CAPREIT acquires T.O.’s Tower Hill East apts. for $110M

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments

CAPREIT (CAR-UN-T) has paid $110 million to acquire the 141-apartment Tower Hill East building along the St. Clair Avenue West corridor in downtown Toronto, giving it a second upscale property in the city’s prestigious Forest Hill neighbourhood.

Concord plans 95-storey tower on former Cresford site

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Canada Newswire  •  blogTO

Vancouver-based Concord Adex has received court approval to take out of bankruptcy Cresford Developments‘ YSL Residences, currently a hole in the ground at Yonge and Gerrard Streets. It will construct the 95-storey Concord Sky, one of Toronto’s tallest towers.

Nicola acquires 22 Minnesota industrial properties

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Nicola Wealth Real Estate has acquired the Minneapolis Industrial Infill Portfolio, a collection of 22 industrial and flex-industrial buildings totalling 1,915,637 square feet on 151 acres. The multi-tenant portfolio is geographically diverse in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market, where vacancy is 3.6 per cent.

Slate completes US$390M grocery-anchored buy

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Slate Grocery REIT (SGR-UN-T) announced the closing of an acquisition of a US$390 million grocery-anchored portfolio comprising 25 properties and 3.1 million square feet in major U.S metro markets. The acquisition increases the REIT’s portfolio to 13.0 million square feet worth US$1.8 billion.

450K-sq.-ft. mass timber office planned at Bentall Centre

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Retail

The owners of Vancouver’s Bentall Centre, one of the city’s most iconic office complexes, have submitted plans to the city to build Burrard Exchange, a new 450,000 square foot, 16-storey hybrid mass timber office and retail development at the site.

Office vacancy rate hits highest level since 1994: CBRE

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

CBRE Group Inc. says the national office vacancy rate hit 15.7 per cent in the third quarter for the highest level since 1994 as people continue to work from home because of COVID-19. The vacancy rate was 15.3 per cent in Q2.

The Apartment Building Expert › ‘Wall of money’ should pivot to apartment investments

Derek Lobo: Founder and CEO , SVN Rock Advisors Inc.

Lion Electric builds $185M battery plant in Montreal

Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

Electric school bus and truck manufacturer Lion Electric is building a $185 million battery manufacturing plant and innovation centre near Montreal, which will be able to produce about 14,000 medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles annually.

Teachers’ buys alt. mortgage lender HomeEquity Bank

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has acquired HomeEquity Bank, Canada’s largest provider of reverse mortgages. HomeEquity Bank says it will continue with its plan to increase mortgage originations by more than 20 per cent this year to more than $1 billion.

Cladding presented on KING Toronto condo complex

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Construction continues on the KING Toronto luxury condominium complex designed by world-renowned Danish ‘starchitects’ Bjarke Ingels Group with Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt Architects. Allied Properties REIT (AP-UN-T) and Westbank Corp. have given future suite owners a peek at the unique cladding.

FYidoctors sets up shop in Calgary’s Mission Square

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

FYidoctors, Canada’s largest doctor-owned and doctor-led eye-care provider with 300 locations in Canada and six in California, has established its head office in the 10-storey Mission Square in Calgary’s Mission district. FYidoctors will occupy over 21,000 square feet on three floors.

SNC-Lavalin, ex-execs face charges related to bridge

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC-T) and two of its former executives are facing new criminal charges related to a bridge contract in Montreal nearly 20 years ago, plunging the company into another legal maelstrom as it tries to rebuild its business.

PSP, KKR JV on 16-storey Boston life science building

Commercial  •  Business Wire

KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced it has completed a major investment with WS Development and Canada’s PSP Investments for 400 Summer Street, a 16-storey, 635,000-square-foot life science building located in Boston’s Seaport District submarket.

Brookfield, Elion form $1B logistics partnership

Commercial  •  CP Executive  •  IPE Real Assets

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) and Elion Partners have formed a $1-billion strategic partnership, to increase Brookfield Real Estate Secondaries’ logistics footprint in several core infill markets. The investment included $80 million in equity commitments to Elion Real Estate Fund V.

BSR acquires Austin apartment community for $93.8M

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

BSR REIT (HOM-UN-T) announced it has acquired Aura 36Hundred Apartments, a new garden-style residential community with 356 apartment units in the Round Rock sub-market of Austin, Texas for $93.8 million. Aura 36Hundred is part of Avery Centre, an 1,200-acre mixed-use planned community.

China Oceanwide tries to save U.S. deals

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Financial Post  •  Regina Leader-Post

As the financial world warily watches the fate of cash-strapped China Evergrande Group, another big Chinese property developer – China Oceanwide Holdings – is facing a ticking clock too, tied to projects in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Hawaii.

Rize Alliance introduces new rental property division

Residential, Commercial  •  REMI Network

Rize Alliance has unveiled Comma Properties, a new division focused on building better rental communities. Comma will deliver both residential and commercial spaces across the Lower Mainland as well as in Los Angeles.

Variable rate mortgages are booming

Residential  •  Financial Post

With the share of new variable rate mortgages at 51.3% and fixed-rate at 48.7%, this is the first time in at least five years that variable has taken the lead. Meanwhile, rates continue to fall.

Vanc. seeks injunction to force Sahotas to repair building

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

The City of Vancouver is once again seeking an injunction to force the Sahota family to repair a deteriorated rental building with dorm-style units three years after an inspector first flagged risks to their tenants.

The dangers of aging condos and underfunded reserve funds

Residential  •  Canadian Lawyer Magazine

“Owners, tenants and those who sit on condo boards need to take a lesson from (the tragic collapse of the building in) Surfside when it comes to ensuring the structural integrity of their buildings,” warns Toronto-based condominium lawyer Denise Lash.