Granite buys industrial dev. land, 3 properties

RENX  Commercial  •  Land, Industrial  •  International

Granite REIT (GRT-UN-T) has acquired two industrial properties in the U.S. and Europe, agreed to purchase a third, and partnered with an American developer to buy development land in Houston. The purchases represent an expenditure of almost $154 million.

Apple to open office in Westbank’s Vancouver tower

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX

Apple plans to open an office in Vancouver’s 400 West Georgia, according to sources. Apple will take up about two floors as a key tenant of the 24-storey office building owned by Westbank Corp. and Allied Properties REIT (AP-UN-T).

Starlight acquires Winnipeg’s Portage Place land

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  CBC

Winnipeg city council has unanimously endorsed the sale of the Portage Place land and the underground parkade to Toronto-based Starlight Investments for $47 million. Starlight has also offered $22.9 million to buy the mall from a subsidiary of Vancouver-based Peterson Group.

Pure Multi-Family accepts US$1.2B Cortland offer

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Apartments  •  National, International

Pure Multi-Family REIT (RUF-UN-T) says it has agreed to be acquired and taken private by Atlanta-based Cortland Partners, LLC in an all-cash transaction which values it at US$1.2 billion. If approved, Cortland will acquire Pure’s class-A units for US$7.61/share.

Food hall coming to Winnipeg’s True North Square

Residential, Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  CBC  •  National Real Estate Investor

Two towers of True North Square are completed, with Winnipeggers starting to move into the 25-storey apartment building and 70 per cent of the office tower occupied. By early fall, those tenants and residents will also have a 25,000-square-foot food hall.

Bear Mountain Resort hotel sold

Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

In the first of what could be a series of deals and partnerships, the company behind Bear Mountain Resort has sold the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa to businessman Raoul Malak. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Amazon Prime Day sets sales record in Canada

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Amazon.com Inc. is heralding Prime Day 2019 as the biggest shopping event in its history, with the 48-hour online promotion setting sales records in Canada as members purchased more items than they did during Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

Pariveda Solutions consultants opens Toronto office

Commercial  •  Construction Canada

Pariveda Solutions, a management and technology consulting firm, has opened a Canadian office in downtown Toronto. Building a presence in Toronto has been a strategic imperative to Pariveda, states a release.

Architect Schmitt humbled by Order of Canada nod

Commercial  •  Construction Canada

Donald Schmitt, principal with Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt Architects, has received hundreds of honours during his 40-plus-year career but when he got word he was being appointed a member of the Order of Canada, it was still a big thrill.

Vanished neighbourhoods: Areas lost to urban renewal

Residential, Commercial  •  The Guardian

The wave of urban renewal that swept the world in the 20th century gave us inner-city highways, modernist downtown malls and high-rise housing projects. It destroyed countless fine-grained, human-scaled neighbourhoods including Downtown/North End in Halifax.

Brookfield exploring sale of Bahamas resort

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) is exploring the sale of Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, a luxury destination in the Bahamas, according to sources. The sprawling resort includes multiple hotels, a casino and more than 10 swimming pools. A Brookfield  representative declined comment.

NYC apartment building sales plummet

Residential  •  Bloomberg

Onex triples investment in sale of Jack’s Family Restaurants

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Onex Corp. (ONEX-T), led by chief executive Gerry Schwartz, said Thursday it has sold Jack’s Family Restaurants Inc. to an undisclosed buyer, more than tripling its investment in just four years.

Trez Capital announces voluntary delisting from TSX

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Trez Capital Mortgage Investment Corp., (TZZ-T) announced it has applied and received approval for a voluntary delisting of its class-A shares from the Toronto Stock Exchange.  The company has disposed of all its mortgage assets.

Buy SmartCentres REIT before end of July

Commercial  •  Motley Fool  •  RENX

A compelling bargain is Canadian retail kingpin SmartCentres REIT  (SRU-UN-T), whose shares are still down around 15 per cent from its 2016 highs. It’s a relatively agile REIT with a market cap south of $5 billion with a smart management team.

REIT second-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Choice Properties REIT, (CHP-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Wayne Gretzky’s, Second City making way for condos

Residential  •  CBC

Wayne Gretzky’s Toronto and Oasis Rooftop Patio and beloved sketch comedy theatre Second City — two institutions in downtown Toronto — are the latest to be affected by a wave of new condo development in the city.

The era of higher mortgage rates was short-lived

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

The era of higher mortgages rates appears to have been short-lived. RBC Dominion Securities compared a typical five-year fixed mortgage rate with the same rate five years earlier in a recent research note.

Opinion: Toronto seeks new forms of development

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Toronto Star  •  Urban Toronto

Toronto city council is trying to find the missing middle. That is the upshot of a vote at city council on Thursday, passing a motion to open the door to more and different kinds of development across the city.