Dream, Humbold JV on 79-storey Toronto tower

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Apartments, Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

Dream Office REIT (D-UN-T) and Humbold Properties have unveiled plans to construct a 79-storey mixed-use residential, office and retail tower at 212 King St. W. at the edge of downtown Toronto’s Financial District.

Urbania, Fonds FTQ building out Laval community

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums, Apartments  •  Greater Montreal

When Sébastien Lessard bought three plots of vacant land totalling about 220,000 square feet in Laval in 2003, only the Centre Laval shopping mall and big box stores were nearby. “It wasn’t sexy,” the Société de Développement Urbania president told RENX.

Amazon leases 100,000 sq. ft. of T.O. office space

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Amazon.com has signed new leases for an additional 100,000 square feet in downtown Toronto. The Seattle-based e-commerce and cloud services company is taking three new floors at 18 York St. and two new floors at 120 Bremner Blvd. and will move in in 2022.

Airbnb value could top $100B

Residential  •  Yahoo Finance  •  Toronto Star  •  La Presse

Airbnb shares were poised to more than double in Thursday’s trading debut, propelling the home-rental company to a $100 billion-plus valuation and one of the biggest first-day pops on record. Early pricing indications were as high as $150, above the $68 IPO price.

Canopy to shut down five facilities, lay off 220

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Canopy Growth Corp. said Wednesday it will close indoor facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Alberta and Bowmanville, Ont., as well as its outdoor growing operations in Saskatchewan, and lay off 220 workers to save up to $200 million annually.

Empire ramps up e-commerce expansion

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Canada Newswire  •  Toronto Star

Sobeys owner Empire Company Ltd. (EMP-A-T) is planning to accelerate the expansion of its e-commerce business. The Stellarton, N.S.-based retailer announced Thursday it will move up construction of a third order-fulfillment centre in Calgary for its online grocery service Voilà.

Residents spending more time at home? Proptech boosts comfort, productivity

Brad Pilgrim: CEO and co-founder, Parity Inc.

Concord rethinks redesign at Metrotown project

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  RENX

Concord Pacific  wants to make sure its living spaces are healthier, safer and more sustainable moving forward. Concord therefore put a halt to Phase 1 of its three-tower Metrotown project in Burnaby in June to create a redesign with healthier living.

Pension fund faces pressure to divest itself of Revera

Residential  •  Toronto Star

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is reiterating a call for its investment manager to divest its ownership in Revera over the company’s safety record during COVID-19, saying the fund should “pull out of the business of long-term care” altogether.

Downtown Mtl. CRE values could fall by 30%: Chamber

Residential, Commercial  •  La Presse

The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) says a prolonged drop in downtown traffic could cause the value of commercial buildings in the downtown area to drop by 30%, forcing the city to increase residential by nearly five per cent.

Avril Supermarché Santé to set up shop in Montreal

Commercial  •  Canadian Grocer

More than a quarter century after its founding in 1995, Avril Supermarché Santé will open its first supermarket in Montreal in June, a $3-million 7,500-square-foot “urban concept” store in the new Humaniti Montreal complex in the Quartier International area.

KAD proposes 11- and three-storey buildings

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

KAD Development Group seeks to bring a Core Architects-designed, 11-storey mixed-use building and a three-storey townhouse with 309 residential units and an arts-focused ground-floor space to Toronto’s Scarborough Village stretch of Kingston Road just west of Markham Road.

Will mall owners buy up distressed retailer tenants?

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post

As Canadian retailers ranging from small shops to major mall anchors struggle, there are suggestions the country’s major shopping-centre landlords could take a page out of the U.S. playbook in the United States, where rent collectors have turned into owners.

Dalfen, Goldman Sachs acquire 10 U.S. last-mile properties

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Bisnow

Dalfen Industrial and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division have purchased 10 last-mile properties in Denver, West Palm Beach, Charlotte, San Antonio, and Fort Worth, bringing the partnership total to date to over eight million square feet of infill industrial acquisitions.

Quebec cement plant sold to Brazilian conglomerate

Commercial  •  Les Affaires  •  Canada Newswire  •  La Presse

The Port-Daniel Gaspé cement plant, a project that has received financial support from Quebec taxpayers and which has been marked by significant cost overruns, will now be controlled by the Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim. CDPQ will hold 17% of the shares.

What to expect from U.S. CRE in 2021

Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

Hotels, offices and retail storefronts are expected to trail a broader economic recovery in 2021, so investors are pinning their hopes on a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 according to industry experts.

TRREB wants evidence-based decision on T.O. vacant home tax

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

The City of Toronto’s Executive Committee is considering moving forward with a new tax on vacant homes, and the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) is asking city councillors to ensure their decision is data-driven and results-based.

T.O.’s languishing condos put small investors in a bind

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Merilee Wright, a 56-year-old former bank executive, bought a two-bedroom condo before construction got underway in 2018, a time of surging valuations. Now, Wright must pay more on her mortgage than she’d collect in rent or sell at a discount.

Downtown Van. condo listings drop for first time in months

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The number of downtown Vancouver condos listed for sale, but not selling, had been on the rise for most of this past year. However, the number changed course recently and decreased 10 per cent, from 1,152 in October to 1,027 in November.

Canadian home prices to fall up to 5% in 2021: Fitch

Residential  •  Financial Post

Fitch Ratings expects Canadian home prices to decline by up to five per cent in 2021. “We attribute the expected decline to lower demand caused by elevated levels of unemployment and increasing affordability issues,” ratings agency analyst Susan Hosterman said Wednesday.