Choice, Greenwin close on Toronto housing land

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Toronto / GTA

Choice Properties REIT (CHP.UN-T) and Greenwin have closed on a downtown Toronto lot which will host a two-tower development containing up to 844 purpose-built apartments. 26 Grenville/27 Grosvenor cost $36M as part of the Provincial Affordable Housing Lands Program.

Hotel investment dips, but sector still healthy: Colliers

RENX  Commercial  •  Hotels and Resorts  •  National

Canadian hotel transactions dipped by more than half to $1.5B during 2018, but are expected to stabilize or even rise in 2019. Despite the decline, a new report from Colliers International indicates activity remains healthy in both primary and secondary markets.

Vancouver approves tax break for CRE owners

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Courier

Vancouver city council voted 6-5 Monday to reduce commercial property tax by two per cent over the next three years. For homeowners, the 4.5 per cent property tax hike council initially approved in December is now 6.1 per cent.

Parq Vancouver in debt distress?

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Bloomberg

Parq Vancouver, with its curvy, copper-tinted glass jewel of a building beside BC Place stadium, opened in September 2017 billed as the “largest private development in B.C.” with “world-class” everything including two luxury hotels and convention spaces.

North Delta high-rise proposal on hold

Residential  •  Delta Optimist

The application for a third high-rise in North Delta, B.C., has been put on hold. Satish Sharma confirmed his proposal to build a 32-storey tower is temporarily on hold until the city completes the Townline Neighbourhood Plan.

Sponsored by KPMG Global real estate investment funds panel shares what it means to lead on international stage

We live in a global business environment, and real estate investing is no exception. Seeking to diversify their portfolios and take advantage of higher-yielding opportunities, many investors are looking to overseas real estate markets.

Windsor wins 21-year riverfront expropriation battle

Commercial  •  Windsor Star

The City of Windsor is claiming a precedent-setting victory in the protracted 21-year legal war over its expropriation of the last piece of privately owned riverfront land between the bridge and Hiram Walker.

Timbercreek 4Q Partnership surpasses $500M mark

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

In Q1 2019, the Timbercreek Four Quadrant Global Real Estate Partnership (4Q Partnership) broke through the $500-million threshold after seeing nearly 400 per cent growth since 2016. The 4Q Partnership invests in private equity, private debt, public equity and public debt.

WeWork’s plans to fix office space constraints

Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen  •  RENX

New York-based WeWork launched Monday its newest ‘headquarters by WeWork’ concept at Mirvish Village at Bloor and Bathurst, for completion in 2022. It also filed its confidential initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

A sneak peek at new Maison de Radio-Canada

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  RENX

The first thing you notice visiting the site of the new Broccolini-owned Maison de Radio-Canada is that it is significantly smaller than the current home of the public broadcaster, just west of the new building.

City planner Joe Berridge looks for urban magic

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

The perfect city. Seems like an illusive goal. Joe Berridge’s new book looks at Toronto, New York, Singapore, London, Manchester, Belfast, Sydney, and Shanghai in order to try to figure out what sets them apart from other cities.

Canada’s largest construction project starts: March

Residential, Commercial  •  Construction Canada

The accompanying table records the 10 largest construction project starts in Canada in March 2019. Also included is the latest trend graph on starts. This looks at 12-month moving totals of the civil and non-residential building categories.

Major expansion opens at Penticton hospital

Commercial  •  CBC

The brand-new David E. Kampe Tower expansion to Penticton Regional Hospital officially opened its doors Monday. The six-storey tower is Phase 1 of a $312-million upgrade to the hospital. The tower has 84 rooms, five operating rooms and other procedural facilities.

Brookfield to invest in low-income communities

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX

Farmland value rose nearly seven per cent in 2018

Residential  •  Toronto Star

The average value of Canadian farmland rose nearly seven per cent last year, according to a new report, but that growth rate is likely to be cut in half over 2019 amid ongoing canola trade issues with China.

Game of Thrones castle sold for price of Vancouver condo

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

Someone bought a Irish castle featured on Game of Thrones for the price of a two-bedroom condo in Vancouver. Gosford Castle, a mid-17th century castle in Northern Ireland, is off the market after being listed for $869,491 Cdn.

$43M in B.C. property value linked to RCMP probe

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

Less than two weeks after the RCMP launched a series of raids in 2015 during an investigation into B.C.’s largest money-laundering case, the spouse of a major police target sold a house on Fairbrook Cres. in Richmond.

Which party will rebuild housing dreams?: OREA

Residential  •  Financial Post

If Canadian voters and politicians agree on one thing, it’s that home ownership is slipping out of reach for more and more families. The home ownership rate in Canada fell between 2011 and 2016, for the first time in living memory.

Thornhill condo owners in the dark as board members resign

Residential  •  CBC

Residents of The Fountains condos in Thornhill learned there may not be anybody in charge of their building’s $4-million budget now that there is no board of directors to conduct new business on behalf of condo owners.

3D printing the future of home construction: B.C. inventor

Residential  •  CTV  •  Burnaby Now

With Vancouver home ownership an unattainable dream for many, one scientist is proposing an affordable alternative by constructing houses using 3D printers. Paul Tinari says customers could customize their future homes at a fraction of the cost.