CRE owners stuck between tenants, building expenses

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Industrial, Retail  •  National, Metro Vancouver

As tenants face the challenge of paying rents, building owners, particularly those with hard-hit retail spaces, have had to consider options in order to cover their own costs, including property taxes that have soared over the years.

Unpaid rent surging at shopping centres

Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen  •  RENX

In the country’s enclosed regional malls — a category that includes CF Toronto Eaton Centre and CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver — only 20 to 25 per cent of tenants paid rent in April, according to brokerage firm JLL Canada.

Quebec government takes aim at Amazon

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Quebec’s nationalist government is embarking on an uphill battle to chip away at Amazon.com Inc.’s position. Premier François Legault’s government took a first step by building an online directory of retailers called Le Panier Bleu — or Blue Basket.

Colonnade Bridgeport, Fiera buy Ottawa redev site

RENX  Commercial  •  Land, Industrial  •  Ottawa

Colonnade Bridgeport and Fiera Real Estate have acquired a prime, five-acre urban redevelopment site just east of downtown Ottawa with a development capacity of up to 2.3 million square feet. The firms announced the new partnership and transaction Monday morning.

Richcraft proposes trio of Ottawa residential towers

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Years after scrapping a controversial plan to construct a trio of 15-storey condos near Algonquin College, Ottawa developer Richcraft Homes has submitted a new proposal calling for three high-rises of more than 20 storeys each at the site.

Ottawa proposes to expand urban boundary

Residential  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Business Journal

In a report released Friday, Ottawa planning department staff recommended adding 1,650 hectares to the city’s suburbs. The expansion is meant to accommodate an influx of approximately 400,000 new residents over the next quarter of a century.

Value: Weighed and Measured › History lessons: Why pandemic impacts are so hard to predict

John Clark: Vice President , The Regional Group of Companies Inc

B.C. restaurant reopenings could start in May

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver  •  Victoria Times Colonist  •  Ottawa Business Journal

B.C. restaurants could be allowed to open their dining rooms as early as next month, although the provincial government has made clear that any loosened restrictions will come from provincial health officer Bonnie Henry.

Shopify now second-largest publicly traded company

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

With a $107 billion market capitalization, Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify (SHOP-T) is now the second-largest publicly traded company in the country and is quickly closing in on Royal Bank of Canada for the top spot.

Court sides with Loblaw in $368M tax evasion case

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L-T) is off the hook for $368 million in taxes, after the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a 2018 ruling that found the company used a Barbados bank as a tax shelter.

Credit Suisse acquires Northview Apartment units

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Credit Suisse Securities (Canada), Inc. announced it has acquired 100 trust units in the capital of Northview Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust (NVU-UN-T) on April 23. CSSC now holds 6,706,984 units, representing approximately 10.0001 per cent of issued and outstanding units.

REIT/REOC COVID-19 business updates

Commercial  • 

Plaza Retail REIT, (PLZ-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Vail Resorts, Inc., (MTN-N), Canada Newswire

CPP Investments JVs on $2B South Korean logistics

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

CPP Investments and Dutch pension fund manager APG have joined ESR Cayman to invest $2 billion US in South Korea’s logistics sector. ESR-KS II development has secured an initial $450 million from CPP Investments, which will hold 45% of total issued shares.

COVID-19 shuttered buildings prone to Legionnaires’ disease

Commercial  •  Reuters

Commercial buildings shuttered for weeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus could fuel another grisly lung infection: Legionnaires’ disease. Public health experts are urging global landlords to carefully reopen buildings to prevent outbreaks of the severe pneumonia strain.

Supply chains shift to recover-and-survive mode

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

On March 24, the CEO of Coca-Cola Co. described what he saw from the helm of the iconic American beverage company. “The supply chain is creaking around the world,” James Quincey said in an interview on CNBC.

Gap warns of cash shortage, suspends rent payments

Commercial  •  Reuters

Gap Inc (GPS-N) warned on Thursday it may not survive the next 12 months intact and would need to borrow more funds. The apparel retailer also said it had suspended rent payments for shuttered stores.

Queen’s Park seeks deal with feds to help renters

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

After securing an agreement with the federal government on commercial rent relief, Premier Doug Ford is now asking the prime minister to work with Ontario on a program to support residential tenants, Ford announced Friday.

Canadian cities trail peers on plans to remake streets

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

As cities around the world begin to roll out ambitious plans to remake their streets after the pandemic, Canadian cities have yet to reveal anything comparable and some are suggesting there is no urgency to make changes.

Ottawa buyers, sellers forge ahead despite COVID-19

Residential  •  CBC

“At the beginning, it was a complete shutdown,” says Ottawa realtor Gloria Yankowich. However, things are starting to change as buyers, sellers and agents figure out creative ways to mitigate their risk through virtual tours and conditional sales.

Manitoba’s normally hot cottage market ice-cold

Residential  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Normally, as the weather in Manitoba warms up, so does the recreational home or resort home market. The selling season generally picks up and stays somewhat steady until October. This year, that might not be the case, industry professionals say.