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Investment Vision: Olin lays out Canada’s top performers

3 years ago

Vision Capital Corporation co-founder and CEO Jeff Olin embraces periods of volatility in public markets and that’s exactly what investors have been dealing with. Olin believes an active investment approach can differentiate investors from competitors during such times.

Rester Management has completed its acquisition of ELAD Canada for a price that could reach $528 million, including future payments and earnouts included in the sale agreement. On close, $342 million was paid by Rester to previous owner Israeli-based ELAD Group.

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Kevlar Group‘s Noria Apartments project in the Saint-Laurent borough will ultimately offer 364 units spread over two phases and four buildings. The first phase, which includes two buildings totalling 185 units, is under construction and will be delivered in 2022.

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Nearly one in six Toronto homes has a basement apartment or secondary unit, according to new research, highlighting the shortage of rental properties and the housing crunch in many parts of Ontario, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s analysis.

CMLS

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Calgary’s budding tech sector continues to grow, with another multinational information technology firm preparing to bring up to 1,000 jobs to the city. Bangalore-based Mphasis Ltd., a provider of IT outsourcing services, is setting up a Canadian headquarters in the city.

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True North Commercial REIT (TNT-UN-T has completed the sale of a 40,000-square-foot office property at 5900 Explorer Drive, Mississauga, for $11.9 million, excluding transaction costs. The REIT intends to use the net proceeds for general trust purposes and future acquisitions.

Naama Blonder

Architect, Urban Designer, Urban Planner | B.Arch, OAA, RPP, MCIP

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RIV Capital Inc. (RIV-T) announced it has closed an agreement with The Tweed Tree Lot Inc., a subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation, to sell a property located in Fredericton for a cash payment of $4 million.

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Brookfield Properties has acquired Newland, one of the largest private developers of master-planned communities in the U.S., in addition to its five per cent general partner’s equity interest in 15 (of the 20) active master-planned communities.

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Invesque Inc. (IVQ-DB-U-T)  has agreed to sell to SymCare, and/or transition to a new tenant, approximately 50% of its existing 16 assets operated by SymCare. Invesque and SymCare have also entered into an amended and restated 15-year absolute net master lease.

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Desjardins Group announced the acquisition of investment firm Hexavest’s assets. Hexavest is a Montreal-based investment firm with approximately 50 clients, mostly made up of institutional investors in Canadathe U.S., Australia and Asia. It boasts $5 billion in assets under management.

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SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T) announced president/CEO Peter Forde has taken a temporary medical leave of absence. During Forde’s medical leave, Mitchell Goldhar, SmartCentres’ executive chairman, will assume Forde’s responsibilities with the assistance of the rest of SmartCentres’ executive team.

Peakhill Capital

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Online sales continue to bolster Indigo Books & Music Inc.’s (IDG-T) business despite continued mandatory shutdowns of some of its stores – contributing to an 11 per cent revenue increase in the fourth quarter, while its sales for the full year declined.

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Best Buy Co Inc. (BBY-N) raised its annual sales forecast on Thursday, saying the latest round of stimulus cheques had kept consumers buying home electronics, while acknowledging that a reopening economy threatens to slow growth later in the year.

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From a practical perspective, it is clear that in a post-pandemic world, preserving flexibility for other permitted uses of office buildings is critical, but there are many legal issues landowners, developers, tenants and lenders must navigate to achieve flexibility.

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Blackstone Group Inc. (BX-N) and Starwood Capital Group have increased their offer to buy  Extended Stay America Inc., to $20.50 per paired share. The JV in March agreed to buy the hotel chain for $19.50 per paired share, valuing it at $6 billion.

Colliers Talks

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EasyPark, a City of Vancouver-affiliated agency managing 130 parking lots with 10,000-plus spaces, decided using some of its property for something besides parking would be a smart move, financially and socially. As a result, two new child-care centres will soon open.

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Ontario’s temporary pause on residential evictions expires along with the province’s stay-at-home order on Wednesday. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirmed Tuesday the emergency order had not been renewed.

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Ottawa’s finance and economic development committee gave the thumbs-up Tuesday to a proposed additional one per cent tax on vacant residential properties in an effort to boost the city’s rental housing supply.

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More than $7.7 billion in residential permits were issued nationally in April, down 6.7% from a record high of more than $8 billion in March. Monthly declines in B.C. (-23.7%) and Quebec (-14.9%) contributed most to that change, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

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