Oxford begins building two-storey Burnaby ind. facility

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Metro Vancouver

Construction is underway on Oxford Properties Group’s final two buildings in Burnaby’s Riverbend Business Park, including the first multi-level industrial project  announced in Canada.

Apt. rents continue slide, but ’21 outlook good: Rentals.ca

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Apartments, Land, Investment  •  National, Metro Vancouver, Greater Montreal, Toronto / GTA

Apartment rental rates in Canada’s largest cities continue to trend downward due to the ongoing pandemic, but the 2021 investment outlook for the sector remains robust according to Ben Myers of Toronto’s Bullpen Research and Consulting.

Breather drops hundreds of leases, pivots to tech-only

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Montreal’s Breather, a startup that raised more than US$150M to build a global flexible workspace operator, is abandoning hundreds of leases in an effort to reboot the company. Breather’s U.S. subsidiary Wednesday filed for an insolvency process in California.

Canderel launches Phase 2 of Montreal AI campus

Commercial  •  La Presse  •  RENX

Montreal developer Canderel is launching Phase 2 of its campus targeting tech startups focused on artificial intelligence (AI) in the Mile-Ex district. Rents will be low, less than half the price of downtown, or about $25 per gross square foot.

Coca-Cola plans $35M GTA, Montreal plant expansion

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Coca-Cola Canada Bottling plans to spend more than $35 million in an expansion plan at two plants in the Greater Toronto Area and one in Montreal that will allow it to move production of several products to Canada from the U.S.

Tilray, Aphria merger to create largest cannabis seller

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver  •  Yahoo Finance  •  Bloomberg

Nanaimo cannabis producer Tilray Inc. (TLRY-Q) today announced plans to merge with Leamington, Ont.-based competitor Aphria Inc. (APHA-T), to create the world’s largest cannabis company (ranked by sales). The firms sold $874 million worth of products during the past 12 months.

Sponsored by Framery Lifecycle costs: Conference rooms vs. Framery pods

Are you thinking about making a change to your company’s office space? Eyes over here please! Office tenants and managers often inquire which kind of rooms, pods or constructed conference areas, are more cost-efficient.

Peel asks Queen’s Park for help with rogue builders

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Peel Region is facing a rash of rogue contractors who ignore building codes and bar inspectors from their sites. Unless it’s a life-threatening emergency, building inspectors can’t legally enter a dwelling without the owner’s permission, according to local councillors.

Many firms won’t continue work-from-home flexibility

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  PR Newswire

A recent study by recruitment agency Robert Half Canada found 48 per cent of Canadian employers do not intend to continue their flexible working policies once the pandemic is over.

Scarborough RT to shut before subway extension built

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Toronto will not be able to keep the current rapid-transit service in Scarborough going until a subway extension can be built, Mayor John Tory said, meaning residents will be left taking the bus for an unknown amount of time.

Top public building, defence, law enforcement projects

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

The accompanying tables show the Top-10 largest upcoming public building and defence, law enforcement construction projects in Canada. They are all in the planning stage and are mainly new projects, but may also involve additions and/or alterations.

Podcasts from the real estate world

Residential, Commercial  • 

Anthony Lanni, QuadReal: Canadian market has exciting future, CRE Podcast
Sandra Phillips, Movmi: How the pandemic has changed transportation habits, BIV Today Podcast
Michael Emory, Allied Properties REIT: ‘Distinctive urban workspace’, CRE Podcast

Dalfen Industrial acquires Phoenix-area industrial property

Commercial  •  PR Newswire  •  RENX

Dalfen Industrial has acquired Gilbert Distribution Center at 1495 E Baseline Rd. in Gilbert, a southeast suburb of Phoenix. The opportunity for the 109,510-square-foot property was sourced off-market. The Gilbert Distribution Center, built in 2014, is 100% leased to two long-standing tenant.

Nicola Wealth acquires 35,000-sq.-ft. U.S. office building

Commercial  •  Nicola Wealth media release

Nicola Wealth Real Estate recently acquired Studio 7500, located at 7500 166th Ave. NE, a single-tenant office building in Redmond, Wash. The nearly 35,000-square-foot stand-alone building on two acres is home to Volkswagen of America, which has locked into a long-term lease.

AIMCo provides $623M worth of equity in Aurelis Real Estate

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) has helped recapitalize a German light industrial company Aurelis Real Estate with $623 million Cdn of equity. New York-based Alpine Grove Partners, which acquired 50% of Aurelis in 2007 before increasing its stake in 2014, led the recapitalisation.

CPP Investments buys stake in U.S. toll roads

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets  •  Canada Newswire

CPP Investments, AustralianSuper and UniSuper are to acquire 50 per cent of U.S. toll-road business Transurban Chesapeake. CPP Investments said it will invest US$624 million plus a potential earn-out payment to Transurban of up to US$21 million.

Toronto to implement new empty homes tax in 2022

Residential  •  Daily Hive  •  Globe Newswire

Toronto City Council voted Wednesday to create an implementation plan for a vacant homes tax. The tax would encourage owners to sell or rent out their vacant properties, which would increase housing supply, the City of Toronto said.

Dorval homeowners, small businesses getting tax cut

Residential, Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  Canada Newswire

Dorval residential taxes will be cut by 2.5 per cent in 2021. It marks the fourth time in five years Dorval has slashed property taxes. The city’s 2021 budget, adopted Dec. 9, also contains a tax reduction of five per cent for small businesses.

Record 110,000 residential transactions expected in Quebec

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers’ (QPAREB) review of 2020 notes record-setting sales, with 110,000 projected transactions; and a 15 per cent increase in sales and a 29 per cent decrease in listings, all property categories combined.

Vancouver proposal would see three stacked townhouses

Residential  •  urbanYVR

A three-unit, strata-titled development proposal on East 8th Avenue is a prime example of the gentle densification Vancouver is striving to achieve in single-family neighbourhoods. The Architrix Design Studio-designed proposal would see  a new building containing three stacked townhouses.