Dramatic revival in Ottawa’s industrial real estate sector

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Ottawa

For decades, Ottawa and the National Capital Region were afterthoughts in the industrial real estate market. No more. A dramatic change in thinking about commerce and supply chains has thrust the city onto the radars of developers and owners.

Cominar’s malls, office towers offer potential: Mach

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  RENX

Montreal-based Group Mach’s $1.5-billion pact to buy part of Cominar REIT (CUF-UN-T) rests on the firm belief that office-tower and mall valuations will rebound from their pandemic-induced slump, president Vincent Chiara said in an interview.

CBRE selling approved mixed-use site in Yorkville

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

A property at the southwest corner of Yonge and Scollard Streets in Yorkville is for sale by CBRE Land Services Group. The property has been approved for the immediate development of a 45-storey residential tower with 230 units and retail at-grade.

H&R REIT to undergo multi-billion-dollar transformation

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

H&R REIT (HR-UN-T) has announced a major strategic repositioning plan which would transform it from a diversified REIT into a growth-oriented entity with “increased multiresidential and industrial exposure surfacing value through its significant development pipeline.”

Amazon cancels plans for Oakville warehouse

Commercial  •  Global News  •  Toronto Star  •  insauga

Officials with the town of Oakville say Amazon Canada notified them on Monday that a planned 314,166-square-foot, 24-hour delivery station in the north end has officially been abandoned amid community concerns over traffic.

Can Toronto’s hotel industry bounce back?

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Destination Toronto estimates the city lost $8.35B in visitor spending between March 2020 and March 2021. Now, the hotel and convention industry faces a long, uneven recovery just as years of marketing itself as a global destination had been paying off.

The Industrial Real Estate Show › Podcast: Why extensive gov’t spending was necessary, with Todd Hirsch

Chad Griffiths: Partner, NAI Commercial

Concord paid $850M for St. Paul’s hospital site

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver  •  RENX

Concord Pacific Group paid $850 million for Vancouver’s old St. Paul’s Hospital, the province’s auditor general said in a Tuesday report. It was earlier reported that the site was sold to Concord by Providence Health Care in August 2020 for about $1 billion.

Winnipeg’s downtown core facing an exodus

Commercial  •  Western Investor  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Downtown Winnipeg is facing challenges this year, as an estimated 40 businesses in the core have closed due to the pandemic and two major retail redevelopment projects have failed to win support, according to Colliers Canada’s National Market Snapshot.

Design experts share vision for a reimagined Calgary

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Globe and Mail

“Right now, downtown Calgary is a ghost town,” said architect Kevin Harrison, principal at Calgary’s Sturgess Architecture. The problem, he said, begins with the area’s history as a nine-to-five office district. What can architecture do about that? Quite a lot.

Tribe acquires management assets from NAI Commercial

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Tribe Property Technologies Inc. (TRBE-X) announced it has agreed to acquire a portfolio of rental and commercial property management assets from NAI Commercial Okanagan for $250,000, strengthening its property management services in the Interior region of British Columbia.

REIT third-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

Allied Properties REIT, (AP-UN-T), Globe Newswire
Morguard North American Residential REIT, (MRG-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Starlight JV acquires US multires portfolios for $1.3B

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  Urban Toronto

Starlight Investments, through its Starlight U.S. Residential platform, announced a new joint venture with two global institutional partners which has acquired Starlight U.S. Multi-Family (No. 1) Core Plus Fund for US$600 million and an institutional multiresidential portfolio for US$700 million.

60% of U.S. firms don’t have hybrid work plans: EY

Commercial  •  Bisnow

Despite a trend toward hybrid arrangements, three in five U.S. companies haven’t formalized their arrangements, indicating an extended period of uncertainty across the office sector. “I think that is stunning,” said EY Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction leader Mark Grinis.

Adler Group sells real estate assets for $1.44B

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Regina Leader-Post

Luxembourg-based Adler Group SA has reached a deal to sell its real estate assets for more than $1.44 billion Cdn. The 14,368 commercial and residential units, purchased by “a leading alternative investment firm,” are mostly located in Eastern Germany.

Saudi Arabia licenses 44 firms to open HQs in Riyadh

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had licensed 44 international companies to set up regional headquarters in the capital Riyadh under the kingdom’s push to become a regional commercial hub and vie for foreign capital and talent.

T.O. wants up to 22% of new condos to be affordable

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Toronto’s final proposal for a new affordable housing system would require condo developments to set aside between eight and 22 per cent of their floor space for affordable rentals or owned homes by 2030 — with those lower costs guaranteed for 99 years.

Vancouver last in N.A. housing affordability

Residential  •  Daily Hive

Yet another report – this one by Oxford Economics – has ranked Vancouver dead last amongst major North American urban centres regarding housing affordability, providing an analysis of how conditions have further deteriorated.

Empty home taxes won’t solve Canada’s housing problems

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

OPINION: Toronto is planning to introduce a new empty home tax for 2022, but this attempt to pressure owners to rent or sell their properties to increase housing supply will likely fail. Governments are too optimistic about the taxes impact.

Newfoundland and Labrador market defies national trends

Residential  •  RE/MAX blog

According to the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of REALTORS, residential sales climbed at an annualized rate of 21.4 per cent in August, totalling 703 units, a record for the month. Year-to-date, housing transactions have spiked 66.7 per cent year-over-year, with 4,273 units exchanging hands.