Camrost Felcorp building 1.8M-sq.-ft Exchange District

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums, Hotels and Resorts, Office, Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

Toronto developer Camrost Felcorp has broken ground on two buildings at one of its most ambitious projects, Exchange District in Mississauga. “We very much have focused on the creation of master-planned communities and mixed-use development sites,” said Joseph Feldman.

ViveRE continues growth, buying 4 East Coast properties

RENX  Residential  •  Seniors Housing, Apartments  •  Atlantic Canada

Halifax-based ViveRE Communities Inc.. has agreements to purchase four East Coast properties which will increase the size of its portfolio by 25 per cent. The rapidly expanding multifamily owner and operator says it has a “near-term” acquisition pipeline worth over $50 million.

Barrie committee approves SmartCentres’ four high-rises

Residential, Commercial  •  Barrie 360  •  RENX

SmartCentres REIT’s (SRU-UN-T) proposed Barrie development featuring four high-rises from 25 to 46 storeys took a giant step forward Monday when the city’s planning committee approved zoning bylaw and official plan amendments. The project includes 1,700 residential units, a hotel and commercial space.

Oxford proposes 1,300-rental-unit project

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Oxford Properties Group has submitted an application to the City of Toronto to transform a vacant parcel west of Scarborough Town Centre into a mixed-use development with over 1,300 purpose-built rental units and a total gross floor area of 1,190,000 square feet.

Rise of Airbnb turned Toronto towers into battleground

Residential  •  Financial Post (Sub. required)

By early last spring, it had dawned upon Rajat Sharma his side hustle — running two short-term-rental units in downtown Toronto’s Ice Condos — simply was not working out. The major impediment was the stream of negative publicity about these particular buildings.

Etobicoke project mired in debate over building heights

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

How tall is too tall? A case in point is a trio of condominium towers proposed by Amdev Property Group for Etobicoke Centre. Craig Hunter, president of partner TRIAGE Development Corp., was discouraged when he proposed towers between 32 and 38 storeys.

Value: Weighed and Measured › Your property assessment vs. the pandemic: Time for a correction?

John Clark: AACI, FRICS | Vice President, The Regional Group of Companies Inc.

Caisse CEO Charles Émond a helmsman in the storm

Commercial  •  La Presse

Since the start of the pandemic, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has thoroughly reviewed its entire investment portfolio. “Quebec history is changing, and we want to support the new structuring companies that emerge,” explains CEO Charles Émond.

Megaquake would level some Lower Mainland buildings

Residential, Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

A megathrust Pacific Northwest earthquake would shake 10-20-storey Lower Mainland buildings harder than currently believed. Those at greatest risk of severe damage – or even collapse – are those built to building codes from the 1980s and earlier, a UBC study says.

T&T continues aggressive store expansion plans

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

T&T Supermarkets continues to expand its footprint across the country with the opening of its third location in Calgary as it “aggressively” looks for other opportunities to grow. The new Calgary store opened in the Deerfoot Meadows shopping centre area.

Hedge funds trim bets against Canadian retailers

Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

Hedge funds trimmed short bets against some Canadian retailers in the second half of November after some companies rode a boom in e-commerce to beat profit expectations despite the COVID-19 pandemic, regulatory filings showed on Tuesday.

Downtown Winnipeg’s iconic HBC shuttered

Commercial  •  Global News  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The Hudson’s Bay Company closed its downtown Winnipeg location for good Monday, two months ahead of its planned February closing. HBC confirmed it was closing the iconic Portage Avenue store due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Amid FTC probe, CoStar faces monopoly allegations

Commercial  •  Bisnow

With the Federal Trade Commission stepping in to block CoStar Group’s $588-million acquisition of RentPath, the Bethesda, Md.-based real estate data giant is under scrutiny over whether its dominance makes it something it has long denied being: a monopoly.

U.S. office market recovery stalls in October

Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  CP Executive

After several months of increasing demand for U.S. office space, the recovery has stalled amid a resurgence of COVID-19 and continued economic uncertainty. Demand for leased office space is still markedly higher than it was just after the pandemic began.

NYC landlords lose bid to overturn laws protecting CRE tenants

Commercial  •  Bisnow

Two landlords trying to knock down New York City pandemic laws protecting businesses that can’t pay rent have lost their challenge. U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of New York Ronnie Abrams dismissed the landlords’ claims in their entirety.

Sweden’s Alecta invests $780M in U.S. life science

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

Sweden’s biggest pension fund Alecta has revealed it invested $780 million in U.S. healthcare-related real estate following its strategy of diversifying into less cyclical properties and including opportunities linked to the pandemic.

Feds plan to clamp new tax on foreign homebuyers

Residential  •  Reuters  •  CTV  •  Daily Hive

Canada is readying a new tax on foreign home buyers to help tamp down on speculative purchases from overseas, cited as a factor behind sharp rises in housing prices in some markets that have left many unable to afford homes.

B.C. insurers to end practice linked to rising condo insurance

Residential  •  Global News  •  CTV

B.C. insurers have agreed to end “best terms pricing,” a practice that has contributed to skyrocketing condo insurance rates by year’s end. Best terms pricing developed when multiple insurers would each agree to submit their own bid.

Chaotic market keeps real estate lawyer busy

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Buyers and sellers in Ontario’s real estate market face uncertainty as 2020 winds down and unpredictable outcomes make for brisk business for real estate lawyers such as Mark Weisleder of Real Estate Lawyers.ca LLP during the coronavirus pandemic.

Booming real estate market reaches rural N.S.

Residential  •  CBC

Realtors in rural Nova Scotia are adjusting quickly to a new way of selling houses as buyers from places like Ontario and B.C. snap up properties sight unseen. Exit Realty Inter Lake‘s Christopher Snarby estimates he’s sold 12-15 since May.