Vitality Index measures return-to-office activity in Canada, U.S.

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Human Resources, Technology

Foot traffic in key office buildings in six major Canadian markets is 80 per cent below where it was immediately preceding the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Avison Young’s new Vitality Index. The Vitality Index is a real-time

Katasa proposes two-building project near Carleton U.

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Gatineau-based  The Katasa Group wants to construct a two-building project near Ottawa’s Carleton University that would feature a 26-storey mixed-use high-rise with a large student residence component. That building would be  followed by another nine-storey apartment complex.

Claridge’s six-tower proposal heading to Ottawa council

Residential  •  CBC

City of Ottawa planning staff recommend councillors on the planning committee vote to approve Claridge Homes’ six high-rise apartment towers ranging from 22 to 39 storeys on Clyde Avenue at its meeting on Sept. 23. The proposal includes more than 1,900 residential units.

Skyline to sell Deerhurst, Horseshoe, Blue Mountain land

RENX  Commercial  •  Hotels and Resorts

Freed Corp.. will pay $210 million to acquire Ontario’s Deerhurst Resort, Horseshoe Valley Resort and development lands at Blue Mountain Resort from Skyline Investments Inc., t., the firms announced Monday morning.

Greatwise proposes 12-storey North York mixed-use

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Greatwise Developments Inc. has proposed a 12-storey mixed-use building at 333 Wilson Avenue in North York. The IBI Group-designed building would offer 185 residential units plus commercial, retail and office uses.

President has grown Save-On-Foods store count by 50%

Commercial  •  BC Business

In the highly competitive grocery business, Darrell Jones knows how important it is to understand what your rivals are doing. “If they do something well, go and copy it and make it better,” says the president of Save-On-Foods.

The Saskatchewan Edge › The evolving conversation on open office

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

B.C. appeals ruling that exempts new property tax

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

The province has appealed a ruling that exempted a new property tax on a Musqueam First Nation housing project on the University of B.C. Endowment Lands that could benefit other developers.

Multifamily investment remains red hot: JLL

Residential  •  REMI Network

Canada’s multifamily investment volume is up 36 per cent on the 5-year quarterly average, according to JLL’s 2021 mid-year report. After a record-setting 2020, multifamily investment sales are on pace to challenge that record, reaching $5.3 billion in the first half of the year.

Advocates say MZOs not only way to expedite projects

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

Advocates speaking on opposing sides of the issue in the wake of the latest court ruling on Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) say Ontario’s land use approvals system is due for reforms. However, the agreement stops there.

First Capital REIT closes on JV to develop Christie’s site

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

First Capital Realty (FCR-T) announced it has closed the previously announced transactions expanding its relationship with Pemberton Group, through a strategic partnership to develop the 28-acre development site located at 2150 Lake Shore Boulevard West at Park Lawn Road in Toronto.

Vancouver-False Creek streetcar network to cost $1B

Commercial  •  Daily Hive

The City of Vancouver recently completed an in-depth analysis that informs the steps needed to preserve the capability of building a 12-kilometre streetcar network serving the Metro Core — the area encompassing the downtown Vancouver peninsula and Central Broadway Corridor.

CDPQ invests $2.14B in Aussie tunnel network

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Canada Newswire

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will pay $2.14 billion Cdn to join a consortium that owns Australia’s longest auto tunnel network. Transurban Group will pay $10.34 billion for a near half stake of the country’s longest auto tunnel network.

43.5% of U.S. companies want to reduce office spaces

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  Wealth Management

Roughly 43.5% of companies want to downsize their office footprint after the coronavirus pandemic ends, according to a Gensler report. As well, 39% of top-performing companies said they would plan to downsize after the pandemic.

Investors sell off Chinese real estate stocks

Residential, Commercial  •  The Real Deal  •  Reuters  •  MarketWatch

Investors continued to sell off shares in China’s real estate companies, wary of Beijing’s ongoing effort to stabilize the sector. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s property index fell 4.9 per cent on Thursday to close at its lowest level since 2017.

No easy answers to Miami’s condo collapse

Residential  •  propmodo

The tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Fla., left 98 dead. Legal experts predict answers and legal recourse will be hard to come by. The lessons to be learned may be key to preventing the next one.

Edmonton signs agreement for urban reserve

Residential, Commercial  •  Global News

The City of Edmonton has agreed to work with the Kehewin Cree Nation to explore the development of an urban reserve. While still in its early stages, a task force will be assembled to identify potential land.

The end of SROs in Vancouver?

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

For much of Vancouver’s history, single-room occupancy hotels have played a crucial role in the housing market, providing so-called “housing of last resort” for poor folks. Vancouver’s mayor and B.C.’s housing minister say SROs shouldn’t be part of the future.

Ont. sees sharp rise in investment home buyers

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

More home buyers are seeking investment properties in Ontario, according to a report from Canadian Housing Statistics Program that shows the number of non-owner occupied properties increased by 34,915 in the 12 months to January 2020.

What happened to those higher mortgage rates?

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Fixed mortgage rates were supposed to be higher by now. The popular narrative was for a recovery-led upswing to boost bond yields and mortgage costs this fall. If you’re wondering why that hasn’t happened yet, blame it COVID’s fourth wave.

Prime Data Centers to Invest Up to $1 Billion to Develop a 150MW Data Center Campus in Chicago’s Golden Corridor

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Prime Data Centers, a wholesale data center developer and operator, announces that it is expanding its presence into the thriving Midwest market with a 750,000+-square-foot data center campus. The anticipated 150MW campus, located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, is expected to house three tri-level facilities. Upon completion, it will be one of the largest data center campuses in the critical Chicago-O’Hare market.