Apartment demand strong across Canada: SVN’s Lobo

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  National

“There’s enough demand everywhere in Canada to build apartments.” That’s how Derek Lobo, CEO of SVN Rock Advisors Inc., Brokerage and founder of the AptCon 19 rental apartment development conference, opened his state-of-the-nation address at the event.

Minto Communities Toronto condos don’t have ovens

Residential  •  Toronto Star

As Toronto condos and their appliances get smaller and smaller, Minto Communities Toronto is saving space by ditching an appliance altogether: the oven. In 162 units at 576 Front St. W., all suites under 480 square feet, there is no standalone oven.

IMCO, Tishman Speyer announce investment partnership

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) and Tishman Speyer today announced the creation of a joint venture established to build a valuable portfolio of new developments and repositioned office and multi-residential properties in major U.S. gateway cities.

Allied to buy 700 De La Gauchetière in Montreal

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Greater Montreal

Allied Properties REIT (AP.UN-T) will spend $400 million to purchase two Montreal office properties, the nearly million-square-foot 700 De La Gauchetière St. W., and the 343,579-square-foot RCA Building. Allied is paying $322.5 million for 700 De La Gauchetière and $80 million for the RCA Building.

Baker’s HBC property deals no longer enough

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  La Presse

Richard Baker has shown he sees value in real estate that eludes the rest of us. As the 39th governor of HBC, Baker has tried to find new ways to make a buck at the country’s oldest company, founded in 1670.

Walmart unleashes an army of robots in its stores

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Winnipeg Free Press

To Walmart (WMT-N) executives, the Auto-C self-driving floor scrubber is the future of retail automation — a multi-million-dollar bet that advanced robots will optimize operations, cut costs and revolutionize the American superstore.

Value: Weighed and Measured › Yes, I’m ranting about Norway’s sovereign wealth fund again

John Clark: Vice President , The Regional Group of Companies Inc

Tim Hortons exec speaks out on successes and failures

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

At the Retail Council of Canada’s recent annual conference in Toronto, Restaurant Brands International (QSR-T) chief corporate officer Duncan Fulton talked corporate culture and what it was like when RBI added Tim Hortons to its portfolio in 2014.

Foodtastic acquires Big Rig Brewery, Restaurants

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Citizen

Quebec-based Foodtastic has bought Ottawa’s Big Rig Brewery and Big Rig Restaurants in a bid to tap into the Ontario food and beer market. Foodtastic operates 55 restaurants under seven different banners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Two outdoor co-working spaces open in Montreal

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

Two free outdoor co-working spaces are opening this week in Montreal — one in the Old Port on Tuesday and another in the District Central of Ahuntsic-Cartierville on Thursday.

Flexible office space operators focus on add-on services

Commercial  •  National Real Estate Investor

Looking for ways to create a better tenant experience and boost their bottom lines, flexible office operators are generating new revenue streams by offering additional on-site services and establishing new business lines.

Value-add: Market-makers, not risk-takers

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

Something happened on the way to the late stages of the current real estate market cycle. Investors decided to allocate more capital to a strategy that entails taking on additional risk – value-added property.

SNC-Lavalin CEO Neil Bruce is retiring

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Reuters  •  Globe and Mail

Neil Bruce, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.’s chief executive, is stepping down after a nearly four-year tenure that saw its stock fall by roughly half and its projects overshadowed by a political controversy tied to an ongoing corruption case.

Governments want to restrict cannabis on ALR land

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Cannabis growers rejoiced last month when B.C.’s Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) announced all forms of cannabis production are considered to be a “farm use,” and therefore can take place on land in the province’s Agricultural Land Reserve.

New York’s changing CRE landscape

Commercial  •  Forbes

Between mega-projects in emerging neighbourhoods and major shifts in the retail and office markets, the New York commercial real estate landscape is changing.

Green Growth to open 70-plus Brookfield locations

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  Canada Newswire

Green Growth Brands Inc. (GGB-CN) announced an arrangement to open over 70 prime shop locations with potential for more at Brookfield Properties‘ (BPY-UN-T) shopping centres throughout the United States.

OSFI defends mortgage stress test in face of pushback

Residential  •  Financial Post

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Canada’s top federal banking regulator, says a stress-test for uninsured mortgages is “working,” but that it is still keeping an eye on lending practices.

Gatineau housing starts hit 50-year high in May

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  Business In Vancouver

Fuelled by a wave of apartment construction, housing starts in Gatineau hit a 50-year high in May as builders in the National Capital Region continued to launch new projects at a torrid pace, reports the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Elephants in the room challenging housing supply: BILD

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Virtually everyone in the GTA is aware the region has a housing supply and affordability challenge. Issues include housing availability, increasing rents, the costs associated with construction and increased density as the building industry works to meet demand.

Ten years since Vancouver’s empty-condo revelation

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Vancouver Courier  •  RE/MAX Canada News

At one time Vancouverites never gave any thought to the meaning of a condo that had no one living in it. But too many dark windows got people wondering, and it inspired urban planner Andy Yan to start asking questions.