Automotive Properties REIT buys 3 sites, plans more growth

RENX  Commercial  •  Retail  •  National, Metro Vancouver, Quebec

Automotive Properties REIT closed 2021 with three acquisitions, and president/CEO Milton Lamb believes the trust is well-positioned for more growth. “We’re expecting and we’re ready and fortunately in a very good place to be active on the acquisition side.”

Surrey industrial buildings fully pre-leased months before delivery

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Metro Vancouver

Considering how tight the market is, it’s no surprise the two-building 188th Street Industrial Centre in Surrey, B.C.’s Campbell Heights Business Park has been pre-leased months before its scheduled delivery in Q2 of this year.

CF Toronto Eaton Centre receiving $76M facelift

Commercial  •  blogTO  •  Canada Newswire  •  REMI Network

Cadillac Fairview announced flagship property CF Toronto Eaton Centre will be getting a $76 million makeover that will restore the mall’s massive central galleria skylight and improve pedestrian access. Zeidler Architecture Inc., is handling the skylight rebuild.

Bayfield, Patry propose six Kingston apt. towers

Residential, Commercial  •  Global News

Bayfield Realty Advisors and Patry Inc. Developments are proposing to demolish sections of Kingston’s 55-year-old Frontenac Mall over the next 25 years to make room for six apartment towers, ranging from six to 20 storeys, creating a total of nearly 1,700 residential units.

Republic proposes 39-, 28-storey residential towers

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Republic Developments has proposed to build connected 39- and 28-storey high-rise residential buildings, inclusive of a seven-storey podium, with a total of 824 units at 3 Swift Dr. in North York. The IBI Group-designed project would include 46 studios, 229 one-bedrooms, 251 one-bedroom-plus-dens, 213 two-bedrooms and 85 three-bedrooms.

MGM Development proposes 26-storey Oakville building

Residential  •  Insauga

MGM Development Inc. has proposed to build a 26-storey tower with 295 residential units at 627 Lyons Lane in Oakville. The proposal would see the area rezoned in order to build above the current limit of four storeys.

Real World of Real Estate › Podcast: 2022 Edmonton commercial real estate market update

Gerald Tostowaryk:

Neo to occupy 113K sq. ft. of Calgary office space

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald  •  Business Wire

Neo Financial (Neo) is expanding its footprint in Calgary’s downtown with 113,000 square feet of office space across The Edison office tower and a converted empty retail floor at the Hudson’s Bay. The new spaces will accommodate upwards of 800 people.

A first look at T.O.’s Queensway Health Centre expansion

Commercial  •  REMI Network

The Queensway Health Centre in Toronto, part of Trillium Health Partners (THP), will add a nine-storey, 600,000-square-foot patient tower to address the needs of the growing community and aging infrastructure. The expansion will offer more than 350 beds.

New owner has ‘zero plan’ for T.O.’s heritage post office

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Toronto’s former Postal Station “C” at 1117 Queen St. W., built in 1902, was sold to a company called Queen Street Post on Dec. 15 for an undisclosed price. Company director Robert Bielak said there is “zero plan” for the property right now.

Executive acquires $266K worth of H&R units

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

On Jan. 5, executive vice-president of corporate development Robyn Kestenberg invested approximately $266,000 in units of H&R REIT (HR-UN-T). She bought 20,000 units at an average price of $13.295 for initiating a position in an account of which she has control or direction over.

Mainstreet’s Dhillon earns Order of Canada honour

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News  •  RENX

Calgary-based Mainstreet Equity (MEQ-T) founder Bob Dhillon was recently named an Officer of the Order of Canada, cited “for his achievements in business, and for his unwavering commitment to philanthropy and higher education.”

Mohawk acquires Chicago-area MOB

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Mohawk Asset Management Corp., a Toronto-based alternative asset management firm specializing in healthcare real estate, has acquired the 50,000-square-foot Lakeside Medical Office Building in Naperville, Ill. Mohawk anticipates closing on a second property in DuPage County, Ill., in Q1 2022.

L.A. REIT acquires four office buildings for $446M

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  The Real Deal

Alexandria Real Estate Equities is adding to its already sizeable Palo Alto, Calif., portfolio through a $446 million acquisition that will add four offices to its area holdings. The deal would bring Alexandria’s footprint at the Stanford Research Park to 10 buildings.

Hines launches $1B fund for undervalued U.S. properties

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Hines is raising its first fund to buy and renovate struggling or undervalued residential, office, self-storage and student housing across the U.S. The fund aims to raise $1 billion in equity, which would give it purchasing power of $2.5 billion, including debt.

Facebook delays return to office until March

Commercial  •  CNBC

Facebook parent Meta Platforms said on Monday it is delaying employees’ return to offices across the U.S. until March 28 — adding that proof of a booster shot will be required to protect against the surging omicron variant.

CMHC to review down payments on investment properties

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  National Observer

The federal government plans to review the rules surrounding down payments on investment properties in a bid to curb speculation in red-hot housing markets, with increases in the down payment or restriction on the source of funds likely measures.

Luxury home sales shatter records across Canada

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Globe Newswire  •  Toronto Storeys

The pandemic stampede for homes and increasing confidence in the economy’s recovery had buyers snapping up properties that ran into the millions in 2021, depleting inventory and setting new sales and price records, says new data from Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.

Real estate market to stay boisterous this spring: Soper

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  RENX

VIDEO: Phil Soper, CEO of  Royal LePage, talks with Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about how Canada’s real estate market is going to stay boisterous this spring.

ApartmentLove signs term sheet for debt facility

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

Calgary-headquartered ApartmentLove Inc. (APLV-CN) has signed a term sheet with a New York-based lender for a term debt facility of up to $10 million to support its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Florida-based Internet listing company, iLS Network.

Surrey Homeowners Face Big Property Tax Increases

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Many Surrey residents are receiving BC Assessment’s mailers sharing the assessed market value of their residential property as of July 1, 2021. This new assessed value will form the basis for municipal property taxes in 2022.

BC Assessment reported that the market value of the average single-family home in Surrey increased by 34% in 2021, rising from $1,063,000 to $1,420,000. As a result, property taxes on an average home will rise from $3,674 in 2021 to $4,852 in 2022¹:  an increase of $1,178 or 32% per home, in addition to the $300 homeowner levy.  Some homeowners will face an even higher increase due to higher market rises; others will experience a lower increase.