RBC fund acquires 50% of $1B QuadReal portfolio

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Industrial, Apartments  •  Toronto / GTA, Edmonton, Greater Montreal

The RBC Canadian Core Real Estate Fund is expanding its partnership with British Columbia Investment Management Corp., and its subsidiary QuadReal, acquiring a 50 per cent interest in a portfolio of Canadian industrial and multifamily assets valued at over $1 billion.

Gates buys controlling interest in Four Seasons

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire

Bill Gates’ private investment company Cascade Investment LLC will pay Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal US$2.2 billion in cash for a 23.75 per cent stake in Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Cascade’s stake will increase to 71.25 per cent.

CAPREIT acquires B.C. apt. buildings for $63.3M

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

CAPREIT (CAR-UN-T) announced it has purchased a portfolio of four new low-rise apartment buildings in West Kelowna totaling 193 suites. The property, completed in 2021, was acquired for $63.3 million, funded from CAPREIT’s Acquisition and Operating Facility. Occupancy was 97.9% at closing.

LaSalle acquires 50% of Maison Manuvie, mall and land

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Retail, Land  •  Metro Vancouver, Greater Montreal

The LaSalle Canada Property Fund has acquired 50 per cent interests in three major properties from Ivanhoé Cambridge – Maison Manuvie office tower in Montreal, Guildford Town Centre shopping mall in Greater Vancouver, and the adjacent 18-acre Guildford development.

PCI proposes 300K-sq.-ft. Vancouver TOD

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

PCI Developments has submitted a rezoning application to transform an auto lot next to the Marine Drive Canada Line station and South Vancouver bus loop into a 300,000-square-foot transit-oriented hub with industrial, retail and office space, rental and affordable homes.

Brigil envisions $1B development on Gatineau site

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Gatineau developer Brigil wants to see up to a billion dollars of new development on a prime piece of real estate near the Canadian Museum of History. Current zoning allows buildings up to 30 storeys at the 1.75-acre site.

The Apartment Building Expert › O’Toole, Singh, Trudeau miss the mark on affordable housing

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

BGO sets record for Fitwel certifications in Canada

Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

BentallGreenOak (BGO) has received Fitwel Viral Response Certification for 50 of its office and retail assets in Canada, including the 2021 ENERGY STAR Commercial Building of the Year award recipient – Edmonton’s Commerce South Office Park – Building B.

Mtl. suburbs spending $400M on industrial buildings

Commercial  •  La Presse

To take advantage of the economic potential represented by technological innovations within the “new agricultural industry,” Montreal  off-island suburbs Repentigny and L’Assomption plan to invest more than $400 million in the construction of large industrial buildings over the next few years.

COVID skews Metro Vancouver outlook

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

The latest data shows Metro Vancouver’s commercial real estate sector should be prepping for a full-press recovery in September, but the reality on the street paints a different and troubling scenario, according to the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA).

How long will downtown Toronto be a ghost town?

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star

Just as the pandemic’s economic impacts have been felt unevenly between service industry workers and white-collar employees, some parts of the downtown Toronto are struggling more than others as the city confronts a fourth wave of COVID-19.

Sequoia Grove Homes proposes three mixed-use towers

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Sequoia Grove Homes has proposed a mixed-use redevelopment that would bring over 1,100 units in three towers at 1799 St Clair Ave. W. in Carleton Village. The IBI Group-designed redevelopment would include 30-, 40- and 45-storey residential towers from podiums ranging from three to eight storeys.

TCI Fund Management launches battle for control of CN

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post  •  Vancouver Sun

London-based activist investor TCI Fund Management has launched a battle for control of Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR-T)  in the wake of the railway’s apparently failed bid to buy Kansas City Southern (KSU-N).

PIMCO to buy Columbia Property Trust for $2.2B

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  CP Executive  •  Business Wire

Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) will buy Columbia Property Trust Inc. (CXP-N) for $2.2 billion, the latter said on Tuesday, as the investment management firm looks to snap up office properties whose valuations have suffered due to people working from home.

There’s Amazon, then there’s everyone else in industrial

Commercial  •  Globest.com

Of the 10 largest industrial projects underway in the U.S. this year, Amazon accounts for eight of them, with a total footprint of 28.3 million square feet — an area about the size of New York City’s Central Park, according to CommercialEdge.

British supermarket takeover heads for auction

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

The $10-billion takeover battle for British supermarket group Morrisons between U.S. private equity groups Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and Fortress Investment Group looks set to be decided by a rarely used auction process.

T.O.’s ambitious Housing Now drive stuck in neutral

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Three years after Mayor John Tory announced Toronto would develop 40,000 new housing units on municipally owned land, Housing Now appears to be stalled over access to a debt financing initiative included in a $40 billion/10 year federal support program.

Calgary home sales up almost 37% YOY

Residential  •  Toronto Star

The Calgary Real Estate Board says home sales have slowed from the record-setting pace seen earlier this year, but rose on a year-over-year basis in August. A total of 2,151 homes were sold in Calgary last month, down from 2,319 in July.

Dealing with real estate when life doesn’t go as planned

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

The plan had been years in the making. Graham and Lee Laxton would redevelop their lovely 4,000-square-foot character house in Kitsilano and end up with four strata housing units. Then Graham was hospitalized for a heart stent procedure.

Liberals have come up short on improving affordability

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Vancouver Sun

Housing continues to headline conversations during the federal election campaign, with the incumbent Liberals defending their record while the other parties point to metrics that indicate a worsening of affordability for homeowners and renters alike.