B.C. apartment investment market breaking records

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Metro Vancouver, British Columbia

Total sales volume for apartment buildings throughout Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria in the first six months of this year has already far surpassed the yearly average – at almost $2 billion – and shows no signs of slowing, according to CBRE.

Skyline adds 499K-sq.-ft. warehouse to Calgary portfolio

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Calgary

Skyline Commercial REIT continues to expand its industrial real estate portfolio in Calgary, with its eye on further acquisitions in the market. The Guelph-based REIT acquired a 498,618-square-foot distribution centre on 23.948 acres, occupied by Canadian Tire.

AIMCo investing in logistics, data centres, health centres

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  RENX

Chief investment officer Dale MacMaster says Alberta Investment Management Corp., (AIMCo) sees strong tailwinds in logistics, data centres, health centres and multifamily housing real-estate investments and it has been shifting more investment dollars into those asset classes in recent years.

Reliance proposes 47-storey, 484-unit Van. rental

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver  •  urbanYVR  •  RENX

No rental apartments have started construction in downtown Vancouver in the past 18 months, but Reliance Properties hopes to end the drought with a proposed 47-storey, 484-unit Melville Street tower that would include 104 affordable units for essential workers.

Waterfront Toronto picks Quayside development shortlist

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Four proposed development teams are shortlisted for Toronto’s new waterfront Quayside neighbourhood: Hines Canada with Tridel Builders:; KMT Quayside Developments Inc. (Kilmer, Mattamy and Tricon) Quayside Impact (Dream Unlimited Corp. and Great Gulf ); and The Daniels Corporation and Hullmark Developments.

First Gulf’s King East Centre towers win panel support

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

First Gulf‘s redevelopment of the former Toronto Sun building, now known as the King East Centre, has won the support of the Toronto Design Review Panel. The 27-storey office tower and 39-storey residential tower would be designed by WZMH Architects.

The Apartment Building Expert › When real estate is a family affair (and sometimes, a family feud)

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

The hidden costs of Ottawa’s ‘revitalization’

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Montreal Road is in year three of a four-year “revitalization.” Construction began in June 2019 and is slated to end next summer at a projected cost to taxpayers of $64 million. The cost to businesses on Montreal Road is harder to calculate.

Calgary office-to-residential refit grants up to $10M

Residential, Commercial  •  Global News

The first phase of the City of Calgary’s incentive program to spur office-to-residential refits would offer grants of $75 per square foot, up to a maximum of $10 million from an existing $45 million in a first tranche of funding.

Dream, Streetcar giving Gladstone Hotel a makeover

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Dream Unlimited Corp., (DRM-T) and Streetcar Developments announced the next phase in the evolution of the Gladstone Hotel, renamed Gladstone House. Gladstone House will reopen to the public in September  and will be operated by Crescent Hotels & Resorts Latitudes division.

Major players join financing for T.O. brokerage Properly

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

Executives from Wealthsimple, SoftBank and Zillow have joined Bain Capital and Intact Insurance to provide $44 million in financing for Toronto-based real estate brokerage Properly Inc. as it looks to expand across the country and further into financial services.

Remains of toppled crane removed in Kelowna

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

Evacuation orders have been lifted for all but one building in Kelowna as crews have dismantled what remained of a crane that collapsed, killing five people. Central Okanagan Emergency Operations says residents and businesses at six addresses can return.

CPP sells 45% stake in Manhattan tower for $525M

Commercial  •  CP Executive  •  RENX

CPP Investments is selling its 45 per cent stake of One Park Avenue, a 943,000-square-foot Midtown Manhattan mid-rise, to Vornado Realty Trust (VNO-N) for $158 million US in cash, plus CPP’s share of the existing debt, for a total of $525 million US.

WeWork banking its future on rise of remote work

Commercial  •  NPR  •  Daily Beat NY

Time for WeWork‘s second act. After ditching founder Adam Neumann, the company hired seasoned real estate executive Sandeep Mathrani as CEO and scaled back operations. It’s betting on the rise of remote work and planning to go public this year.

Starwood Capital sweetens bid for Monmouth

Commercial  •  PR Newswire  •  Reuters

U.S. investment firm Starwood Capital Group on Wednesday sweetened its offer for Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. (MNR-N) to $19.51 per share from its previous bid of $18.70. The consideration includes a termination fee of $0.63 per share owed to Equity Commonwealth.

Global demand for logistics space to remain strong: JLL

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

JLL‘s (JLL-N) new research, The Future of Global Logistics Real Estate, predicts demand for logistics space (warehousing and distribution facilities) will continue to intensify over the next three years, even when compared with recent elevated levels.

Houses overvalued by 10%: Oxford Economics

Residential  •  Toronto Star

House prices in the richest nations may be overvalued by about 10 per cent after a decade-long boom that’s one of the strongest since 1900, says Oxford Economics, noting the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, Germany and France are the most risky property markets.

Home prices rise 16% in record YOY gain: Teranet

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

Home prices increased in June to mark the largest 12-month gain on record as prices climbed in all 11 markets, says the Teranet National Bank composite price index. The 16 per cent year-over-year gain surpassed the 14.2 per cent year-over-year rise in June 2017.

Toronto’s affordable rental plans take the long view

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

As Toronto’s City Council debates measures to blunt the housing affordability crisis, one consistent theme has emerged: longer-term thinking. In recent years, the city has come to rely less on private builders and instead is controlling development on city-owned land.

Zero-down mortgages stoke U.S. subprime-like fears

Residential  •  Financial Post

Canada may have regulations that prevents the riskiest of applicants — those who fell into the U.S. subprime category — from getting a mortgage, but many of those who are approved for loans are taking on debt loads that were once unthinkable.