Crestpoint, Redbourne buy Montreal’s Place du Canada

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Greater Montreal

Crestpoint Real Estate Investments and Redbourne have purchased Montreal’s Place du Canada, the 22-storey office tower at 1010 de la Gauchetière St. Crestpoint owns 97 per cent of the building and Redbourne, which will manage it, owns the other three per cent.

GWLRA acquires Halton Hills Village shopping centre

RENX  Commercial  •  Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

GWL Realty Advisors has added to its portfolio of grocery-anchored community shopping centres, acquiring the Halton Hills Village in Georgetown, Ont., on behalf of the Canada Life Canadian Real Estate Investment Fund No. 1 (CREIF).

Investors grab old Vancouver office towers

Commercial  •  Western Investor

Vancouver has among the lowest office vacancy rates in North America. The unprecedented performance has persuaded investors to pay top dollar for older buildings with an eye to future development.

20-storey hotel pitched for downtown Victoria

Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

A hotel project that could transform a corner of Victoria’s downtown was unveiled Wednesday. Merchant House Capital, which bought the site in December 2018, revealed detailed plans for a 20-storey hotel at a meeting organized by the Victoria Downtown Residents Association.

T.O. may expropriate airspace to build Rail Deck Park

Commercial  •  CBC

Toronto city council decided on Wednesday to keep pushing to acquire the rights to airspace above a portion of a downtown rail corridor for its proposed Rail Deck Park, even if it means directing its staff to begin expropriation proceedings.

The People Space › People Space: New senior execs at MACH, BGO, Altus, WWC…

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Ottawa shoots down storage facility, Market hotel

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  CBC

City council has rejected a proposed zoning amendment that would have permitted a six-storey Dymon Storage facility near Merivale Road. Council also struck down a proposal for a hotel in the ByWard Market.

12 interesting developments coming to Vancouver

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver is Awesome

Westbank’s 52-storey Vancouver House is merely one of numerous architecturally interesting developments proposed or coming to Vancouver that will help shape the look and feel of the city in the future.

Surrey promises densification to TransLink

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Hive

The business case for the Fraser Highway SkyTrain extension project and the City of Surrey’s commitment to significantly densify the areas around the future stations are items up for discussion and approval in TransLink’s Mayors’ Council meeting on Thursday.

Growing Fraser Valley plans for highways, transit

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

Alleviating traffic gridlock in Fraser Valley communities will be a major challenge as more people flee the high cost of buying and renting homes in Vancouver and there is surging pressure on infrastructure that hasn’t changed much in decades.

Montreal’s Mafia-linked parc land to remain private

Residential, Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

It looks like a strip of land slicing through Montreal’s new Grand parc de l’ouest and owned by people and companies with links to a who’s who of the Montreal Mafia will remain a no-trespassing zone for the foreseeable future.

Suppliers seek to push La Senza into bankruptcy

Commercial  •  CBC  •  La Presse

Companies supplying garments for La Senza are trying to push the company into bankruptcy because they say the lingerie chain isn’t paying its bills. U.S. apparel manufacturer MGF Sourcing is seeking an involuntary petition against the owner of La Senza.

U.S. government to shed $750M in properties

Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

A dozen multimillion-dollar properties owned by the U.S. will go on sale to the public over the next few months in high-demand locations such as Silicon Valley. The U.S. government plans to shed $750 million worth of properties.

Hyatt to open nearly 200 hotels by 2022

Commercial  •  Fox Business  •  Business Wire

Hyatt (H-N) hotels are checking into some new cities. The company plans to open nearly 200 more hotels in Canada, Mexico and the United States by 2022.

Nippon Life to double foreign RE investment by 2021

Commercial  •  Reuters

Nippon Life Insurance Co., Japan’s largest private life insurer, plans to double its investment in foreign real estate and infrastructure by 2021, its top investment official said Tuesday. Most of the investment would occur in North America and Europe.

CPPIB architect aiming to replicate success in Qatar

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Don Raymond, one of the architects of the investment strategy behind the Canada Pension Plan, has been recruited to build similar investment capabilities at the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund with an estimated US$328 billion in assets.

GTA CRE, new-home sectors saw growth in 2019

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

Altus Group Limited‘s (AIF-T) 2020 GTA Flash Report indicates total investment property sales volumes in the GTA increased in 2019 to $22.6 billion, the second-highest annual volume recorded since Altus Group started tracking the market in 2000.

Van. neighbourhood plan calls for 1M sq. ft. of development

Residential, Commercial  •  Straight.com

The False Creek South Neighbourhood Association has released a draft plan for the development of the Vancouver waterfront community. The plan calls for more than a million square feet for new housing and commercial spaces in the popular neighbourhood.

B.C. to relax rules for farm secondary residences

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The B.C. government is proposing to relax restrictions for secondary homes on farms, after a backlash from farmers. 2019 legislation was designed to ban so-called mega-mansions on farms, but also forced farmers to build small secondary residences.

Ottawa declares housing emergency

Residential  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Citizen  •  Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa has become the first city in the country to declare a housing and homelessness emergency, but it’s not at all clear what, if anything, that will change. Ottawa city council made the unanimous decision Wednesday following a lengthy debate.