As Vancouver Centre II wraps, GWLRA preps new build

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Metro Vancouver

With borders expected to fully reopen in coming months and an office market expected to pick up again, Geoff Heu is grateful GWL Realty Advisors‘ new Vancouver Centre II office tower is one of the first out of the gate.

Choice proposes seven-tower TOD at Mount Dennis

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Choice Properties REIT, the owner of a 323,000-square-foot site at 25 Photography Dr. near the new Mount Dennis transit hub, has proposed seven mostly residential towers, new public realm, more stores and restaurants and a proposal for a new food store.

theScore to lease 80K sq. ft. at Waterfront Inn. Centre

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Score Media and Gaming Inc. (SCR-T) and Menkes Developments Ltd. together with partner BentallGreenOak announced today they have entered into an agreement for theScore to lease an 80,000-square-foot space in downtown Toronto’s Waterfront Innovation Centre.

Real World of Real Estate › Podcast: Panatch Group’s 50 Electronic Avenue mixed-use project

Gerald Tostowaryk:

Oxford achieves WELL ratings for its 47 office properties

Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

The Oxford Properties Group portfolio is one of the largest in the world to achieve IWBI’s WELL Health-Safety Rating. It achieved the rating for its 47 properties, including Berlin’s Sony Center, the first office building in Germany to attain the rating.

World’s biggest banks plot back-to-office plans

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

The biggest banks in the world plan to re-open their offices, emboldened by aggressive vaccination drives and falling COVID-19 cases in major financial hubs, after sending most employees home early last year to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The Apartment Building Expert › Immigration, housing and the private development industry

Derek Lobo: Founder and CEO , SVN Rock Advisors Inc.

Putnam to buy Toys “R” Us Canada

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Putnam Investments says it will purchase Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us Canada from affiliates of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (FFH-T). The Ancaster, Ont.-based investment company did not reveal the value or terms of the deal.

Amazon distribution centre coming to Victoria airport

Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist  •  CTV  •  CHEK

Amazon will be the tenant of the now-approved distribution centre on Victoria Airport Authority lands. York Realty will build a 115,000-square-foot centre, expected to be built by fall 2022. It will function as a “last-mile” delivery system.

Amazon usurps Walmart as largest retailer outside China

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

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN-Q) has eclipsed Walmart Inc. (WMT-N) to become the world’s largest retail seller outside China, according to corporate and industry data, a milestone in the shift from bricks-and-mortar to online shopping.

SmartStop Self Storage REIT considering an IPO

Commercial  •  Financial Post

SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc., which manages around $1.8 billion of assets, is exploring an initial public offering, according to sources who added the company is in talks with underwriters about a potential listing that could occur as soon as 2021.

Starwood increases offer to acquire Monmouth

Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  Globe Newswire  •  Business Wire

Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. has submitted an enhanced all-cash, fully financed, fully actionable proposal to acquire Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation (MNR-N) for $19.93 per share reduced by the termination fee owed to Equity Commonwealth (EQC-N) of $72 million.

Kadestone selling Kelowna strata building for $10.1M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Kadestone Capital Corp. (KDSX-X), a vertically integrated property company, announced subsidiary Kadestone (Kyle Road) Property Ltd., has agreed with Union Allied Capital Corp.. to sell strata lots 1-20 in Building 1 – 2648 Kyle Road in Kelowna  for $10,100,000 in cash.

T.O. SmartTrack stations back on track

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  Daily Commercial News

A key plank of Mayor John Tory’s first electoral platform, the SmartTrack Stations program, may finally advance — more than seven years after first proposed. The province and the city have launched the procurement process for four new Toronto GO stations.

Groupe Shapiro acquires Pointe-Claire shopping plazas

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

Nurses propose converting Ott. HQ to residential

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

The Canadian Nurses Association wants to replace its downtown Ottawa headquarters with a new 66-unit, nine-storey residential building that would incorporate part of the existing structure. The organization says it would retain the facade of the three-storey office building.

Home prices climb in July at record annual pace: Teranet

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Canadian home prices rose month-over-month in July, led by the national capital region of Ottawa-Gatineau, while the pace of annual gains accelerated again to a new record, the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index indicated Thursday.

31% of Ontarians can’t afford much more than mortgages

Residential  •  blogTO  •  Better Dwelling

“Three in 10 (31% of) Ontarians who own a home say they are house poor, meaning they don’t have much left over after paying bills related to their home,” reads the latest quarterly MNP Consumer Debt Index.

$1M for a detached house across 97% of the GTA

Residential  •  Toronto Star

The short supply of houses with yards has helped goose prices by more than 40 per cent annually this year in places such as Uxbridge, Scugog and King, according to a Re/MAX analysis of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s territory.

Immigration not sole cause of soaring home prices

Residential  •  Financial Post

OPINION: The argument that immigration is the primary driver of housing prices in Canada ran into a serious challenge in 2020 when immigration levels considerably declined because of pandemic-driven restrictions. Canada’s population in 2020 increased by 0.4 per cent in 2020.