Big challenges in booming multifamily sector

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  National

Government regulations are slowing the supply of much-needed new purpose-built rental apartments, and tighter rent controls could exacerbate the problem, according to a panel of senior executives which closed the Sept. 4 Canadian Apartment Investment Conference in Toronto.

Calgary’s The International unique project for Minto

RENX  Residential  •  Hotels and Resorts, Apartments  •  Calgary

Ottawa-based Minto Group is taking a unique and innovative approach to one of its Calgary properties to meet a growing demand. Minto Apartments (MI-UN-T) converted the aging International Hotel into premium long- and short-term rental apartments called The International.

IWG considers sale of Canadian operations: Source

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  RENX

IWG, the largest operator of serviced offices globally, is exploring a sale of its Canadian business, a source says. A sale would include IWG’s Canadian operations, including its Regus and Spaces brands, as well as rights to open new locations.

Anbang selling hotel portfolio for $5.8B US

Commercial  •  Chicago Business

Anbang Insurance Group Co. has agreed to sell a luxury hotel portfolio for a little more than $5.8 billion to South Korea’s Mirae Asset Management Co. The portfolio includes the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile and the Fairmont Chicago.

K-W transit investment spurs downtown renewal

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  RENX

Sleek light-rail trains carve their way along an urban spine from the north end of Waterloo to the south end of Kitchener, a 22-stop route that includes two shopping malls, two universities, two city halls and a future transit hub.

The People Space › People Space: Minto REIT’s new COO, Tanzola, Drake, Crombie on move

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Investors stoking Toronto condo fever

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Record prices in the Toronto-area condo market don’t appear to be fazing investors. Robin Pope of Pope Real Estate Ltd. saw a diminutive studio apartment arrive on the market recently and immediately thought of his client working in New York.

Lamb’s Toronto condo project delayed

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Lamb Development Corp. has begun offering deposits back to presale buyers in a downtown Toronto condominium apartment project. A spokesperson for Lamb Development, owned by and named for condo impresario John Bradley Lamb, declined to comment.

Vancouver rental investment bouncing back

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun  •  RENX

Investors’ appetite to buy rental apartments in the Vancouver region appears to be bouncing back after a first half that saw many buyers waiting on the sidelines amid uncertainty in the market, said Lance Coulson, an executive vice-president with CBRE.

TOD can include risks, workshop told

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Vancouver Sun

Twenty years ago, the East Liberty neighbourhood in Pittsburgh was struggling: businesses had closed, houses were boarded up and there were deep economic and racial divides. Community leaders came up with a plan that included a revitalized transit centre.

Edmonton rejects rezoning next to future LRT

Commercial  •  Edmonton Journal  •  CBC  •  Edmonton Journal

Dozens of Glenora residents and community members celebrated Monday evening as Edmonton city council decided not to rezone a controversial site in the historic neighbourhood to make way for a two-storey commercial building.

Sidewalk Labs plan ‘frustratingly abstract’: Panel

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

Waterfront Toronto’s Digital Strategy Advisory Panel, a panel of experts advising development agency Waterfront Toronto about a proposed redevelopment of a waterfront neighbourhood, has issued a report calling Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs’ plan “frustratingly abstract.”

B.C. landowners dig in their heels over pipeline

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Barbara Gard is among thousands of B.C. landowners along the $4.5-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion route who have not yet granted the Crown corporation access to their property. Indigenous groups are also filing legal challenges.

Vancouver land investment deals up in Q2

Residential, Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

While the tally of investment sales greater than $1 million in Metro Vancouver has dropped significantly this year, the second quarter saw a greater volume of land deals, according to the latest figures from Altus Group.

ISS, Glass Lewis recommend Pure Multi vote for deal

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Pure Multi-Family REIT (RUF-UN-T) announced Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. and Glass, Lewis & Co., LLC have both recommended unitholders vote to be acquired by Atlanta-based Cortland Partners, LLC  in an all-cash transaction that values the trust at about US$1.2 billion.

Brookfield Property Partners a dividend all-star

Commercial  •  Motley Fool  •  Motley Fool  •  Globe Newswire

Brookfield Property Partners (BPY.UN-T) has a global portfolio of office, retail, multifamily, logistics, hospitality, self-storage, and student housing assets on five continents. It is deeply aligned to the company’s philosophy of generating stable and growing distributions while protecting against risk.

Montreal property assessments climb 13.7%

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Montreal homeowners will see a major increase in their property assessment. On average, residential and non-residential properties are going up 13.7 per cent, the city announced Wednesday. The new assessments will take effect Jan. 1, 2020 and cover the next three years.

Start with malls to transform cities: Planners

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Take one underused mall, several hectares of dreary parking lots and a bus loop or transit station. Urban planners and developers are banking on transforming that space into the vibrant, high-density urban centres of tomorrow.

Property sales hammered in Northern B.C.

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver

For Vancouver real estate agent Bruce Long, the impact of the forestry fall-off in Northern B.C. hit home this week as one of his clients axed the price of a 32-unit rental apartment building in Mackenzie. Again.

23% of millennials justify lying on mortgage application

Residential  •  CBC  •  Western Investor

Some millennials believe it is justifiable to lie on a mortgage application, according to an Equifax Canada survey on mortgage fraud. The survey states nearly 23 per cent of millennials deem it acceptable to inflate income when applying for a mortgage.