Proptech strategy is as important as the tech itself

RENX  Commercial  •  Technology  •  National

The great increase in office employees working from home due to COVID-19 spurred the adoption and implementation of technology to accommodate it, but that’s just one way property technology (proptech) is advancing these days.

Edmonton office tower sells for $10 and $64.1M debt

Commercial  •  Western Investor  •  RENX

The 26-storey CN Tower in downtown Edmonton has sold for $10 cash and assumption of a $64.1 million debt. “That is well above the current market price in Edmonton,” noted AY’s Joel Anderson, adding downtown office towers have the lowest CRE price.

Single-tenant CRE attracts investors: M&M

Commercial  •  Western Investor

While most modern commercial real estate development and investments lean to mixed-use projects, single-tenant commercial properties can offer advantages for investors, according to Jon Buckley, who forms a Vancouver-based Marcus & Millichap real estate team with Joe Genest and Curtis Leonhardt.

Prével and TGTA acquire land near future REM station

Commercial  •  La Presse  •  Montreal Gazette

Developers Prével and TGTA have just acquired 80,000 square feet near the future Panama station of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM), in the suburbs. The land is adjacent to the Brossard bus terminal of the Société de transport de Longueuil.

Godiva to close 128 N.A. stores, including 11 in Canada

Commercial  •  CP 24  •  BlogTO

COVID-19 has been far from sweet for Godiva, which has decided to sell or close its stores across North America. The luxury chocolatier says 128 brick-and-mortar locations, including 11 in Canada, will shut by the end of March.

The Title Page › Thoughts, predictions for resilience and recovery in Canada’s real estate industry

Lori Sartor and Eric Haslett: Lori Sartor and Eric Haslett

Despite Van. rejection, Keltic project plans ‘not dead’

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

Vancouver council has sunk Keltic Development‘s proposal to subdivide an eight-acre riverfront property into 10 to 18 residential lots. Despite the rejection, Michael Mortensen, an urban planner and development consultant hired by Keltic, said “We’ll come back with something even better.”

Under-utilized CRE space under pressure to repurpose

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

What is to become of vacant and under-utilized retail and commercial spaces across Canada created by the impact of COVID-19? It’s an unavoidable dilemma for owners and landlords and one that affects the building industry.

Colliers International acknowledges cyberattack

Commercial  •  IT World Canada

Toronto-based CRE firm Colliers International Group has acknowledged it was the victim of a cyberattack in November, but isn’t saying if the incident was ransomware as a gang is claiming. Colliers has corporate and institutional clients in 36 countries.

Saint-Laurent sees record construction growth in 2020

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Daily Commercial News

Construction projects approved by Saint-Laurent‘s Urban Planning Advisory Committee in 2020 totalled more than $517 million, up $117 million or almost 30% over 2019, which was a record-breaking year in itself. The value of permits in the Montreal borough has nearly doubled since 2018.

22% of firms will adjust pay if staff relocate: Survey

Commercial  •  CP 24

More than one-fifth of Canadian companies – 22 per cent – say they will adjust employees’ pay if they move to a different location, according to staffing firm Robert Half‘s recent survey of 500 workers and 180 human resources managers.

Judge orders developers to repay investors $9M

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen has ordered developers Michael Hyman and Giuseppe (Joe) Anastasio – the principals behind Noble Developments Corp. – to pay at least $9 million to investors as punishment for repeatedly disregarding his pretrial orders in a civil lawsuit.

OMERS boosts Asia stock bets four-fold, eyes expansion

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS) almost quadrupled its stock holdings in Asia-Pacific last year and plans to keep boosting its exposure to the fast-growing region over the next several years, says CEO Blake Hutcheson.

Alphabet shutting down cell tower alternative Loon

Commercial  •  Reuters

Alphabet Inc is shutting down Loon after concluding balloons as an alternative to cell towers is not commercially viable. Loon aimed to bring connectivity to areas of the world where building cell towers is too expensive or treacherous.

The rise of alternative real estate

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Zain Jaffer, founder & CEO of Zain Ventures, says the past decade has seen an emergence of new types of real estate assets and investment structures — and their performance is less dependent on local market dynamics.

Office top choice for Asia-Pacific investors in 2021: Colliers

Commercial  •  CNBC

Real estate investors in Asia-Pacific are most likely to put money into offices in 2021, with 31 per cent of respondents choosing the sector over other market segments in a recent survey, according to Colliers International’s Global Capital Markets 2021 Investor Outlook.

W-shaped recovery would be ‘severe’ without gov’t aid: CMHC

Residential  •  Global News  •  Financial Post  •  Canada Newswire

A W-shaped recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could trigger a nearly 50 per cent drop in housing prices and a peak unemployment rate of 25 per cent, if the government doesn’t offer relief, says the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

B of C governor not worried about a housing bubble

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Better Dwelling

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem isn’t worried about the country’s hot housing market, saying low interest rates and demand for space rather than speculation are behind the price gains.

Downtown Toronto’s condo market hit by ‘seller fatigue’

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Real estate agents in the Greater Toronto Area often talk of the “buyer fatigue” that can take hold when clients become worn down by fierce bidding wars and runaway prices. Now some “seller fatigue” is infusing the downtown condo market.

Cities aren’t disappearing any time soon

Residential  •  Financial Post

Since the onset of COVID-19, central cities have experienced an outward migration of residents and workers such that growth rates have increased for suburban cities, but the numbers do not suggest an exodus is in the making.