Crown acquires two Mississauga office buildings

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Toronto / GTA

Crown Realty Partners has acquired two Mississauga mid-rise office buildings, comprising about 244,000 square feet, in the Airport Corporate Centre.

Arpeg, And-Co take co-working to next level in Van.

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Metro Vancouver

Arpeg Group is about to launch what it considers a new concept office space, to be known as And-Co. The four-floor offering at 1575 West Georgia in Vancouver combines private space with shared amenities typical of a private club.

Ont. judge orders HBC to pay outstanding rent to Oxford

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Financial Post

Hudson’s Bay Co. is being ordered to pay up by Ontario Superior Court Judge Cory Gilmore after it withheld rent during the pandemic from Oxford Properties Retail Holdings for its Hillcrest Mall location in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Avenue Living buys 1,500 Edmonton rentals for $275M

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Edmonton

Calgary-based Avenue Living Asset Management Ltd. has acquired three portfolios in the Edmonton area, comprising more than 1,500 residential rental units for about $275 million, RENX has learned. The investments more than double the company’s presence in the capital of Alberta.

Condo collapse probe to focus on Canadian builder

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Associated Press  •  Reuters

An investigation is underway into what caused Miami’s Champlain Towers South, a four-decade-old condominium building, to collapse on June 27. There will likely be a focus on its construction spearheaded by a Canadian lawyer and businessman, Nathan Reiber.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Buyer beware of often onerous commercial mortgage process

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

BTB acquires industrial property in Montréal

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB-UN-T) has acquired an industrial property at 6000 Kieran Street in Montréal for the price of $15.25 million (excluding transaction costs), and with a total leasable area of 99,000 square feet entirely leased to Kore Outdoor Inc.

PROREIT completes industrial properties acquisition

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

PRO Real Estate Investment Trust (PRV-UN-T) has completed the acquisition of 13 industrial properties including a 100% interest in light industrial buildings in Atlantic Canada for $42.5 million, and a 100% interest in eight light industrial buildings in Winnipeg for $32.3 million.

Killam Apartment REIT closes KW portfolio acquisition

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Killam Apartment REIT (KPM-UN-T) has completed the acquisition of 785 units from STAMM Investments Limited for $190.5 million, with first mortgage financing of $123.9 million and the balance in cash from the proceeds of Killam’s recent equity offering.

Calgary office vacancy reaches 32.7 per cent

Commercial  •  CTV Calgary

Many office buildings in downtown Calgary remain empty as the vacancy rate hit a new peak of 32.7 per cent in the second quarter. Year-to-date analysis in a CBRE report found over 1.5 million square feet of new office space has become available.

CRE groups request changes to rent support program

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Represented by REALPAC, BOMA and NAIOP, Canada’s commercial real estate industry – the largest contributor to Canada’s economy by GDP – wants the Government of Canada to enhance the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy program as part of economic re-opening.

Plans emerge for vaccinated, unvaccinated workers

Commercial  •  CBC

As workplaces begin to reopen, employers are grappling with how to keep all workers safe. Unvaccinated workers returning to the office could be required to wear masks, avoid common areas and face a staggered workday — or asked to stay home.

Rapid growth for a young Vancouver developer

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  RENX

Austin Zhang is a 26-year-old developer from northern China whose family came to Vancouver 15 years ago to settle down and start a development business. After his family rebuilt their own house, they began building other luxury single-family houses for friends.

BentallGreenOak appoints John Carrafiell Co-CEO

Commercial  •  Commercial Search

John Carrafiell is the co-founder of GreenOak Real Estate, one of the two companies that merged to form BentallGreenOak. He is the new co-chief executive officer of global investment advisor BentallGreenOak, also becoming a member of the Board of Directors.

Apollo Global joins $8.7B battle for Britain’s Morrisons

Commercial  •  Reuters

The $8.7-billion bid battle for Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket Morrisons ratcheted up as Apollo Global Management entered the fray. Morrison’s board supports a bid by SoftBank-owned Fortress Investment Group, along with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Koch Real Estate Investments.

Teachers plans $70-billion push into private markets

Commercial  •  Financial Post

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is planning a $70 billion push into private markets in the next five years, including assets from infrastructure to real estate, as it tries to escape the impact of low-interest rates and moves away from public markets.

Toronto proposes vacant home tax for 2022

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Toronto city council could impose a one per cent tax on vacant homes at the start of next year as a way to help ease the city’s affordable housing crisis and raise revenue during a looming economic recovery from COVID-19.

Canada housing bubble: 2nd largest in the World?

Residential  •  Motley Fool

The world’s largest housing bubbles by country, developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, has placed Canada’s housing bubble second behind New Zealand’s with relatively minimal differences. However, the difference is stark when compared to the U.S.

Ottawa apt. demolition makes way for new development

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

Riley Magee returned home from work one day about two weeks ago to find a sign affixed to his low-rise apartment building at 142 Nepean St., near O’Connor, notifying passersby that a developer planned to tear the building down and put in its place a parking lot.

Winnipeg warehouse sale a residential dev. opportunity

Residential  •  Winnipeg FreePress

A 20,000-square-foot warehouse at the corner of Main Street and Jarvis Avenue in Winnipeg is up for sale, representing an opportunity to be redeveloped into a useful property — along the beleaguered part of Main just north of the underpass.