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Development in Kelowna setting all-time records

5 years ago

Kelowna has set a record for approved building permits for a single quarter, issuing $333 million worth in Q1 2019. Among the city’s largest projects are the One Water Street condos and the Landmark 7 office tower.

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As the Toronto development industry continues to roar through one of the hottest building booms in decades you might not even know that one of the largest construction labour disruptions in 30 years is happening right now in Ontario.

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Compared to their North American office market peers such as San Francisco, Boston, Miami and Washington D.C., developers in Toronto are building far more office space these days, but they’re also facing incredibly high demand for that space.

CoStar Group’s Roelof van Dijk delivered a positive outlook to office development panelists at the Toronto Land & Development conference: “Fundamentals across the country are exceptionally strong,” he said. Almost all markets outside of Alberta have seen vacancies drop.

NAI Commercial

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As D-Day ceremonies captured attention June 6, veteran members at two of the 28 Royal Canadian Legion branches in Metro Vancouver were celebrating joint venture real estate deals that will improve facilities and provide a mix of affordable and market housing.

IMAGE: Greg Placidi, the chief investment officer at Equiton Capital. (Courtesy Equiton)

Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, Equiton Capital

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Claridge Homes’ two 27-storey apartment towers and a nine-storey commercial-use podium set to rise above the Lyon light-rail transit station will include 300 units of affordable housing, Ottawa city council heard Wednesday.

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Eleven of the hottest real estate districts in Ottawa last month tended to include portions along the proposed light rail transit line — most notably in the stretch that runs from Tunney’s Pasture to Lincoln Fields station.

Romspen Commercial Lender

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New National Capital Commission CEO Tobi Nussbaum  said Wednesday the federal Crown corporation that owns LeBreton Flats remains open to proposals for a “major events centre” at the undeveloped swath of land just west of Downtown Ottawa.

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Southern Alberta’s Blood Tribe, the country’s largest reserve, has won part of its 40-year land claim battle against the federal government. On Wednesday, a Federal Court judge found Canada shortchanged the band when the boundaries were drawn in 1877’s Treaty 7.

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Intellijoint Surgical leads the creation of Canada’s first industry-led hub – MIX (Medical Innovation Xchange), which  will occupy 30,000 square feet of the west side of the building at 809 Wellington St. N. in Kitchener.

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Automotive Properties REIT (APR-UN-T) is purchasing a portfolio of three automotive dealership properties from AutoCanada Inc. (ACQ-T) for $30.4 million. It has also entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire the Audi Queensway automotive dealership property for $36.5 million.

Harbour Equity

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Effective June 18, Oshawa’s port authority will no longer stand on its own. Last week, Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced the merger of the Oshawa and Hamilton port authorities was moving on.

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Cadillac Fairview closed on a strategic partnership with Lincoln Property Company’s multi-family division on May 31. The partnership will focus on the continued growth of multifamily property management operations and investment activities across the United States.

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Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) said Wednesday it had bought a 25 per cent stake in 330 Madison Avenue from Vornado Realty Trust (VNO-M-N), gaining full ownership of the office block. Vornado valued its interest at $900 million US.

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Global office occupancy costs rose 3.6 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, according to the latest data from CBRE. Prime office occupancy costs in Hong Kong (Central) were up 5.0 per cent year-over-year, further cementing its place as the most expensive market.

RealREIT 2019

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On paper, Peter Zhang and his wife, Judy Wang, were models for the type of newcomers Canada wanted to attract with its immigrant investor program. The program’s aim was to lure the world’s wealthywith the promise of a passport.

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Immigrants own proportionally fewer single-detached homes than Canadian-born residents, a new Statistics Canada study has found, but in Vancouver, the ones they do own likely come with a higher sticker price.

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Some two dozen residents turned up at Ottawa City Hall on Tuesday to demand their properties not be added to the city’s heritage register. The city’s built heritage subcommittee was considering adding 2,345 more properties to the register.

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Higher vacancies aren’t translating into lower rents for seniors, according to a new Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) report. The vacancy rate for independent-living units stood at 4.2 per cent in 2019 on an inventory of 31,779 units.

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