Firm to convert American Realty Partners to REIT

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Apartments, Investment  •  National, International

Management of Firm Capital American Realty Partners Corp. (FCA.U-X) says it is exploring conversion of the company into a REIT structure. The Toronto-based firm hopes to complete the conversion by the end of fiscal 2019, according to a release.

Legal cannabis revitalizing towns, raising land prices

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Land, Industrial  •  National

Recreational cannabis use has been legal in Canada for six months and, while still early, is impacting agricultural land and real estate. An Altus Group study shows cannabis company growth pushing agricultural land and house prices higher in tertiary markets.

Vancouver’s City Square Mall sells for $225M

Commercial  •  Daily Hive  •  Western Investor

Vancouver’s nearly 250,000-square-foot City Square Mall was acquired by Richmond-based Sun Commercial Real Estate Group for $225 million, according to a new retail market report by real estate firm CBRE. The property includes 50 retail units and two six-storey office buildings.

Laundered money funded $5.3B in B.C. RE: Report

Residential  •  CBC  •  Globe and Mail  •  Toronto Star

An estimated $5.3 billion worth of real estate transactions in B.C. last year were the result of money laundering, helping to fuel the province’s skyrocketing housing prices, according to the Combating Money Laundering in B.C. Real Estate report.

‘Sculptural’ office building envisioned for Vancouver

Commercial  •  Vancouver Courier

Strand Development has filed a development permit application with the City of Vancouver to build a four-storey, mixed-use building, which features an unusual angular roofline and a glass and concrete exterior. The application describes the design as “sculptural.”

Menkes submits revised plan for 49-storey tower

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Menkes has submitted revised plans for its 4800 Yonge Street mixed-use project, seeking final approvals for the 49-storey tower planned to rise from the southwest corner at Sheppard in Toronto’s North York City Centre.

Montreal builder plans Ottawa apartment building

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Montreal developer Place Dor​ée Real Estate Holdings says in a site plan filed recently with the City of Ottawa it plans to build a 25-storey mixed-use tower that would include 196 rental units and about 830 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Ottawa hikes fees for developers, closes loophole

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Business Journal

The City of Ottawa is significantly hiking the fees it collects from new construction to pay for roads, transit and other projects, and closing a loophole some builders used to pay lower fees on new student apartment buildings.

Costs of living near CTrain stations vary widely

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

$1.1 million and $199,000 represent the spread between the most expensive houses and the cheapest condos within a 10-minute walk to a  CTrain station in Calgary, according to average sale prices analyzed by Zoocasa, a real estate listing service.

The future of Calgary golf courses up for debate

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Calgary city council will soon debate if it should consider options for the future of its eight public golf courses. That could mean anything from rezoning the land to build high-rises, selling the courses for development or renovating the clubhouses.

FCPT closes on $266M acquisition with First Capital

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Firm Capital Property Trust (FCPT) (FCD-UN-X) announced it has closed its previously announced agreement to acquire from First Capital Realty Inc. and an affiliate thereof a 50% non-managing interest in six net-leased primarily grocery-anchored shopping centres in Ontario and Quebec.

Dead malls across the U.S.

Commercial  •  The Atlantic  •  The Atlantic  •  The Atlantic

Could an unloved and unsightly part of America’s infrastructure — the giant sprawl-malls that drained business from classic downtowns in the 1960s and 1970s, only to become bankrupt dinosaurs — actually become the sites of civic and architectural rebirth?

Brookfield sees opportunity in undervalued stocks

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)  •  RENX

Investors, your short-term thinking and lack of patience is creating opportunities for Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T). Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt was not quite that blunt in his first-quarter letter to shareholders Thursday, but the message was clear.

BSR onto second phase of Arkansas project

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

BSR Real Estate Investment Trust (HOM-U-T) announced a second phase of its Wimbledon Green property is under construction in Little Rock, Ark., which is also where BSR is headquartered.

REIT first-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Artis REIT, (AX-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Dream Office REIT, (D-UN-T), Globe Newswire

Northview Apartment REIT, (NVU-UN-T), Globe Newswire

NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT, (NWH-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Plaza Retail REIT, (PLZ-UN-T), Canada Newswire

WPT Industrial REIT, (WIR-U-T), Globe Newswire

REOC first-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Brookfield Asset Management, (BAM-A-T), Globe Newswire

Chartwell Retirement Residences, (CSH-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Firm Capital Property Trust, (FCD-UN-X), Canada Newswire

Eclipse approves proposed transaction

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

Eclipse Residential Mortgage Investment Corporation announced that at a special meeting, shareholders approved a special resolution approving the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of Eclipse and its voluntary dissolution.

As Helocs morph, B of C asks for details

Residential  •  Bloomberg

First-time buyers worried about down payment

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents to a Genworth Canada/Royal LePage survey said that before buying their home they worried they might miss out on a property they wanted because of an insufficient down payment.