CF buys 100% stake in Toronto Buttonville airport

RENX  Commercial  •  Land  •  Toronto / GTA

Cadillac Fairview has paid almost $193 million to become the sole owner of the Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport, a 169-acre property in Markham which for years has been considered a prime site for a major redevelopment.

Strathallen buys four Durham shopping centres for $88M

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Retail, Apartments  •  Ontario, Toronto / GTA

Strathallen Capital has paid $88M to acquire four shopping centres in Durham Region, east of Toronto, for its Retail Property Fund LP No. 5. The acquisition concludes a 17-month process by which a private family divested a $202M real estate portfolio.

Downtown London Greyhound terminal for sale

Commercial  •  CBC

Two months after Greyhound announced it was suspending service in Canada, its downtown London, Ont., bus terminal is for sale. There is no sale price on the listing, which includes a 14,335-square-foot bus terminal and a 3,410-square-foot garage.

NCC acquires British High Commission building for $25M

Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa’s National Capital Commission has acquired the British High Commission building for $25 million to convert into a new headquarters and save money on rent. The purchase of the 60-year-old building brings one of the city’s landmarks into public ownership.

Ottawa office market shows signs of stabilization: CBRE

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  RENX

Ottawa’s office market recorded its smallest vacancy rate increase last quarter since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CBRE. The citywide vacancy rate rose 20 basis points in Q2 2021, climbing to 9.8 per cent from 9.6 per cent in Q1.

The Saskatchewan Edge › There are some pandemic practices we should make permanent

Kelly Macsymic: Business Manager, Stuart Commercial Inc., Sales Associate, ICR Commercial Real Estate

Infrastructure Bank may invest in $1B Calgary-Banff rail

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

The Canada Infrastructure Bank will consider financing up to half of a $1-billion project to create a passenger train service between the Calgary airport and Banff, with a start date as early as 2025.

Burrard SkyTrain station getting major upgrade

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  CBC

Burrard SkyTrain Station will be closed for two years starting in early 2022 for a major upgrade, says TransLink. The work includes doubling the number of escalators and elevators, relocating the Burrard Street entrance and redesigning the station’s outdoor plaza.

CentreCourt, Centrestone’s PRIME Condos in the works

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Demolition is active at the site of PRIME Condos, CentreCourt and Centrestone Urban Developments’ latest addition to Toronto’s Garden District neighbourhood. More than 90 per cent of the nearly 600 condominium units in the 45-storey, IBI Group-designed tower are sold.

Infill projects provide a solution for downtown Calgary

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

OPINION: Infill projects provide a way out of Calgary’s financial crisis, especially as the assessed values of office buildings plunge. Calgary has tried to make up for that loss by raising taxes on other commercial properties, resulting in business closings.

Scotiabank analyst high on BSR REIT

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  RENX

BSR REIT (HOM-UN-T) is an attractive multifamily play in the U.S. Sunbelt, said Scotiabank analyst Himanshu Gupta in initiating coverage on the stock with a “sector perform” rating and one-year price target of US$14.50.

Greystone acquires Toronto-Based Point Architects

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Greystone Architectural Partners announced the acquisition of Toronto-based Point Architects. Principals Gordon Pape OAA, Sidney Paul OAA and associates will bring over 40 years’ experience of high-quality design and architectural solutions to the retail, food service, CRE and residential sectors.

Spark Infrastructure rejects Teachers’, KKR’s $4.59B bid

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  IPE Real Assets

Australia’s Spark Infrastructure Thursday rejected a $4.59 billion Cdn takeover bid by a consortium including Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and private equity firm KKR, but left open the door to some engagement, sending shares soaring more than seven per cent.

Facebook getting into the real estate business

Residential, Commercial  •  Architectural Digest

Facebook is planting its roots in the real world, with a planned community near its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters — complete with a supermarket, restaurants, shops, and a 193-room hotel. Willow Village will include 1,729 apartments on-site, including 320 affordable units.

EY opens U.S. headquarters at One Manhattan West

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Ernst & Young LLP announced it will officially open its new U.S. headquarters at One Manhattan West near the Hudson Yards district on Monday. The 67-storey building is LEED Gold-certified and 2021 WELL Health-Safety Rated and has a Fitwel two-star rating.

British Land sees end to rent concessions

Commercial  •  Reuters

UK commercial landlord British Land (BLND.L) said on Tuesday it did not expect to grant further rent concessions to its tenants this quarter as the easing of coronavirus restrictions had boosted their trading.

Home sales down 8.4% month-over-month in June: CREA

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire  •  Financial Post

Home sales across Canada fell for the third consecutive month in June as the market continued to slow from its March highs, but the month still set a record, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Thursday.

Canada’s ‘sprint into mortgages’ brings risks: Economists

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Canada Newswire

Mortgage debt is up nearly eight per cent from a year ago. Low rates currently make that debt manageable, but that won’t last forever, says a TD Economics study of the risks caused by Canadians’ “pandemic sprint into mortgages.”

Mortgage market may isolate ‘off the grid’ homes

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Selling a hand-built log cabin minutes away from Ontario’s Algonquin Park should be easy. However, Adam Ruzzo’s home comes with a major caveat: You may not be able to get a mortgage as the cabin is completely off the grid.

Airbnb lists Canada’s first 3D concrete printed home

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Twente Additive Manufacturing announced Fibonacci House, Canada’s first 3D printed home, which is also the world’s very first Airbnb listed 3D printed concrete tiny home, is now available for vacation rental in Nelson, B.C.’s Kootenay Lake Village.