The next retail evolution: Last-mile distribution centres

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Retail  •  National

Municipalities will need to change their views and allow excess space in power centres and shopping centres to be used for last-mile distribution centres as demand for well-located industrial spaces surges virtual attendees heard at the Montreal Real Estate Forum.

Edmonton’s Gather Co. breathes new life into old bldgs.

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Retail  •  Edmonton

The COVID-19 pandemic created a tough year for the tenants in Gather Co.’s downtown Edmonton buildings. Independent restaurants, bars and tech startups fill Gather Co.’s nine properties.

Pur Immobilia transforming ex-Dare plant into housing

Residential, Commercial  •  La Presse  •  Canada Newswire

Pur Immobilia plans to build rental housing, divided co-ownership and townhouses on the site of the Dare cookie plant in Saint-Lambert, Que. Buildings up to eight storeys tall will house 200-plus units on two sites of 320,000 square feet each.

Dream, Humbold propose 80-storey mixed-use

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Dream Office REIT and Humbold Properties have proposed an 80-storey mixed-use tower at 212 King West. The SHoP Architects-designed tower would include 34 floors of office space and 588 rental residential units above, along with complementary retail, restaurants and amenity spaces.

Downtown Mtl. may see influx of restaurants, retailers

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

Following recent decisions by Benny & Co. and La Cordée to set up shop downtown, “a lot of flagships are in talks with landlords, both on the food scene and the retail scene,” Montréal Centre-Ville merchants association’s Glenn Castanheira said Wednesday.

Fronsac announces three CRE acquisitions

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Fronsac REIT (FRO-UN-X) has acquired: a 40% interest in a retail strip in Anjou, Que., with total expected costs of $3,500,000;  a Food Basics in Cambridge, Ont., for $7,050,000; and land leased to a Pétro-Pass cardlock located in the Greater Montreal Area for $1,550,000.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Agents need to stay in their own real estate sandboxes

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

Google to open first physical store in NYC this summer

Commercial  •  Forbes  •  Regina Leader-Post

Technology giant Google (GOOG-Q) has announced its first physical retail store will open this summer in New York City. The new Google Store will be a “space where customers can experience our hardware and services in a helpful way.”

Sens’ owner Melnyk aims for new arena near Kanata

Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is putting plans in place for a new rink on 70 acres of land he owns close to the Canadian Tire Centre and if that doesn’t work out he’d look at building a rink in Gatineau.

Bank of Canada doubles down on RE debt concerns

Residential  •  Vancouver Province  •  Financial Post

The Bank of Canada doubled down on its concern over the red-hot real estate market, warning speculation in the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton and Montreal has made the country more vulnerable to a debt crisis.

Wendy’s to double store footprint in Quebec

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

The Compass Restaurant Group, based out of Ontario and run by Kathryn and John Chayka, a former General Manager of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, has picked up 13 franchise Wendy’s restaurants in Quebec with a commitment to expand the brand in that province.

Cineplex urges provincial ‘consistency,’ fed support

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob is calling on federal and provincial leaders to draft up a better plan to support Canada’s hobbled movie exhibitors. Jacob also says it’s time health officials across the provinces agree to “be consistent and move forward.”

Paramount Group plans $250M Manhattan tower reno

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Paramount Group Inc. (PGRE-N) is among the roster of landlords that have recently revealed plans to modernize New York City properties, including 60 Wall St. in Lower Manhattan, which is slated for a $250 million-plus makeover.

Manhattan loses top spot among foreign investors

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Manhattan lost its crown as the top choice for foreign investors buying U.S. property, with offices falling out of favour amid the pandemic and money moving into industrial properties. Seattle climbed to No. 1 with $2.5 billion in foreign investment, down 11% year-over-year.

Brookfield to take control of bankrupt hotel REIT

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Lexology

China to launch $4.9B worth of REIT products

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

China has approved the country’s first batch of public REITs, giving local governments another tool to finance infrastructure projects. The nine projects, involved in sectors ranging from toll roads to wastewater treatment, could raise an estimated $4.9 billion US.

Global wealth skewing look and feel of Van., T.O.: Author

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

New York, London, Vancouver and Toronto top the list of cities most sought after by the world’s rich, UBC school of architecture Prof. Matthew Soules writes in Icebergs, Zombies and the Ultra-Thin: Architecture and Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century.

Calgary RE poised for more growth as economy recovers

Residential  •  Calgary Herald  •  Calgary Herald

Calgary’s real estate market is booming, and it’s likely to improve even more as the economy recovers from the impact of the pandemic. The City of Calgary Housing Review for Q1 2021 revealed home sales outpaced Q1 2020 and even Q1 2019.

Edmonton real estate on fast-track to normalcy

Residential  •  Edmonton Journal

The city’s real estate market is expected to follow the national trend of increasing prices this year along with growing sales and new home starts, says analyst Christian Arkilley with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Merger of B.C. financial services, RE regulators nears

Residential  •  Investment Executive

The integration of the B.C. Financial Services Authority, the Real Estate Council of B.C. and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate will be in place in summer 2021, the BCFSA said in a release on Wednesday.