High demand, hi-tech fuel new CRE industrial revolution

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Investment  •  National, Toronto / GTA

The explosive Canadian growth of e-commerce and support industries such as personal delivery and packaging supply companies have fuelled an insatiable thirst for warehousing and logistics space. Technology is changing how that space is designed and utilized.

Saputos to acquire Ivanhoé’s Montreal tower

Commercial  •  La Presse  •  RENX

It will have taken more than three years, but the Saputo family will acquire 1000, De La Gauchetière Ouest, one of the main skyscrapers in downtown Montreal, from Ivanhoé Cambridge, La Presse has learned. The sale price was not disclosed.

Microsoft buying GTA land and retail? What’s up with that?

Bill Argeropoulos: Bill Argeropoulos, Principal & Practice Leader, Research (Canada)

Bronfman originally excluded from Mtl. project talks

Residential, Commercial  •  La Presse  •  RENX

The City of Montreal had failed to invite Stephen Bronfman‘s Montreal Baseball Project to participate in its citizen consultation on the development of the Bridge-Bonaventure sector, where Bronfman wants to build a stadium for the return of Major League Baseball.

199 acres of B.C. waterfront could be for sale

Residential, Commercial  •  Western Investor

This month, an amendment to the Clean Energy Act was introduced that would remove a heritage asset designation on Port Moody, B.C.’s Burrard Thermal Power plant and its 199-acre waterfront property freeing BC Hydro to dispose of its assets.

Sponsored by MNP 2021 Federal budget highlights for real estate & construction industry

On April 19, 2021, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, delivered the 2021 Federal Budget: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience – the first Federal Budget since 2019.

Trinity proposes 27-storey High Park North mixed-use

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Trinity Development Group‘s redevelopment proposal for 1540 Bloor West in Toronto’s High Park North neighbourhood has been revised again. The latest IBI Group-designed revision includes 27 storeys and 374 residential units. The building’s seven-storey podium would include ground-level retail.

Townline pitches ‘communal’ rental tower in Victoria

Residential  •  Western Investor

Townline Homes is proposing a 16-storey rental building that would have 121 rental units, including 54 fully furnished co-living apartments organized into three-, four- and five-bedroom pods – but no private kitchen or bathroom. The project would be a first for Victoria.

Artis enters into services agreement with Sandpiper

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Artis REIT (AX-UN-T) announced it has entered into a services agreement with Sandpiper Group. Artis has engaged Sandpiper to provide certain services to support the REIT’s strategy to acquire meaningful and influential active ownership positions in undervalued publicly listed entities.

Chartwell gets mixed grades over bonus payouts

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

Two major shareholder-advisory companies are advising unitholders of Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH-UN-T) to re-elect former Ontario premier Mike Harris as the company’s chairman, but one has criticized some of the company’s compensation decisions.

Walmart tops estimates for same-store sales

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Walmart Inc. (WMT-N) raised its full-year earnings forecast on Tuesday and beat estimates for same-store sales as it benefited from additional stimulus checks that put more money in consumers’ pockets and boosted demand for apparel and electronics.

Home Depot reports soaring first-quarter sales

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

An overcharged housing market is keeping aisles full at Home Depot (HD-N) and the company reported sales that blew past Wall Street expectations Tuesday. Sales hit $37.5-billion, up 32.7 per cent year-over-year, far better than analyst projections of $34.88 billion.

PlantX opens Canadian flagship store in B.C.

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Canada Newswire

PlantX Life Inc. (VEGA-CN) announced the opening of its first Canadian brick-and-mortar store under the PlantX brand in Squamish, B.C., showcasing a variety of carefully curated grocery and wellness items by popular Canadian and U.S. plant-based brands.

Parkland expands Caribbean portfolio

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Calgary-headquartered Parkland Corporation (PKI-T) announced, through its 75 per cent ownership in Sol Investments SEZC, two transactions in its International business, including a 50 per cent indirect partnership in Isla Dominicana de Petroleo Corp., which currently operates approximately 160 locations in the Caribbean.

SL Green sells 2 Manhattan buildings for $325M

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  CP Executive

SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG-N), Manhattan’s largest office landlord, announced the sale of 635-641 Sixth Avenue for a gross sales price of $325.0 million. The property is comprised of two adjoined buildings totaling eight storeys and 267,000 square feet in Midtown South.

Airbnb stock drops more than six per cent

Residential  •  MarketWatch

Airbnb Inc.’s stock (ABNB-Q) fell sharply Monday as the company’s post-IPO lockup expired, meaning insiders can now sell shares. Before the lockup expiration, about 40% of shares held by Airbnb insiders had already been unlocked, analysts from Susquehanna International Group said.

Cottage property values set to rise by another 30%

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Canada Newswire

A new report by RE/MAX brokers and agents notes the recreational property market surge will not subside any time soon, with prices set to rise by 30 per cent more before the year is over.

Weathering steel gaining in popularity for homes

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

As owners and contractors have watched demand and prices spike for commonly used building materials, some homeowners and designers are looking to a rugged material that certainly predates the pandemic, and will provide a gritty sensibility: COR-TEN weathering steel.

GTA brokers, buyers call for bidding transparency

Residential  •  CBC

Philip Kocev, a broker and partner at iPro Realty, said he’s seeing more and more buyers fed up with the traditional process and losing out on multiple properties, because they don’t know where they stand compared to other competing buyers.

Auction process won’t help affordability: OREA

Residential  •  CTV

The Ontario Real Estate Association says home buyers are rightly concerned about rising prices, but an auction process won’t help. OREA argues in jurisdictions where auctions are common, prices have actually risen as “auction fever” leads to higher bids.