SmartCentres fast-tracks huge GTA redevelopment

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Condominiums, Hotels and Resorts, Seniors Housing, Office, Apartments, Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T) has obtained a Minister’s Zoning Order from the Ontario government to start “immediately” redeveloping its 73-acre SmartCentres Cambridge shopping centre into an 11-million square foot, mixed-use neighbourhood. Plans for the project extend out over a 20-year period.

Distribution fuels growth, challenges in Alberta industrial

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Alberta, Calgary, Edmonton

Despite economic challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Calgary-area industrial real estate market has held firm and is expected to remain a strong performer. Overall vacancy has held fairly steady around the six per cent range.

StorageVault to acquire 14 storage locations for $220M

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

StorageVault Canada (SVI-DB-X) has agreed to acquire 13 stores and 1 piece of vacant land from six vendor groups for $220 million. Nine of the assets are in Ontario, two in Quebec, two in Alberta and one in Nova Scotia.

Concord plans 1.8M-sq.-ft project for prime Van. site

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Daily Hive

Concord Pacific is eyeing a redevelopment with 1.8 million square feet that will include 300,000 square feet of mixed and residential use with office, retail, restaurant and showroom spaces, plus some 3,000 residential units at the former Molson Coors brewery site in Vancouver.

Ont. green-lights controversial Pickering development

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Toronto Star

A plan to build on a protected wetland in Pickering, Ont., is drawing criticism from environmental groups and politicians — and shining a light on the evolving use of special provincial orders that allow developments to be fast-tracked.

CRE Matters › The value of prompt, accurate appraisals and how to make them count

Scott Bowden: Head of Valuation & Advisory Services, Colliers Canada

Starlight, KingSett complete $4.9B buy of Northview REIT

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX  •  Canada Newswire

Starlight Investments and KingSett Capital on behalf of KingSett Real Estate Growth LP No 7, KingSett Canadian Real Estate Income Fund LP and other investors announced they have completed the acquisition of Northview Apartment REIT (NVU-UN-T) for approximately $4.9 billion.

Firm Capital supports Sandpiper’s Artis REIT action plan

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Firm Capital is supporting and encouraging all unitholders to support the action plan for Artis REIT proposed by the Sandpiper Group dated Oct. 7, 2020, and to vote in favour of each of the trustees nominated by the Sandpiper Group.

Cory takes over as Canada Infrastructure Bank CEO

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

Ehren Cory has been appointed of the Canada Infrastructure Bank effective Nov. 9. Cory will implement the $10B Growth Plan to deliver new projects, accelerate investment in the Canadian infrastructure market by attracting more private capital and build a results-focused organization.

Proposal aims to transform Surrey waterfront district

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

The Surrey Board of Trade wants to transform the area along the Fraser River in the Lower Mainland into a waterfront district combining industry, housing and recreation opportunities — but the proposal has so far fallen flat with regional officials.

Density and mixed-use coming to Golden Mile

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

With the new Crosstown LRT opening in less than two years, Toronto City Council unanimously passed the Golden Mile Secondary Plan that will guide the redevelopment of many parcels of land along the Crosstown route on Eglinton Avenue East.

Brookfield acquires Seattle-area office for $365M

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  CP Executive

A real estate fund backed by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) is buying an office in a Seattle suburb leased to Facebook for $365M, a sign commercial-property markets are thawing for some buildings after the pandemic put a chill on deals.

QuadReal, Valor to invest $1.54B in European logistics

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets  •  RENX

Vancouver-based QuadReal Property Group and Valor Real Estate Partners have formed a joint venture to invest $1.54 billion Cdn in urban logistics assets located in key U.K., French and German cities. QuadReal will be the majority investor in the partnership.

Starwood acquires 4,618-unit U.S. multifamily portfolio

Residential  •  PR Newswire

Starwood Real Estate Income Trust announced the acquisition of two affordable housing portfolios with a combined 4,618 units located in 32 U.S. communities. Controlled affiliates of Starwood Capital own or are under contract to purchase more than 34,000 affordable U.S. housing units.

Blackstone raises $7.5B for new life science fund

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

Blackstone has raised $7.5 billion for its new life science office real estate perpetual fund. Blackstone recently announced plans to sell its U.S. medical real estate investment trust BioMed Realty Trust for $14.6 billion to a group led by existing BioMed investors.

Boeing looks to offload 30% of its real estate

Commercial  •  The Real Deal

Boeing may reduce its real estate footprint by as much as 30 per cent because of the pandemic. The Chicago-based company announced on Wednesday it is exploring its options for selling some of the real estate it owns around the U.S.

Investors rush to get out of pre-built T.O. condo deals

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Investors are increasingly trying to get out of closing on their newly built condos in the Toronto region, as rents plummet and banks toughen borrowing qualifications for rental properties. Assignment sales have also soared during the past few months.

Calgary housing prices have dropped in five years

Residential  •  Calgary Herald

Calgary is going against the trend among most major Canadian cities with real estate prices cheaper today in the city than five years ago, a new report by Zoocasa shows.

Clive at Collingwood takes inspiration from SkyTrain

Residential  •  urbanYVR

Nexst Properties is planning a new Vancouver development, Clive at Collingwood, at 3235 Clive Ave., near Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain station. The development will consist of a six-storey residential building, and a three-and-a-half-storey townhouse building with a total of 68 market residential units.

GMC Projects favours high-quality rentals over condos

Residential  •  BC Business

When Jordan Milne joined GMC Projects in 2006, the company included only his father Lorne and controller Glenda Infanti. The Victoria-based developer focused on office and industrial properties, but the younger Milne was ready to take it in a new direction.