RioCan continues to develop heavy slate of projects

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Apartments, Retail  •  National

When RioCan REIT participated in the “Lunchbox Challenge” to show appreciation to construction crews working during the pandemic, it did so in a big way: 1,200 lunches, 13 restaurants, nine sites across Canada. That illustrates just how busy RioCan is.

What CRE owners can do to mitigate rising insurance costs

RENX  Commercial  •  Investment  •  National

Insurance costs have risen dramatically for real estate developers and owners in recent years, but an industry expert who expects the trend to continue said measures can be taken to help reduce the impact.

QuadReal submits plan to redevelop Cloverdale Mall

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

The 1956-built Cloverdale Mall at the intersection of Dundas Street West and Highway 427 in Central Etobicoke will undergo a complete transformation by landowner QuadReal Property Group with a mixed-use, multi-tower, complete community built around a new retail high street.

Phase 2 of Bingham Crossing SC near Calgary OK’ed

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

The massive Bingham Crossing shopping centre, to be located along the TransCanada Highway between Calgary and Banff, received a major boost recently when Rocky View County gave its approval for Phase 2 of the project.

Thind Properties gets approval for Surrey towers

Commercial  •  Urban YVR

Surrey city council has approved a major, three-building development by Thind Properties at 105 Avenue and University Drive, 500 metres from the Gateway SkyTrain station. It’s designed in compliance with the city’s goal of achieving high-rise, high-density, mixed-use transit developments.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Investors should be parking cash in industrial CRE

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

74-Storey condo tower proposed at Yonge and Gerrard

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

The 2014 completion of Aura at College Park introduced a new height peak in Toronto’s Downtown Yonge area. Six years later, several of Canada’s tallest projects are in the works around Yonge and Gerrard, including 372 Yonge Street, a 74-storey mixed-use tower.

Dymon revises 850 York Mills self-storage project

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

The proposal for a Dymon Storage project at the northwest corner of Toronto’s York Mills Road and Lesmill Road has been reduced in height, the self-storage and office space has been reduced and the retail component has increased slightly.

Equiton fund acquires Guelph apartment buildings

Residential  •  Equiton News Release

Equiton Residential Income Fund has completed the purchase of two apartment buildings, totalling 112 units, in Guelph, Ont. The properties are centrally located residential complexes near the university, within walking distance of Stone Road Mall and the adjacent commercial corridor.

ERES acquires Dutch multiresidential property

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

ERES REIT (ERE-UN-X) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire a multiresidential property in the municipality of Renkum in the Eastern Netherlands for $31.9 million. The three-building, eight-storey property includes 120 residential suites and 24 parking units.

Landlords and tenants agree the system is broken

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Financial Post

In Toronto and Vancouver, renters have had a reprieve during the pandemic from evictions and rent increases. As the moratorium on evictions has been lifted in Ontario and ends on Sept. 1 in B.C. experts expect thousands of eviction notices.

REIT Financial Results

Residential, Commercial  • 

American Hotels Income Properties REIT, (HOT-UN-T), PR Newswire

Cominar REIT, (CUF-UN-T), PR Newswire

Chartwell Retirement Residences, (CSH-UN-T), PR Newswire

Interrent REIT, (IIP-UN-T), Stockhouse

Empire converting three Sobeys stores into Farm Boys

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Three Ontario Sobeys stores – Harbourfront in Toronto, Bronte in Oakville and Greenbank in Ottawa – are being converted to the Farm Boy banner. The Sobeys and Sobeys Urban Fresh locations will close this fall and reopen as Farm Boys in 2021.

Canadian Tire reports loss; closures offset online gains

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Despite strong sales growth online and at its flagship stores, Canadian Tire reported a loss in its second quarter, as the impact of store closures resulted in a net loss to shareholders of $20 million or 33 cents per share.

Restaurant Brands’ profit dips as pandemic closes outlets

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Restaurant closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have dragged down earnings for Restaurant Brands International Inc. The Toronto-based parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen reported a 36 per cent Q2 decline in net income.

Shoppers shun browsing until vaccine found: Reisman

Commercial  •  CBC

Canadian customers likely won’t start frequenting stores for items not on their shopping lists until there’s a vaccine for COVID-19 according to Indigo Books & Music Inc. chief executive Heather Reisman, which recently re-opened 182 of its locations.

Rent-to-own, ensuite rentals aimed at condo buyers

Residential  •  Western Investor

A 173-unit condo development in Port Moody, B.C., has moved the dial on rent-to-own apartments and income-generating secondary rental suites. Council has given third reading to amend zoning bylaws to allow the concept.

Where to buy real estate in 2020: Top 35 cities

Residential  •  Money Sense

Strong economic fundamentals helped the GTA city of Guelph, Ont., top the MoneySense “Where to buy now” ranking. Despite the value found in Guelph’s real estate, average home prices are still less than $530,000.

Ottawa residential, condo prices surge in July

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

In the midst of a pandemic, with employment levels down more than 60,000, Ottawa residential resale properties sold for an average $585,000 in July — up 20 per cent compared with the same month a year ago. The condo market, too, was sizzling, with average sale prices of nearly $358,000.

Canadians reduced household debt in pandemic

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

Canadians shrank their credit card debt and paid down lines of credit in the early months of the pandemic, as massive government aid and loan deferral programs took some of the pressure off household finances.