Oxford, AIMCo unveil massive GTA development

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

Oxford Properties Group and AIMCo have unveiled the largest mixed-use downtown development in Canadian history, the 130-acre Square One District. The project is named after the shopping centre at the heart of the 18-million-square-foot Mississauga development.

Canada’s apartment deficit: ‘If you build it, they will come’

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments

“If you build it they will come” isn’t just a line from the movie Field of Dreams. SVN Rock Advisors Inc., Brokerage CEO Derek Lobo applied the phrase to Canadian apartment renters and building buyers during an apartment development webinar.

Surrey on pace to become Vancouver’s new downtown

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Hive

While many neighbourhoods are growing, few, if any, have experienced the scale of growth and expansion that’s currently occurring in downtown Surrey. Approximately 1,250 people are moving to Surrey every month, settling in the downtown core and surrounding neighbourhoods.

City of Richmond’s buildings’ condition worrisome

Commercial  •  Richmond News

Many Richmond city-owned and leased buildings are getting run down and are costing more to repair. With around 50 buildings at the “accelerated aging” phase of their life cycle, city staff are warning that repairs are going to become costly.

Fronsac acquires three commercial properties

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Fronsac Real Estate Investment Trust (FRO-UN-X) announced it has entered into acquisition agreements to purchase three commercial properties in Farnham, Que., Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Qué., and Kenora, Ont., for a total price of $19 million.

Ont. developers could hire own building inspectors

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

The City of Toronto is pushing back against the Certified Professionals Program, which would allow Ontario architects and engineers to undergo additional training. Developers could then hire the newly minted professionals, instead of city inspectors …

Sponsored by Yardi Search marketing: 5 ways to win

Shifting online consumer behaviors have significantly impacted marketing budgets in recent years. Not long ago, property management companies would allocate most, if not all, of their digital marketing spend to internet listing services (ILSs) …

Upgrades coming to B.C.’s Westin Bear Mountain

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Months after the purchase of Langford, B.C.’s Westin Bear Mountain, work is underway to see the resort grow to 42,000 square feet from the current 28,000 square feet. After shuttering a secondary building, the room count will drop to 91 from the current 156.

$20-M reno for U. of Guelph’s MacKinnon Building

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

Work is underway at the University of Guelph on the renovation of the MacKinnon Building, an almost $20-million project which the university says represents a renewal of the cultural and creative arts on campus.

Steinbach Credit Union location to get $15M facelift

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Steinbach Credit Union intends to find out is working on an ambitious $15-million plan to overhaul one if its two Winnipeg locations, replacing an existing branch with a larger, four-storey building while keeping the branch open throughout construction.

Canada Infrastructure Bank loses second executive

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

The head of project development at the $35-billion Canada Infrastructure Bank has left the organization, the second executive in a matter of months to depart from the Crown corporation amid criticism it has been slow to approve new projects.

Granville Street Bridge redesign changes gears

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  CBC

The long-planned redesign of the Granville Street Bridge is veering in a new direction, after Vancouver residents made it clear to City Hall what they want for the crossing’s future.

Park Lawn seeks to go private

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Park Lawn Company Limited (PRL-CN) is seeking to consolidate to reduce the number of shareholders to below 50, a condition that must be met in order for the corporation to be eligible to become a private company.

Starlight eyes U.S. IPO with rental hikes in mind

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

Canada’s Starlight Investments hopes to raise up to $147 million US through an initial public offering for a new fund, with plans to funnel money from Canadian investors into U.S. apartment properties – and then substantially raise rents.

JPMorgan to buy Paris building for London workers

Commercial  •  Reuters

U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM-N) said it plans to buy a building in central Paris to house up to 450 staff in coming years, as it relocates some services from London after Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Market value of NYC RE rises at slowest rate in years

Residential, Commercial  •  The Real Deal

Market values of New York homes, apartment buildings and commercial space are rising at their slowest pace in six years. The rise was 3.6 per cent overall, while CRE values rose by 2.4 and hotel values went up by under one per cent.

Relaxing stress test would spur long-term mortgages: C.D. Howe

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post

The federal government can make longer-term mortgages more attractive to banks and their customers by loosening a stress test for borrowers if they choose terms of 10 years or longer, according to a report by the C.D. Howe Institute.

Density finally comes to the Danforth

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

When I was in my late teens and going downtown often, I would marvel at how many more people lined the westbound platform at Yonge than those headed east on the Bloor-Danforth line (now rechristened Line 2).

$50,000 lot transformed into five-storey $2.25M home

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Fifteen years ago, before laneway and infill housing were common, Julie Dyck, 48, and Michael Humphries, 49, saw the potential in a tiny overlooked lot that was sitting on the market around the corner from their former Queen Street East home.

Winnipeg properties investment groups mushroom

Residential  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Garret Froese, Dakotah Charron and Garret Wong all left promising career paths to carve out a living in Winnipeg’s real estate market. They didn’t become realtors; rather, they are investors, deal-makers and property managers in the residential and multifamily market.