Warrington, SDM merge into B.C.’s largest prop. manager

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail  •  Metro Vancouver, British Columbia

Two private B.C.-based property managers, Warrington PCI Management and SDM Realty Advisors, have merged to become the province’s largest commercial property manager. In an announcement Tuesday, the firms say their combined portfolio comprises over 15 million square feet.

Québec firm buys $118M apt. portfolio from Oxford

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Quebec City

UPDATED with interview, extensive new details: Quebec City developer Douville, Moffet et Associés has spent $118 million to acquire from Oxford Properties Group a portfolio of 526 apartments in three recently-built complexes in the provincial capital.

CIBC, BMO delay return to office until at least June

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

CIBC (CM-T) said most employees working remotely will not return until the end of June at the earliest. And a spokesperson said Bank of Montreal (BMO-T) won’t make any broad changes to remote-work policies before the school year is over.

Feds authorize Montreal Port Authority’s new terminal

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Canada Newswire

The Montreal Port Authority has the green light to build a new container port terminal in Contrecœur, about 50 kilometres east of downtown Montreal. Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson approved the project on Monday.

Parkit to raise up to $40M for industrial acquisitions

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Parkit Enterprise Inc. (PKT-X) has entered into an agreement with Stifel GMP and Scotiabank to purchase common shares for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $40,261,500. Parkit plans to use the proceeds to fund future acquisitions of Canadian industrial properties.

Bluebird Self Storage buys two N.S. facilities for $16.2M

Commercial  •  Bluebird Self Storage Media Release  •  RENX

Toronto-headquartered Bluebird Self Storage has acquired two best-in-market, stabilized self-storage facilities in Nova Scotia – at 610 Wright Ave. in Dartmouth and at 158 Parkway Drive in Truro – for $16.2 million.

Sponsored by MNP Your construction company – employee share ownership plans and profit sharing

Building Resilience, and Bench Strength for Changing Times. It’s no secret Canadian construction companies are experiencing change at an unprecedented pace – fueled by almost daily shifts due to the impact of COVID-19, compressed margins, an aging workforce . . .

Automotive Properties acquires Laval dealership

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Automotive Properties REIT (APR-UN-T) announced it has acquired the Lexus Laval dealership property from the Dilawri Group for a purchase price of approximately $14.8 million. The property consists of a 30,000 square-foot, full-service Lexus dealership facility.

Firm Capital sells three retail properties for $10.2M

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Firm Capital Property Trust (FCD-UN-X) has closed the disposition of its interests in three retail properties totalling 50,824 square feet – two in Ontario and one in Manitoba – from its Centre Ice Retail Portfolio for gross proceeds of approximately $10.2 million.

Calgary approves $43M for business, cap on tax hikes

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Calgary Herald  •  Toronto Star

Calgary council voted in favour of spending $43 million to cap increases and support those impacted by the pandemic. The plan would spend $13 million to keep non-residential property taxes to a limit of 10 per cent higher than last year.

Tax changes could create more options for investors

Residential, Commercial  •  Financial Post

There was no federal budget in 2020, so the upcoming budget will be the first in two years. As home prices continue rising, there may be tax incentives that could benefit renters, investors and seniors without further contributing to higher prices.

Good Earth sets sights on shuttered coffee shops

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Calgary-headquartered Good Earth Cafes Ltd. has set its sights on acquiring locations across Canada abandoned by international coffee chains. Good Earth will work with landlords and developers in identifying sites suitable for conversion to Good Earth Coffeehouses.

NorthWest presses bid for Australian Unity fund

Commercial  •  Commercial Real Estate  •  NZ Herald

Toronto-based NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH-UN-T) has stepped up pressure in its $2.3-billion bid to take over an Australian Unity-run fund by requesting the unitholders register, laying the groundwork for a vote on the trust’s future by its own investors.

U.S. mall values plunge 60% after reappraisals

Commercial  •  Wealth Management

U.S. mall values plunged an average 60% after appraisals in 2020, a sign of more pain to come for retail properties even as the economy emerges from lockdowns. About $4 billion in value was erased from 118 retail-anchored properties with commercial mortgage-backed securities debt.

Tech startups wonder if they really need an office

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

While larger companies are deciding how much of their workforce to send back to the office once the pandemic recedes, an increasing number of tech startups are wondering if they can make do without a lease altogether.

88% of U.S. restaurants considering digital menus

Commercial  •  Restaurant Dive

Seventy-six per cent of U.S. restaurants said they will continue offering contactless tech this year, according to Square’s Future of Restaurants 2021 report. The survey also indicated 88 per cent of restaurants would consider swapping in digital menus for physical menus.

CMHC never pretended to have a ‘crystal ball’: Siddall

Residential  •  Bloomberg  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Globe and Mail

In several tweets, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. president and CEO Evan Siddall said unforeseen circumstances helped the housing market avert the worse-case scenario, which CMHC had described as a potential 18 per cent drop in home prices from pre-pandemic levels.

B.C. plans to extend rent freeze to end of 2021

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver  •  Globe and Mail

The B.C. government has announced new legislation that will extend the province’s rent freeze through to the end of the year and cap future rent increases to inflation. The legislative changes tabled Monday will also “stop illegal renovictions.”

Mortgage rates edging higher for first time since COVID-19

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Canadian mortgage rates are beginning to inch higher for the first time since before the COVID-19 crisis, but with home loans still languishing around historically low levels the modest hike is unlikely to slow the red-hot housing market.

Buying a Calgary property, adopting a community

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Purchasing a home during a pandemic wasn’t in the plans for Jodey Lynn Sharman and Roger Gagne, but when the opportunity of buying a townhouse in Prairie Sky, Calgary’s only co-housing co-operative, came up, they decided to take the plunge.