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Menkes powers through pandemic, plans 2021 condos

3 years ago

Menkes Developments Ltd. was the top builder of pre-construction high-rise sales condominiums across the country, while its Festival joint venture with QuadReal Property Group was the best-selling new condo project in Canada in 2020, according to data released by Altus Group.

Calgary-based Wallace & Carey, one of Canada’s leading independent distribution and logistics companies, has survived numerous serious challenges in its 100-year history including a depression, recessions, world war, and today a pandemic that has consumed the world.

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Morguard REIT (MRT-UN-T) is cutting its distribution in half for the second time since the pandemic erupted, citing “significant” impact to its operations. Morguard was one of the first in Canada to cut its payout when the economy shut down.

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Greater Victoria and Vancouver Island are no longer well-kept secrets for Canadian real estate investors, with numbers this week by Colliers International showing the region is a bright light on the radar of institutional investors and REITs.

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The construction industry is crying foul after the City of Toronto announced it will circumvent a freeze on development charges imposed by the province and levy heavy penalties on builders who defer paying fees on some projects.

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Canadians who lost millions of dollars investing in syndicated mortgages attached to a series of failed development projects are calling upon the federal government to take white-collar crime seriously and conduct a property inquiry into Fortress Real Developments.

GUEST COLUMN: Bill Argeropoulos, Principal & Practice Leader, Research, Avison Young – In the GTA CRE market, the predictable fourth-quarter surge in investment sales was a welcomed respite in a year where unpredictability of the pandemic stymied investor appetite for select properties.

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Toronto-based Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. (CTC-A-T) saw sales rise 12.8 per cent in Q4, a record for the chain. The company also announced it is closing all 18 of its National Sports stores to reduce overlapping business in sporting goods.

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Winnipeg-based furniture retailer EQ3 is set to open a nearly 44,000-square-foot flagship store at CF Polo Park in Winnipeg in part of the retail space formerly occupied by Sears. It is due to open in the fall of 2021.

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The Caisse de depot et placement is “very interested” in extending the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) on the South Shore, between Châteauguay and Boucherville, says Premier François Legault, who hopes “for an announcement soon.”

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Noel Francis Chantiam’s King City investment property is occupied by an auto body shop that pays him a steady rent. Metrolinx has expropriated title to the property so it can expand the GO Transit station and has offered him $1.

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Morguard REIT, (MRT-UN-T), Canada Newswire
Summit Industrial Income REIT, (SMU-UN-T), Canada Newswire

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Walmart Inc. (WMT-N) on Thursday forecast slowing sales for fiscal 2022, following a blockbuster year that saw demand for essentials and other items soar as consumers flocked to the retailer during lockdowns linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Montreal-based asset manager Cordiant Capital has launched Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Ltd., a $655-million Cdn U.K. fund listed Monday on the London Stock Exchange that plans to acquire digital infrastructure such as telecom towers, data centres or storage networks.

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Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, the third REIT to publicly trade in the South Asian nation, fell 2.2 per cent from its issue price as investors fretted about the pandemic’s impact on the realty sector and the asset manager’s growth prospects.

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Western Alliance Bancorporation is buying Aris Mortgage Holding Company, the parent company of California-based mortgage company AmeriHome for about $1 billion in cash, as the pandemic housing boom in the U.S. fuels industry consolidation.

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The Daniels Corporation and financial services firm Sun Life’s new EVOLV building on Nicholas Avenue is a 29-storey market-rent high-rise with 346 units that will include 34 affordable two- and three-bedroom units aimed at addressing the scarcity of family dwellings in Toronto.

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The pandemic has led to increased interest in larger housing outside of urban centres. In order to observe variations in Quebec sales and prices, JLR compiled statistics by census division, generally representing a regional county municipality or an equivalent territory.

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Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts rose 23.1 per cent in January, as Montreal’s single-family home starts reached their highest level since February 2008. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts rose to 282,428 units in January.

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In Oshawa and other parts of Durham Region, Shawn Lackie, an agent with Coldwell Banker R.M.R. Real Estate, says buyers have been paying eye-popping premiums even for modest houses. “These places that are selling are little shacks,” he says.

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