Canada’s life sciences sector needs more lab space

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office  •  National

The fact that Canada isn’t yet manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine is a prime example of why it needs more life sciences facilities so emerging companies and talented workers don’t look elsewhere for opportunities.

Ford donors benefit from fast-tracked developments

Residential, Commercial  •  National Observer

The Ford government has used controversial special orders to allow developments on sites involving environmental concerns 14 times since 2018. In nine of those cases, the orders benefitted developers who donated $262,915 to the Progressive Conservatives and Ontario Proud.

T.O. ‘towers-in-the-park’ need urgent upgrades

Residential  •  REMI Network

In Toronto, over 500,000 residents currently occupy the 1,189 buildings commonly known as “towers-in-the-park.” An Urban Land Institute report points to high greenhouse gas emission footprints, low resilience, susceptibility to catastrophic system failures, poor housing quality and increasing concentration of “vertical poverty.”

Frontier finds solution to workplace housing

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

Research and experience have provided Calgary’s Frontier Lodging Solutions with a network of thousands of approved, discounted hotels and camps in 3,000 negotiated properties across Canada and the U.S., plus thousands of chain-wide discounted properties to provide corporate and workforce accommodations.

Slate, Choice set to redevelop Mississauga mall

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Slate Asset Management and Choice Properties REIT (CHP-UN-T) plan to redevelop Mississauga’s 45-acre Dixie Outlet Mall into a new, sustainable, mixed-use community of 6,400 homes, parks, roads and retail. Slate bought the site in 2018 from Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust (CUF.UN-T).

Dream, Kilmer to transform 1850s heritage site

Residential, Commercial  •  REMI Network

Dream Unlimited (DRM-T), Kilmer Group and designers Elastic Interiors and BDP Quadrangle are restoring and transforming an 1850s-era school-turned-hotel-turned-restaurant into Canary House, a 13-storey mixed-use building in Toronto’s Canary District. It will include 206 condos starting in the high $500,000s.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Mandatory traveller quarantines small boost for some hotels

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

Calgary’s 17th Avenue S.W. transformed

Commercial  •  Calgary’s Business

VIDEO: Mario Toneguzzi’s guest on Business Insider Michael Kehoe, broker/owner of Fairfield Commercial Real Estate, talks about the business transformation taking place along the 17th Avenue S.W. strip in Calgary.

Unpaid Alberta oilpatch taxes triple in two years

Commercial  •  Edmonton Journal

The exponential growth of unpaid property taxes from Alberta’s struggling oil patch is threatening small communities and they need new ways to enforce the rules, says the Rural Municipalities of Alberta. Outstanding oil patch property taxes have tripled since 2019.

Walmart Canada defends new supplier fees

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Walmart Canada (WMT-N) president Horacio Barbeito on Thursday defended the big-box chain’s controversial decision to charge its suppliers higher fees during the pandemic, arguing COVID-19 has created a more online-savvy shopper who is more expensive to serve.

Groupe Turcotte, Home Hardware acquire Que. retailer

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Les Affaires

Groupe Turcotte and Home Hardware Stores announced the acquisition of Quebec-based home improvement retailer Patrick Morin Inc. The deal will see Group Turcotte and Home Hardware Stores Limited purchase 21 stores and one Distribution Centre in the Province of Québec.

Podcasts from the real estate world

Residential, Commercial  • 

Michael Turner, Oxford Properties Group: How COVID impacted change at Oxford, REALtalk: Episode 19
Michael Heeney, C+O Advisory: Setting the stage for future growth, Highview Partners People Who Perform: Season 2 Episode 4
Steve Simoni, Bbot: Human interactions in CRE can create new networks, Tenant Experience Network. Season 2, Episode 3

Redfin to acquire RentPath for $608M

Residential  •  Yahoo Finance  •  PR Newswire

Redfin has entered into an agreement to acquire RentPath, the Atlanta-based owner of ApartmentGuide.com, Rent.com, and Rentals.com, for $608 million. The acquisition will bring together a leading site for buying a home with a leading site for renting a home.

Dropbox takes $400M real estate hit

Commercial  •  CNBC  •  Business Insider

Dropbox (DBX-Q) on Thursday reported a $398.2 million one-time charge in Q4 to reflect its shift to remote work. Some of its office space will remain for collaboration and Dropbox will sublease some of the space.

Former Trump casino goes out with a bang

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The former Trump Plaza casino, a spot on the Atlantic City Boardwalk where movie stars, athletes and rock stars used to party — and Trump honed his instincts for bravado and hype — was reduced to a dusty pile of rubble Wednesday.

Ivanhoé, Embassy JV on Indian office platform

Commercial  •  livemint

Ivanhoé Cambridge and the Embassy Group have signed an agreement to set up a commercial office platform, said two sources. Ivanhoe Cambridge will put in $150 million US to start with and Embassy’s contribution will be $30 million.

‘Canada’s housing market on fire’: Soper

Residential  •  Financial Post

VIDEO: Royal Lepage CEO Phil Soper speaks with Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about how we can expect a record-breaking year for Canadian real estate.

In Canada, South Asians four times as likely to buy a home

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

South Asians in Canada are far more inclined to buy a home than others, according to a large-scale consumer research report. “Home ownership is very important to South Asian(s),” said Rahul Sethi, a director with Vivintel, which conducted the poll.

Cottage country new battleground for bidding wars

Residential  •  Financial Post

The pandemic-driven outward migration of households from central parts of Toronto is expanding to cottage country. It used to take months to sell a cottage before COVID-19 hit. Now, offer nights and multiple bids are the new norm.

Not increasing T.O. land transfer tax right move: TRREB

Residential  •  Globe Newswire  •  Financial Post  •  CBC

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board applauds Toronto City Council for not implementing an increase to the Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT), and, instead, directing staff to conduct a comprehensive study of all revenue tools and options for the city.