Canada’s 2020 CRE returns worst since 1993: MSCI/REALPAC

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Apartments, Investment  •  National

Last year’s Canadian commercial real estate return was the worst since the recession of 1993, according to the 2020 MSCI/REALPAC Canada Property Index. The total return plummeted from 6.68 per cent in 2019 to negative 4.12 per cent in 2020.

Concord Pacific must pay $5M over Expo lands

Residential, Commercial  •  CTV  •  CBC  •  CBC

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has ordered developer Concord Pacific to pay about $5 million in special costs to site owner Hong Leong Oei after a protracted contract dispute over the Expo lands in Vancouver.

Create list of convertible Calgary office buildings: Study

Residential, Commercial  •  Calgary Herald  •  RENX

A  report by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy recommends the city create an inventory of empty office buildings suitable to convert to other uses, including affordable housing and that it engage with interested parties looking for space.

Ryerson’s vertical tower a solution for urban campuses

Commercial  •  Toronto Storeys  •  Perkins&Will media release

The Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex, a winner of the 2021 Best Tall Building Award, is located in Toronto’s dense downtown core, connecting students to the vibrancy of the city while unifying Ryerson’s academic and residential functions.

Toronto approves five-stop SmartTrack transit plan

Commercial  •  Daily Hive  •  Urban Toronto  •  Toronto Sun

Toronto City Council voted to approve a revised version of Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack plan on Tuesday, which would see the creation of a five-station rapid transit network spanning from northern Scarborough to the west end of Toronto.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Saskatoon industrial: Prediction was wrong, but cut me some slack

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

Industrial development booming in Moncton

Commercial  •  Huddle

While vacancy has increased in Greater Moncton’s office market, the industrial sector is booming. In 2020, CRE agency Moncton Industrial Development sold more than 90 acres for a little over $4.3 million, well up from its annual average of 35-37 acres for approximately $1.8 million.

Which REITs to buy — or avoid: Mitchell

Residential, Commercial  •  Financial Post

VIDEO: Dennis Mitchell, CEO of Starlight Capital, speaks with Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about the REIT market amid the pandemic.

Altus Group launches office fit-out program

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

Altus Group has launched Office Fit-out Project Management Services, a program designed to help businesses plan for decisions on how they want to return to the office or reduce the size of their office space post-pandemic.

Strategic Storage Trust IV opens 16th GTA facility

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Strategic Storage Trust IV, Inc., a public REIT sponsored by an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc., announced the opening of a newly constructed self-storage facility in Vaughan in partnership with SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T), marking its 16th GTA location.

Rapid antigen testing employed at The Well

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD) is bolstering its efforts to fight COVID-19 at large workplaces with a new testing strategy – a program credited with curtailing the outbreak at The Well project in Toronto in January.

REOC fourth-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Brookfield Business Partners, (BBU-UN-T), Globe Newswire 
Brookfield Infrastructure, (BIP-UN-T), Globe Newswire
Brookfield Renewable Partners, (BEP-UN-T), Globe Newswire

QuadReal JVs on Brisbane office development site

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets  •  RENX

QuadReal and Charter Hall have partnered on a second office real estate investment in Australia. The duo have acquired a Brisbane development site located in the North Quay urban renewal precinct for an undisclosed amount.

Life-sciences real estate more than an experiment

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

Game-changing discoveries and technological advances have propelled growth in life-sciences real estate over recent years. However, in 2020, the incalculable need for laboratory space, vaccine manufacturing facilities and medical centres triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak sent the property niche into overdrive.

Distressed U.S. hotels selling for pennies on the dollar

Commercial  •  CNBC

U.S. communities are desperate for affordable housing and creative developers are turning to hotels to redevelop. “Apartments around here, you might pay $120,000 a door, and we can purchase these hotels probably $30,000 to $40,000 a door,” David Peters said of Minneapolis.

U.K. landlords want banks to share pain of $7B rent due

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

British businesses ravaged by the pandemic skipped more than $7 billion Cdn in rent last year. Landlords, acknowledging the damage caused by a year of enforced closures, are demanding lenders bear some burden as about one-fifth of commercial rent is behind.

Plaza Partners proposes 15-storey infill residential

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Plaza Partners hopes to replace a strip of small-scale structures on St. Clair Avenue west of Avenue Road with a 15-storey infill residential complex. The Richard Wengle Architect Inc.-designed building would include 206 units: 70 one-bedrooms, 115 two-bedrooms and 21 three-bedrooms.

Work-from-home tax deduction could cost feds $260M

Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux says the federal government could lose out on $260 million from a simplified federal tax measure to let Canadians write off working from home due to the pandemic.

Ottawa households spent 16% of income on mortgages

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal

The average Ottawa household spent 16 per cent of its income on mortgage payments last year, up slightly from 10 years ago but still well below the “affordability threshold” of 30 per cent, according to a new study.

Saskatchewan real estate sales up 49% YOY

Residential  •  Regina Leader-Post

According to new data from the Saskatchewan Realtors’ Association, sales were up 49 per cent compared to last January, going from 616 to 919. New listings were down just over five per cent (1,855 to 1,758). Inventories were also down in 18 of the 19 markets.