Calgary purpose-built rental apartment sector booming

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Calgary

Calgary’s purpose-built rental apartment market is on fire with 52 projects comprising 7,288 units according to Urban Analytics. “All of the cranes that you see downtown Calgary right now are building rental product,” said Kimberly Poffenroth at the Calgary Real Estate Forum.

True North plans two more GTA industrial acquisitions

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Toronto / GTA

True North Commercial REIT (TNT-UN-T) has conditional agreements to purchase two class-A industrial properties in the Greater Toronto Area for $205.3 million, the trust announced Thursday. The properties comprise a total of just over 621,000 square feet of space.

Place Ville Marie first to top $1B valuation in Montreal

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

Place Ville Marie is valued at $1.006 billion, 15 per cent more than in 2015, according to the 2020-’22 municipal valuation roll. It becomes the first Montreal office complex to cross the $1-billion valuation mark, according to real-estate brokers Jean Laurin and André Plourde.

Amazon announces first fulfillment centre in Quebec

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Retail  •  Greater Montreal

Amazon Canada (AMZN-Q) announced plans to open its first fulfillment centre in Quebec, in the Montreal borough of Lachine. The site is on the island of Montreal and will create more than 300 new, full-time jobs, the international e-commerce giant said.

Phillips Square tower 60% reserved: Brivia

Residential  •  La Presse  •  RENX

Brivia Group announced Friday morning that 60 per cent of its residential tower had already found takers. Located near the La Baie store in downtown Montreal, 1 Phillips Square will have 500 homes and will be 61 storeys high.

Vancouver OKs $1.9B hospital, mixed-use plan

Residential, Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Vancouver council approved Providence Health Care Society’s rezoning application to build a new $1.9-billion hospital and health care facility on an 18.4-acre site on False Creek Flats. Plans also include institutional, office, research, hotel, retail-service, Indigenous cultural uses and rentals.

Coquitlam unveils City Centre plan

Residential, Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Over the next 25 years, Coquitlam’s City Centre is expected to transition from a suburban shopping hub to an urban downtown, serving residents beyond the municipal borders and acting as a focal point for Metro Vancouver’s northeast sector.

Stantec Tower to undergo partial hotel conversion

Residential, Commercial  •  Edmonton Journal  •  RENX

The ICE District Joint Venture announced plans Thursday to convert 12 of Stantec Tower’s 37 residential floors to hotel space, a move Oilers Entertainment Group spokesman Tim Shipton says is a bid to capitalize on demand for high-end accommodations.

Two Toronto projects take different approaches

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Call this a tale of two publicly owned redevelopment sites: Context Developments and RioCan rebuilding an aging affordable housing complex and Metropia and Capital Developments‘ proposal for 2,034 market residential units (three-quarters will be one- and two-bedroom apartments) in five towers.

Mississauga endorses Lakeview Village mixed-use plan

Residential, Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  RENX

Lakeview Community Partners Limited announced the master plan for Lakeview Village, a 177-acre waterfront mixed-use community, has been endorsed by the City of Mississauga’s Planning and Development Committee and City Council. The development will include housing, retail and office space.

Anti-corruption unit scraps probe into SIQ

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

Nine years after launching an investigation into allegations of corruption within the Société immobilière du Québec (SIQ), the province’s anti-corruption unit, UPAC, announced on Friday it was ending the probe because “conditions did not combine to go any further . . .”

Canadian Tire targets $200 million in savings

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  Canada Newswire

Canadian Tire Corp Ltd (CTC-T) unveiled a plan to save at least $200 million annually by 2022 after missing third-quarter revenue and profit estimates as the retailer faced intense competition from Walmart and Amazon.com.

Second Cup to become Aegis Brands

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Canada Newswire  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

The Second Cup is getting a corporate makeover. The Canadian coffee chain announced Friday it is changing its parent company’s name to Aegis Brands as it seeks a fresh start and hopes to make acquisitions to bolster its café business.

Encana chooses Denver for its new headquarters

Commercial  •  CBC

Encana Corp. (ECA-T) says its new head office will be in Denver following a reorganization that will include changing its name to Ovintiv. The Denver decision was expected because it is the headquarters for the company’s U.S. operations.

REOC third-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

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

Extendicare Inc., (EXE-T), Globe Newswire

Fiera Capital Corporation, (FSZ-T), Canada Newswire

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

REIT third-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

American Hotel Income Properties REIT, (HOT-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Cominar REIT, (CUF-UN-T), Canada Newswire

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

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

Alberta to review Condominium Property Regulation

Residential  •  REMI Network

The Alberta government has prioritized $300,000 to review what it considers “ongoing dysfunction” in the province’s real estate industry, as announced in its recently released budget. Service Alberta will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Condominium Property Regulation.

Calgary market still vulnerable due to overbuilding: CMHC

Residential  •  Calgary Herald  •  Canada Newswire  •  CBC

Calgary’s housing market remains “moderately” vulnerable due to evidence of overbuilding, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said Thursday in its quarterly Housing Market Assessment (HMA).

Building empty suburbs doesn’t make sense: Calgary councillors

Residential  •  CBC

Calgary is facing a $56.9-million shortfall across utilities, transportation and community services over the next three years. That has a few councillors uneasy about the city’s ongoing commitment to pour money into 14 new neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the city.

Quebec’s residential construction highest since 2010

Residential  •  La Presse  •  Canada Newswire

While most economists forecast a slowdown in housing starts, it is almost already certain that 2019 will be the most active year for housing construction in Quebec since 2010, according to the Association of Construction Professionals and Quebec Housing (APCHQ).