according to a new Nareit report.

Macquarie pays $392M for Amazon warehouse

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Macquarie Asset Management Real Estate has completed the acquisition of LogistiCenter at I-95 Wilmington, a 3.8 million-square-foot industrial facility in Wilmington, Del. Dermody Properties sold the rail-served, Amazon-occupied property for $392 million, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Mtl. launches rental price registry, landlord certification

Residential  •  CBC

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says the city wants to “tighten the screws” on owners of substandard rental buildings and fight renovictions and “abusive” rent increases by launching a rental price registry and a new certification program for landlords.

Minimum income to afford rent on the rise

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

In many major cities and some smaller centres, Canadians would need to make at least $70,000 to afford the average asking rent on a one-bedroom apartment without spending more than 30 per cent or more of their before-tax income on shelter costs.

Vacant homes on the rise in Toronto: Census

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

An indicator of vacant homes is on the rise in Toronto and on the decline in Vancouver. The number of housing units not occupied by “usual” residents rose by 40 per cent in Toronto to 92,346 over the past five years.

‘Astonishing’ drop in number of empty Van. homes

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The number of dwellings in Vancouver that are either sitting empty or not occupied by “usual” residents has declined over the last five years. This could be due to municipal and provincial regulations and taxes in Vancouver and B.C.