Oxford gets innovative at Toronto’s Royal Bank Plaza

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Toronto / GTA

To help it compete with an influx of new downtown Toronto office towers, and attract a new breed of tenants to the Royal Bank Plaza, Oxford Properties created the Workplace Innovation Challenge design competition. The results are now in . . .

PC Urban moves into multiresidential development

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Condominiums, Apartments  •  Metro Vancouver

PC Urban has moved into Vancouver’s residential sector in a big way, even the tricky terrain of developing rental apartments. “We have a good following and track record as it relates to industrial development and employment-generating space,” said Brent Sawchyn.

Calgary’s University District launching mixed-use project

Residential, Commercial  •  Calgary’s Business

A new mixed-use project is being launched in the massive University District development which will be the Calgary community’s first concrete condominium. The Gramercy by Gracorp Properties will include 83 residential units over five floors above a main-floor retail platform.

Alberta’s New Horizon Mall finally 50 per cent leased

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Calgary’s Business  •  RENX

The New Horizon Mall just north of Calgary says it will finally exceed 50 per cent retail tenant occupation nearly two years after opening thanks to the addition of a family entertainment centre called Sky Castle.

HBC shareholders vote to take retailer private

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

Shareholders of Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) voted overwhelmingly to approve a privatization of the firm Thursday following a months-long takeover battle. The take-private transaction led by HBC executive chairman Richard Baker was approved by more than 98 per cent of shareholders.

Parkland Fuel takes aim at Couche-Tard

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Over the past decade, Parkland Fuel Corp. (PKI-T) has quietly become a gas supply giant in North America. It is also Canada’s second-largest operator of convenience stores and gaining fast on the leader, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD-B-T).

The Saskatchewan Edge › Is there mega concern for megatrends?

Kelly Macsymic: Business Manager, Stuart Commercial Inc., Sales Associate, ICR Commercial Real Estate

Coronavirus fears hit Canadian Chinatowns hard

Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen

Most Calgary city councilors had dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown this week to try to reduce people’s fears about coronavirus. At the Ho Wan restaurant in Calgary, the owners’ son Jason Zhang says business has dropped about 70 per cent.

T.O. eyes vacant store tax to discourage speculators

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Toronto will explore the feasibility of a tax on vacant storefronts in an attempt to revitalize commercial streets and discourage speculators from sitting on real estate. The issue has gained local prominence in a hot real estate market.

Demand for GTA crane operators is soaring

Residential, Commercial  •  Financial Post

As office workers pour into downtown Toronto from their morning commutes, Mathew Tiburcio is already at his seat — in a glass box hovering some 50 stories above the crowded streets, helping to shape the skyline during an historic development boom.

What it costs to build in Western Canada: Altus

Commercial  •  Western Investor

CHART: Altus Group’s 2020 Construction Cost Guide is trusted as a budgeting tool by public bodies, developers, lenders, contractors, consultants and various industry professionals.

REOC fourth-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Dream Unlimited Corp., (DRM-T), Globe Newswire

MCAN Mortgage Corporation, (MKP-T), Canada Newswire

Morguard Corporation, (MRC-T), Canada Newswire

Tricon Capital Group Inc., (TCN-T), Canada Newswire

Major urban areas leading population growth

Residential  •  Daily Commercial News  •  Vancouver Sun

Approaching the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, Canada is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate, according to Statistics Canada’s recent release of the nation’s sub-provincial population estimates.

Waterfront Toronto’s digital panel has concerns

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Reuters

Digital-strategy experts advising Waterfront Toronto on its smart-city development say Sidewalk Labs is beginning to offer clarity on the technology it would use there – but they aren’t confident the resulting data collection and surveillance risk would be justified.

Google to invest $10B-plus in U.S. expansion

Commercial  •  Reuters

Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL-Q) Google said Wednesday it would invest more than $10 billion in offices and data centres across the U.S. this year. The company added the new investments will focus on 11 states including Massachusetts, New York and Ohio.

Blackstone buys student housing provider iQ for $8B

Residential  •  IPE Real Assets

Blackstone has bought an $8 billion Cdn U.K. student housing provider owned by Goldman Sachs and the Wellcome Trust. The sale of iQ Student Accommodation, the largest ever private real estate transaction in the U.K., is subject to regulatory approvals.

Victoria condo building insurance: $817,000 from $265,000

Residential  •  Victoria Times Colonist

The condo insurance crisis that has gripped thousands of B.C. residents has hit Victoria’s Shoal Point condominium complex. It cost $265,000 to insure the luxury harbourside building in James Bay last year. This year, the bill is $817,000, according to a resident.

New technologies to disrupt residential sector: OREA

Residential  •  Globe Newswire  •  Canada Newswire

Tech, innovation and new business models are poised to disrupt the residential real estate industry in Canada, according to a new study by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) and T3 Sixty, a real estate consulting, research and analysis company.

Acceptance of cash deposits rare, B.C. inquiry told

Residential  •  Bloomberg

A lawyer for the B.C. Real Estate Association told a provincial inquiry into money laundering its members have only ever accepted modest cash deposits in rare circumstances.

Price ceiling on the rise in Ottawa luxury market

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal

When Nancy O’Dea, a sales rep for luxury real estate firm Engel & Volkers, started in the business 15 years ago, Ottawa’s only seven-figure properties were in tony neighbourhoods such as Rockcliffe Park and Rothwell Heights.