How COVID-19 is shifting global CRE investment strategy

RENX  Commercial  •  Investment  •  International

COVID-19 affects commercial real estate investment in different ways in different regions of the world. A May 6 Real Estate Forums webinar examined how, through the early days of the pandemic, major Canadian and international investors are adjusting their strategies.

Sonshine guarantees distribution amid COVID-19 turmoil

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX

CEO Ed Sonshine has a message for investors: RioCan REIT’s distributions are safe. “Either the market has way overreacted on the downside, or there’s this feeling that the world is so awful they’re all going to be cut,” Sonshine said.

Dream Office’s Cooper prefers low distribution

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

PODCAST: Dream Office REIT (D-UN-T) CEO Michael Cooper says REITs can access cheap money to maintain their distributions if they want to, “(but) our preference is to have a low distribution to give us a lot more flexibility.”

At RENX, it is business ‘as always’, not ‘as usual’

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Investment  •  National

It is eight weeks since the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic and countries began to respond in earnest to contain its spread. At RENX, it has been business “as always” but far from being business “as usual”

Colliers’ Proptech Accelerator delayed to 2021

RENX  Commercial  •  Technology  •  National

The Colliers Proptech Accelerator Powered by Techstars program planned for this year has been moved to 2021 due to COVID-19. The program launched in 2018 and is designed to help early-stage proptech companies refine business plans and gain global real estate perspective.

CoStar Group to acquire Ten-X for $190M

Commercial  •  Business Wire

CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP-Q) the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, announced it plans to acquire Ten-X for $190 million US in cash. The Ten-X platform has transacted more than $20 billion in commercial property types.

Brookfield is again world’s largest public RE company

Commercial  •  Forbes  •  Globe and Mail

Toronto-headquartered Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) had, for the past year, the most assets ($324 billion), highest revenues ($69 billion), second-highest profits ($2.8 billion) and fourth-highest market cap ($51 billion), making it the world’s largest real estate investment company for the third year running.

Quebec’s Simons chain faces biggest test yet

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

There are not many family-owned Canadian department stores left that can boast of having survived the Great Depression of the 1870s. In its 180th year, La Maison Simons has managed to escape the same fate as Eaton’s, Simpsons and Woodward’s.

TheGuarantors opening Montréal development office

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

New York-based fintech company TheGuarantors is opening its first international office in Montreal. The Montréal subsidiary will focus on building the next generation systems that will drive new product development and power the company’s growth.

Choice to issue $500 million in unsecured debentures

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Choice Properties REIT (CHP-UN-T) announced it has agreed to issue, on a private placement basis in certain provinces of Canada, $500 million aggregate principal amount of series P senior unsecured debentures that will bear interest at a rate of 2.848% per annum.

REOC first-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Bridgemarq Real Estate Services, (BRE-T), Canada Newswire

Brookfield Asset Management, (BAM-A-T), Globe Newswire

Invesque Inc., (IVQ-U-T), Canada Newswire

Sienna Senior Living Inc., (SIA-T), Globe Newswire

REIT first-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

American Hotel Income Properties REIT, (HOT-UN-T), Canada Newswire

BTB REIT, (BTB-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Granite REIT, (GRT-UN-T), Business Wire

Inovalis REIT, (INO-UN-T), Canada Newswire

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

Slate Office REIT, (SOT-UN-T), Business Wire

WPT Industrial REIT, (WIR-U-T), Globe Newswire

Halifax airport operating at two per cent capacity

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Vancouver Sun

Halifax’s airport is operating at two per cent capacity due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic — and staff do not expect to see passenger numbers return to last year’s levels until at least 2024.

This is not the end of office real estate

Commercial  •  Forbes  •  CNBC

Myriad publications have already pronounced office space a trend of the past as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The most publicized reasons focus on a postapocalyptic world where people do not want to be around people.

U.S. rental housing crisis has arrived

Residential  •  Forbes

According to Edison Research, over 62 per cent of U.S. renters are concerned about being able to make the rent. With over 43 million renters nationwide, the rental market makes up nearly 40 per cent of all housing in the U.S.

Macerich collects just 26% of April rent payments

Commercial  •  The Real Deal

Tom O’Hern, CEO of the Santa Monica retail REIT, reported Macerich “collected about 26 per cent of rent” from tenants at the 47 shopping centres it owns in the U.S., malls replete with brands like H&M and Pottery Barn that have been shut down.

Mortgage arrears rate could double: B of C

Residential  •  CBC

The Bank of Canada says if no new policies had been implemented in response to the unprecedented economic impact of COVID-19, the mortgage arrears rate may have risen to 2.1 per cent of all loans by the end of this year.

Vancouver needs to recalibrate housing strategy: Critics

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

The Housing Vancouver Strategy needs a serious rethink because it is based on flawed population projections that are pressuring the City to develop more market housing than it needs, say housing experts.

Vancouver two-bedroom rent drops 15 per cent

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The cost to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Vancouver dropped by more than 15 per cent last month, according to the latest data from Rentals.ca. Average rents were down in April over March in most major Canadian cities.

Toronto condo rents fall six per cent in April

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Condo rents in some of Toronto’s toniest downtown neighbourhoods are feeling the effects of COVID-19 with the biggest impact on larger and luxury units, according to a new report based on listings at Rentals.ca.