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Montreal industrial: With no spec building, it’s ‘Wild West’

5 years ago

The time has come to build spec industrial buildings in Montreal now that the city’s industrial market is facing record high rents and record low vacancy rates, said speakers at the Montreal Real Estate Strategy and Leasing Conference.

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Metro Vancouver’s board of directors has approved an industrial project that has been in the works for almost five years. The application involves a proposed industrial subdivision on a 63-hectare site owned by MK Delta Lands Group.

Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group LLC and its affiliate, Oxford Living LLC, have purchased six additional seniors housing properties across central and southern Ontario. It now owns 15 retirement residences across the province and plans more acquisitions.

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“Well-intentioned election promises aimed at making housing more accessible and affordable to first-time buyers will fall flat if they trigger a surge in demand without a corresponding increase in the supply of homes,” Royal LePage president/CEO Phil Soper warns.

Union Capital

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The province will fire all eight remaining members of the Real Estate Council of Alberta and appoint an official administrator, actions recommended by a consultant asked to investigate “significant conflict” on the council.

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Ottawa city council gave the green light to higher development charges during Wednesday’s meeting, a move that will fund seven new full-time employees the city says will help process the growing demand for applications more efficiently.

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A report to city council updates city efforts to get unpaid funds pledged by developers under sections 37 and 45 of Ontario’s planning law. More than $700,000 promised in return for approvals for lucrative extra height and density on building projects remains outstanding.

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The Federation of Canadian Municipalities released its 2019 Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, showing the need for significant investment in the country’s aging and poor infrastructure assets. “We’re talking about roads, bridges, libraries, arenas and more . . .,” said president Bill Karsten.

Romspen Commercial Lender

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If necessity is the mother of invention, then carrying a laptop around to coffee shops has something to do with the birth of TableSpace, a new co-working space opened this month by Winnipeg entrepreneurs Rachel Dufresne and Andrea Tiopo.

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Virtual reality, artificial intelligence and big data are reframing the operations of an industry often thought of as a technological laggard. Those technologies are also fundamentally changing how buildings are designed.

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If the busyness of architectural firms is a barometer of improving business conditions in Calgary, the work of S2 Architecture is an indicator of confidence. The Calgary office has plenty on the go, as do its Edmonton and Vancouver locations.

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Innovating in tradition: This is the challenge of EVOQ Architecture, which specializes in built heritage and buildings designed in collaboration with Inuit and First Nations thousands of kilometres north of Montreal.

SVN Leading Edge Strategies

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Mattamy HomesNorth America’s largest privately owned homebuilder, announced it has secured a significant property in Maricopa County, Ariz. The acquisition is the first of a two-phase deal for a 142-acre piece of property that will comprise 333 new homes.

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From their ersatz offices in coffee shops, co-working spaces, and living rooms, a growing number of remote workers are quietly remaking the way we work and live.

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Many Canadian REITs have performed strongly since the start of 2019. One of the best performers was Dream Industrial REIT (DIR-UN-T), which gained a stunning 42 per cent, followed by BSR REIT (HOM-U-T), up by 40%, and Artis REIT (AX-UN-T), with a 36% gain.

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A B.C. Supreme Court decision prohibiting two men with cabins on a lake near Kamloops from renting them out has added fuel to the battle in small towns and resorts over how to respond to short-term rentals of vacation properties.

Vancouver Real Estate Strategy and Leasing

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It’s not particularly sharp, and nothing like the fast pace of the past, but mortgage borrowing is picking up. Given Canada’s history with swollen debts and inflated housing markets, that bears watching.

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The effort to make it easier to find a place to live in Banff appears to be paying off, says the mountain town’s mayor. For the first time in many years, the rental vacancy rate in Banff reached 1.1 per cent.

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Home prices in the GTA are continuing to surge due to greater consumer confidence and a recent decline in mortgage rates, according to Royal LePage. Across the region, Pickering saw the greatest year-over-year price appreciation, rising 6.5 per cent to $737,276.

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Housing starts were way down in Winnipeg in September, prices were fairly flat and there is much more inventory for sale than usual in the city. However, the actual number of sales continued to be brisk.

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