Trinity, Timbercreek partner on Toronto developments

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums, Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

Timbertrin, a partnership between Trinity Development Group Inc. and Timbercreek, is moving forward with development plans for two prime Toronto intersections. The partnership unveiled plans for two Toronto properties from the Main + Main portfolio, which they jointly acquired in early 2018.

WeWork plans to expand ‘important’ Canadian market

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Toronto / GTA

WeWork may be viewed with more caution by the corporate community after its financial rescue by Japan’s SoftBank late in 2019, but Canada continues to be a strong market for the company. WeWork operates 21 locations in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary.

Why Sarah Davis is the leader Loblaw needs right now

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Delayed a few minutes by an unexpected call — “It’s Galen; she had to take it,” an assistant apologizes — Sarah Davis saunters in and covers the distance to the boardroom table in a few long-legged strides, hand extended in greeting.

Edmonton warehouse to become new strata industrial

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Edmonton

PC Urban plans to take an unused 100,000-square-foot warehouse in south Edmonton and redevelop it into its eighth IntraUrban small-bay, strata business hub. The redevelopment at 6008 75 Street NW will create 13 commercial condo properties for small- to medium-sized businesses.

Calgary attracts global software development firm

Commercial  •  Calgary’s Business

The City of Calgary has attracted a global software development company from Silicon Valley to open its sole Canadian support and software development centre. ESQ Business Services will operate its new Canadian subsidiary Cloudexa Technology Inc.

Jumbo failure highlights ski resort developers’ uphill fight

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Glacier Resorts Ltd.’s decision to end 30 years of working to create a year-round ski resort in B.C.’s Kootenays region offers a cautionary tale for aspiring resort developers in Valemount and near Squamish.

Sponsored by Yardi Making smart real estate decisions for coworking

According to coworker.com, there are more than 350 coworking spaces in Canada, with Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as the top markets. On a global scale, the 2019 Deskmag global coworking survey results estimated that . . .

Fort McMurray rises from the ashes

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Edmonton Journal

After living and working around the world, Bill de Silva moved to Fort McMurray, Alta., more than 40 years ago and founded Liam Construction. Then, in May 2016, came the relentless wildfires that blew through the city and surrounding areas.

Ransomware attacks raise flags about federal contracts

Commercial  •  CBC

Bird Construction, which has won millions of dollars worth of contracts with the military and other federal departments, has been hit by a ransomware attack — raising questions about how the federal government does business with outside firms open to cyberattacks.

Retail investors should watch their changing habits

Commercial  •  Financial Post

OPINION: For every job created in e-commerce, four-and-a-half jobs will be lost by traditional retailers. While the change is being driven by younger generations, we believe the Baby Boomers will soon begin to mirror their shopping habits.

Ontario Place more than just buildings: Opinion

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Closed in 2012, Ontario Place faces an uncertain future after being added to Heritage Canada Foundation’s Top 10 Endangered List in 2012 and to the Docomomo U.S. website in 2014. However, it should be to Toronto what the Opera House is to Sydney.

Sun Life seeks private debt acquisition to aid expansion

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  RENX

Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial’s (SLF-T) asset management unit is eyeing its first middle-market private-debt acquisition as it seeks to expand into the higher-yielding investments. The middle market comprises companies with revenues from 10s of millions to $1 billion.

Takeover offer is fair for shareholders: HBC

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire

A special committee of Hudson Bay’s (HBC-T) board is reaffirming its endorsement of a buyout of shares to take the company private after receiving an updated valuation, one of the conditions of a deal that was announced earlier this month.

McDonald’s shrinks U.S. store count while rivals expand

Commercial  •  National Real Estate Investor

McDonald’s Corp. is likely to post a fifth year of shrinking U.S. locations, a sign the chain is prioritizing profitable locations over market share. The world’s biggest restaurant company saw its U.S. network shrink by more than 100 locations last year.

PLP acquires site for 310,000-sq.-ft. development

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

PLP’s UK logistics investments vehicle – owned by Macquarie Capital, Peel Group, Ivanhoé Cambridge and PLP’s senior management team – has bought a 16-acre site at Silkwood Business Park in West Yorkshire for a 310,000-square-foot logistics development.

GM to invest $2.2B in Detroit to make electric trucks, SUVs

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  Crain’s Detroit Business  •  Toronto Star

General Motors Co will invest $2.2 billion in its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant to build electric trucks and sport utility vehicles, a move that would create 2,200 jobs, the No.1 U.S. automaker said on Monday.

Airbnb sues Miami developer it gave rights to its name

Residential  •  Forbes

Airbnb now says that the Miami real estate developer it entrusted to open the first apartment buildings branded with its name violated a January 2019 agreement and stole at least $1 million.

Montreal Airbnb hosts must pay condo syndicate $50K

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette

Tenants of a downtown Montreal condo complex have been ordered to pay more than $50,000 after an undercover investigation revealed they were renting out units on Airbnb against the building’s regulations.

Airbnb ignores Oakville’s short-term-rental fee rules

Residential  •  Financial Post (Sub. required)

More than a year after Oakville imposed North America’s steepest fees on short-term rental companies, industry giant Airbnb has continued to operate illegally in the Greater Toronto Area town — and Oakville is now revising its bylaw.

Vancouver land sale deal coming to city hall

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

A years-long battle to uncover the details behind a controversial sell-off of publicly owned land could spill over into Vancouver council chambers. Vancouver Coun. Christine Boyle has submitted a draft of a motion, entitled “Transparency and Accountability at Little Mountain.”