Greenland Group focused on T.O.’s East Bayfront

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums, Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

China-based international real estate developer Greenland Group expanded into Canada five years ago, and today its projects are a major component of Toronto’s rapidly transforming East Bayfront area.

Amazon, Spotify race to master e-commerce

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post

“This is where the magic begins once the customer hits the ‘Buy’ button,” a tour guide says as she shepherds a group through YYZ4, the noisy, busy, cavernous warehouse in Brampton, Ont., operated by Amazon.com Inc.

L.L. Bean to open first Canadian store in Oakville

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

L.L. Bean, an iconic Freeport, Maine-based purveyor of outdoorsy clothes, will open its first-ever Canadian store in the Oakville Place mall. Over the next 10 years, the company may open as many as 20 additional Canadian locations.

The People Space › People Space: COO hiring at Oxford, new execs at AY, CLC, Breather…

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Investors eye dollar stores amid U.S. recession fears

Commercial  •  Reuters

More investors are watching the shares of discount retailers like Dollar General Corp (DG-N) and Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR-Q), which perform better during economic downturns, though higher tariffs may erode the companies’ ability to act as economic bellwethers.

Holloway sells Thunder Bay hotels for $15M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Holloway Lodging Corporation (HLC-T) announced it has sold its Travelodge hotel and Airlane Hotel & Conference Centre located in Thunder Bay, Ont. The sale price was $15.0 million, representing a cap rate of approximately 10.3% and a price per room of approximately $60,500.

Fronsac acquires Quebec pharmacy for $5.2M

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Fronsac REIT (FRO-UN-X) announced the acquisition of a property located in Baie Comeau, Que., in the heart of the town’s commercial node. The property is a pharmacy operated under the Pharmaprix banner. Total consideration paid for the property was $5,200,000.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Unplugged: A true vacation ‘away’

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

Toronto’s Thompson Hotel to get a major makeover

Commercial  •  Daily Hive

Toronto’s iconic Thompson Hotel will soon have a new name and look. Starwood Capital Group‘s Entertainment District hotspot will be replaced by a newly redesigned, sustainable living retreat, known as 1 Hotel Toronto. It’s scheduled to open next summer.

Trinity drops height of Ottawa mixed-use project

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  RENX

Trinity Developments is lowering the planned height of its proposed apartment complex next to the future Gladstone Station. The developer, partnering with CLV Group and PBC Real Estate Advisors, plans three towers of 35, 33 and 30 storeys.

Construction underway on Orléans Health Hub

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Citizen

Construction has launched on a health facility in East Ottawa. The Orléans Health Hub is a public-private partnership between the Ontario government and local healthcare institutions such as Hôpital Montfort, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Bruyère Continuing Care.

Architect R. Douglas Gillmor was eternally curious

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

In 1955, when my father was studying architecture at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., he attended a public lecture by Frank Lloyd Wright. The famous architect began his lecture by saying, “It’s good to be back in the graveyard of the east.”

Opinion: Can Toronto lead tech innovation?

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Toronto is on a hot streak. The city is the fastest-growing market in North America for technology talent. But, to make it to the top of the list, we need a market committed to innovation and supportive of risk-taking.

After fire comes new building tech for MgO

Residential  •  Calgary Herald

A disastrous fire that destroyed the home of Todd and Vanessa McKay on their rural Alberta property in 2010 resulted in the formation of a company that is winning recognition with its faster, stronger and safer way to build.

Vacancy taxes spur Vancouver luxury condo sales

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

If you’re in the market for a luxury condo in Downtown Vancouver, you’ve got a lot of choice. There are 15 condos for sale at Trump Tower on 1151 West Georgia St., priced from $1.298 million to $5.88 million.

12 sinkhole-ridden homeowners sue

Residential  •  CBC

Rod and Donna Goy’s dream home and the entire Seawatch neighbourhood, sitting on the hill above the west side of Sechelt Inlet on the Sunshine Coast, have been plagued by sinkholes. Entire front lawns have dropped below sidewalk level.

Signs of life in Ontario’s 905 housing market

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

On one side of the table is a steely-eyed seller who isn’t sentimental about house prices. On the other is a buyer with a reduced mortgage rate and renewed hope. The combination is energizing the GTA real estate market.

Quebec 175-acre private island listed at $2.6M

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette

Île Moukmouk is for sale. The island is situated on Lac Duparquet, about 50 kilometres from Rouyn-Noranda. According to its listing on Private Islands Inc., it’ll cost you a cool $2,643,000.

Government policies ensure rentals will remain scarce

Residential  •  Western Investor

OPINION: More than a third of Canadian parents say they are helping their adult children pay their rent, a level that spikes to 41 per cent in Alberta, according to a new survey from Leger for FP Canada.