Dream in talks to buy $1.3B European industrial portfolio

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  International

Dream Industrial REIT (DIR-UN-T) reported Wednesday morning it is in “advanced discussions” to acquire shares of a corporation which owns 31 logistics properties across Europe for about $1.3 billion (all figures Cdn).

Contract blurs lines between Artis REIT, Sandpiper

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

Artis REIT (AX-UN-T) is awarding an investment management contract to Sandpiper Group, a private equity firm run by Artis CEO Samir Manji, even though Sandpiper won an activist campaign against the REIT’s former board centred on alleged conflicts of interest.

CRE Matters › Canadian retail in 2021: Stronger than you think

Jane Domenico and Madeleine Nicholls: Colliers Canada

Canderel buys $102M stake in 3-tower condo project

RENX  Residential  •  Retail, Condominiums, Infrastructure  •  Toronto / GTA

Canderel is in, BentallGreenOak is out and KingSett Capital has transitioned to a lending partner for a major three-building condominium project in midtown Toronto. Montreal-based Canderel paid $102.43 million for a 50 per cent stake in the three-tower development.

Downtown Ott., Mtl. retailers wait for workers to return

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  La Presse

Just over a year ago, the office workers in downtown Ottawa’s Sun Life Financial Centre went home. Each weekday, Mahmod Saed sits in a barber chair on the ground floor of that building and waits for them to return.

What to expect when T.O. heads back to the office

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

Toronto Region Board of Trade CEO Jan De Silva predicts a new hybrid post-pandemic workplace, one that incorporates carefully orchestrated face-to-face collaboration with elements of remote work such as flexible office attendance and limited gatherings around the water cooler.

Toronto North America’s No. 2 financial centre

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Canada’s largest city appears to have cemented its place as North America’s most important banking centre after New York. Toronto is adding bankers, portfolio managers and other finance types faster than any other North American city, says Toronto Finance International.

Canada running out of land for homes: RBC

Residential  •  Bloomberg

“Running out of land in Canada is a relatively recent phenomenon . . .” said RBC economist Robert Hogue. “I think that for future generations, homeownership is going to look a lot more European, for example, than it does today.”

Owners of heritage homes get an insurance surprise

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

In recent months, some residents of Toronto’s historic Cabbagetown neighbourhood have been told by their insurer that, for reasons not entirely clear to them, their home is no longer insurable.

Major CN shareholder calls for end of KSU pursuit

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  La Presse

Billionaire hedge fund manager Christopher Hohn urged Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR-T) to halt its takeover of Kansas City Southern (KSU-N), calling the US$29.9-billion proposal risky and overpriced while throwing his support behind Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s (CP-T) deal.

Eglinton LRT to cost more and take longer

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

The cost of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is set to increase and its official opening date be pushed back, after Crosslinx Transit Solutions scored a legal victory against the province over the effects of COVID-19.

Oxford forced to scramble on Manhattan financing

Commercial  •  Commercial Observer  •  RENX

When the world turned on a dime in early 2020, Oxford Properties Group found its mammoth construction financing for Manhattan’s St. John’s Terminal in limbo.  “Closing a close to $1 billion construction loan is never an easy feat,” CFO Allison Wolfe said.

Topshop to shutter all Canada stores

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

U.K. fast-fashion brand Topshop and Topman will be exiting all Hudson’s Bay stores in the fall after a 10-year run in Canada. The move comes after the administration filing of Topshop in the U.K. and its subsequent acquisition by ASOS.

Demand still high for CRE, foodservice assets: CHI

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

While the hospitality industry faces struggles due to closures due to the pandemic, there continues to be a large demand for people looking to buy commercial and restaurant properties, says CHI Real Estate Group executives Ori Grad and Mark Parmegiani.

U.S. hotel REITs will be active buyers and sellers

Commercial  •  CoStar

Though the number of distressed hotel transactions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic is nowhere near the amount U.S. hoteliers expected, deals are still happening and executives at hotel real estate investment trusts are finding opportunities.

U.S. CRE construction starts down 16.8% YOY

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News  •  CBRE Blog

ConstructConnect announced April’s volume of construction starts, excluding residential work, was $31.5 billion, a decrease of 5.9 per cent from March’s $33.4 billion. As well, year-to-date non-residential starts through the fourth month of this year were -16.8% versus Jan.-Apr. 2020.

Lowe’s growth lags Home Depot’s

Commercial  •  Reuters

Lowe’s Cos Inc. (LOW-N) reported on Wednesday a 25.9 per cent jump in quarterly same-store sales growth that failed to match that of larger rival Home Depot Inc, signaling it was slipping further behind after gaining ground during the pandemic.

Small city prices outside Toronto up nearly 28% YOY

Residential  •  Financial Post

Housing price gains in smaller cities outside Toronto and its immediate suburbs outpaced the major urban centres, with cities like Barrie, Guelph and Kitchener posting annual gains up to 27.9 per cent year-over-year, says the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index.

Canadians seeking affordable housing look to U.S.

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

The median list price for a home in Cleveland jumped 15.4 per cent in April to US$101,400. Housing affordability is a national problem in Canada, so much so that we’re starting to hear talk of relocating to the United States.

Millennials more willing to engage in bidding wars

Residential  •  Daily Hive  •  Canada Newswire

The real estate market has been on a non-stop, steep upswing over the past several months. And a new survey from TD found that it’s buyers under 35 who are much more willing to engage in bidding wars.