‘Sky is the limit’ for Montreal’s industrial leasing rates

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Greater Montreal

If you’re an industrial tenant in Montreal, lock in your renewal as soon as possible. That was the message from Charlie Deeks, CIO of Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust, during a discussion at the virtual Montreal Real Estate Forum.

Confidence in Montreal undiminished: Allied CEO

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  RENX

“I continue to believe the outlook for Montreal will be as promising post-pandemic as it was pre-pandemic,” Toronto-based Allied Properties REIT  (AP-UN-T) CEO Michael Emory says. “For sure it’s a very severe disruption. But my confidence is undiminished.”

Westbank, QuadReal seek Oakridge Centre changes

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

Westbank and QuadReal Property Group seek to build more density and swap an entire luxury condo building for market rental in their plans for Vancouver’s Oakridge Centre, one of the largest real estate projects by size in North America.

Gitlin to succeed retiring Sonshine as RioCan CEO

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Apartments, Retail  •  National

The grooming process is complete. Jonathan Gitlin will succeed Ed Sonshine as CEO of RioCan REIT (REI-UN-T) at the end of March, the trust announced. Gitlin was named president and COO in 2019, when Sonshine announced his intention to retire.

Lack of insurance may shut some Ont. seniors homes

Residential  •  Global News  •  CityNews

Ontario’s long-term care homes are having trouble securing liability insurance for COVID-19, a situation that could force some of them to close, according to the Ontario Long Term Care Association, which represents more than 70 per cent of the province’s homes.

ICE District’s SKY Residences converted to rentals

Residential  •  Edmonton Journal  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Condos originally slated for the upper 12 floors of Stantec Tower are being converted into luxury rental suites in Edmonton’s downtown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sky Residences at Ice District announced 168 rental units will be available starting Tuesday.

Real Estate Wealth Insights › REITs can offer attractive returns in low-interest environment

Greg Placidi: Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, Equiton Capital

Online shopping surge stoking delivery concerns

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post  •  Toronto Star

The expected surge in online shopping during the holiday season is stoking concerns Canada’s courier network won’t be able to keep up with deliveries. “The infrastructure is being stretched to the limit,” said Diane Brisebois, Retail Council of Canada CEO.

Developers find opportunities on GTA golf courses

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

For decades, one version of the suburban dream was to have a house overlooking a golf course or country club. However, an insatiable hunger for GTA land has seen more of those fairways converted to roadways in new subdivisions.

Kaneff breaks ground on Keystone Condos

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Kaneff Group of Companies celebrated the groundbreaking of Keystone Condos in the heart of Mississauga City Centre on Friday. The 20- and 23-storey towers will include 406 suites and are 80 per cent sold out.

Podcasts from the real estate world

Residential, Commercial  • 

Peter Altobelli, Yardi: Top 5 highlights from Vancouver Real Estate Forum, Canadian Real Estate Forums

Luis Vidal, Luis Vidal + Architects, Daily Commercial News, The Construction Record Podcast: Episode 95

Marlene Farias, Triovest Realty Advisors: Lifting up her community, colleagues and kids, Highview Partners People Who Perform: Episode 25

REIT/REOC business updates

Residential, Commercial  • 

Nexus REIT, (NXR-UN-X), Globe Newswire

PROREIT, (PRV-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Subversive Real Estate Acquisition REIT, (SVX-U-NE), Canada Newswire 

Summit Industrial Income REIT, (SMU-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Yardi Long Term Care, Canada Newswire

Slate acquires two Germany portfolios for $112M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  IPE Real Assets

Slate Asset Management announced the acquisition of two real estate portfolios in Germany by its Slate European Real Estate Fund III for $112 million Cdn. The portfolios comprise approximately 646,000 square feet and are leased to leading grocery and other essential-use tenants.

Starlight, KingSett acquire 1.016M Northview units

Residential  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Starlight Group Property Holdings and KingSett Capital announced they have acquired 1,016,739 trust units of Northview Apartment REIT (NVU-UN-T). This increased their aggregate beneficial ownership of Northview units to 10,428,696 or 15.42% per cent of the total number of units outstanding.

Dream increases interest in Dream Office REIT

Commercial  •  Business Wire

Dream Unlimited Corp. announced its interest in Dream Office REIT (D-UN-T) is deemed to have increased as a result of the acquisition by CEO Michael Cooper of 1,765 units, Series A representing less than 0.01% of the issued and outstanding units.

Offices use sensors to keep workers apart

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

“If you have people coming into the office, it’s very rare for them consistently to be six feet apart,” said Kanav Dhir, head of product at VergeSense, which has 30,000 object-recognition sensors deployed in office buildings around the world tracking workers.

Ontario group to fight racism in construction industry

Residential, Commercial  •  RESCON media release

The Residential Construction Council of Ontario and 21 industry partners have formed a roundtable to address racism in the construction industry. The roundtable includes employers, unions, employment agencies, educators, contractors organizations, provincial and municipal governments, and the health and safety sector.

‘(Housing) prices can only go up’: Zoocasa CEO

Residential  •  Financial Post

VIDEO: Zoocasa CEO Lauren Haw speaks with the Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn about the record-breaking sales in the Canadian housing market, and whether the seeming shift from downtown to suburban living will change.

Inside London’s red-hot housing market

Residential  •  London Free Press

Pent-up demand, not enough houses for sale and cheap money are driving London-area home prices to record highs. Outsiders flooding in and more investors buying in are also factors. Jonathan Juha breaks down where the market’s headed:

Home improvement business is booming

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

When the lockdown hit in mid-March, Paul Sangha began paying his Vancouver-based architectural landscape staff their salaries in advance to give them a sense of certainty. But then something strange happened. Business suddenly picked up.