Calgary’s downtown office vacancy could top 30%: AY

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Calgary

Calgary’s depressed downtown office market is forecast to hit 30 per cent vacancy by Avison Young. In its year-end 2020 report, AY predicts Calgary will cross into unseen territory for a major office market in Canada within the next 12 to 24 months.

B.C. gov’t, companies seek new office space

Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

Tristan Spark, vice-president at Colliers International, says the B.C. government and private companies are starting to look for new Victoria office space or for ways to expand their footprint having shelved plans amid the uncertainty last year.

Caldwell First Nation plans development on new reserve

Residential, Commercial  •  Windsor Star

Fresh off the announcement of a new 200-acre reserve after 230 years, Leamington, Ont.’s Caldwell First Nation is poised to execute plans including housing developments, a medical cannabis operation, a rebranded marina, a winery and the world’s “largest Indigenous restaurant.”

PSP JV to invest $700M in U.S. single-family rentals

Residential  •  PR Newswire  •  RENX

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board, one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers, and alternative investment management firm Pretium announced the launch of a joint venture that will initially invest $700 million into single-family rentals across the Southeastern and Southwestern U.S.

National vacancy rate increased to 3.2% in 2020: CMHC

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  Vancouver Sun

Among Canada’s Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), the overall vacancy rate increased from 2.0% in 2019 to 3.2% in 2020 for all bedroom types, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Rental Market Survey. The national average two-bedroom rent across CMAs increased by 3.6% to $1,165.

$22-million land sale sets record in Kelowna

Residential, Commercial  •  Western Investor

A Manitoba buyer has made history with a $22-million purchase of a 190-acre residential development site in the hills above Kelowna. The land in the Kirschner Mountain Development is part of a 640-acre project that began in 2003 and includes mixed-use.

Design, Policy and Canadian Cities › A compelling future housing vision – finding the Missing Middle

Naama Blonder: Architect, Urban Designer, Urban Planner | B.Arch, OAA, RPP, MCIP

Ottawa approves $129M ByWard Market revamp

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  Ottawa Citizen  •  Global News

City council gave a unanimous thumbs-up Wednesday to a $129-million plan to revitalize the ByWard Market that would see pedestrian plazas set up along major streets and a “destination building” replace the Clarence Street parking garage.

Plaza Partners proposes 14-storey rental building

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Plaza Partners has proposed a 14-storey infill apartment building with 220 residential units for a site at 6035 Bathurst St in Toronto. Four levels of underground parking are proposed, with spaces for 150 vehicles and 160 bicycles.

Wintrup proposes 11-storey mixed-use development

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

A Scarborough site home to low-rise commercial could see new life after Wintrup Developments proposed an 11-storey mixed-use building with retail at 4415 Sheppard Ave. E. The IBI Group-designed proposal calls for a total of 243 residential units.

Concorde Group’s new Calgary restaurant sits empty

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

What was supposed to be Calgary’s most talked-about restaurant of 2020 – Concorde Group’s Major Tom on the 40th floor of Stephen Avenue Place – has been sitting completed and empty since April. The dining room boasts a panoramic view of downtown Calgary.

Podcasts from the real estate world

Residential, Commercial  • 

Chris Tambakis, Adgar Canada: Doing what is right for the customer, Tenant Experience Network. Episode 2
Michael Bordes, AA Jedson Company, Modular construction and prefab building trends, The Construction Record Podcast – Episode 103
Neil Lacheur, Avison Young: Building your own story, Tenant Experience Network. Episode 3

Reddit GameStop rally runs into trading restrictions

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Windsor Star  •  CBC

GameStop (GME-N) and BlackBerry Ltd. (BB-T) shares sank Thursday as trading platforms restricted trading in the North American video game retailer along with AMC Entertainment and other stocks that soared in a social media-driven trading frenzy that shook stock markets.

Canada Life invests $46.6M in U.K. car park

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

Canada Life Asset Management has invested $46.6M Cdn to develop a U.K. car park. Canada Life bought a 140-year leasehold interest in a site forming the first phase of Adanac Health & Innovation Campus, Southampton for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

Terra Firma launches US$37.5M debt fund

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

Terra Firma Capital Corp. (TII-X) announced the launch of its first debt fund targeted for financing residential land and lot inventory for developers and landowners in the growing U.S. housing market. The $37.5 million fund includes $32.5 million in equity.

Self-driving robots to help fill Walmart orders

Commercial  •  Canadian Grocer  •  Reuters

Walmart is enlisting the help of robots to help with a surge in online orders. Walmart plans to build warehouses at its stores where self-driving robots will fetch groceries and have them ready for pick-up in an hour or less.

Lethbridge unlikely leader in Alberta real estate

Residential, Commercial  •  Western Investor

Lethbridge is posting Alberta’s highest annual increase in residential real estate sales and prices. The commercial and industrial sectors, while feeling the pandemic sting, is also punching above its weight, according to Avison Young.

Toronto condo-rental listings jump 132%

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post

The number of condominiums put up for rent in Toronto were up 132 per cent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, a sign of a growing exodus from the city’s downtown to more spacious accommodations in the suburbs, according to TRREB.

Even the bully bidders are at war in Toronto

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Davelle Morrison, a broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., believes the GTA spring housing market is starting early partly because people are not heading south for winter vacations. They’ve also become accustomed to the stricter protocols around showing properties.

Supply of new GTA homes dwindling: BILD

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe Newswire

Booming sales, combined with COVID-19-related restrictions which have slowed construction, means supplies of new GTA housing are getting even tighter, says Building and Land Development Association (BILD) president and CEO David Wilkes.