Vancouver’s 21-storey Harley House apt. tower sold

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Metro Vancouver

The 21-storey, 107-apartment Harley House tower at 1230 Nelson St., in Vancouver’s West End has sold from one private owner to another in a $52-million transaction. The building is a “quintessential 1970s concrete high-rise that rarely trades.”

Fiera forecasts 4 COVID-19 scenarios during webinar

RENX  Commercial  •  Investment  •  National

There is a 50 per cent chance of a modest recovery in Canada’s economy during the third quarter of 2020, should therapies and attempts at social distancing prove successful at halting the spread of COVID-19, according to a forecast by Fiera Capital.

Gateway casino IPO in jeopardy

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Private equity-owned Gateway Casinos and Entertainment has been trying to go public, pay back lenders and cash out its backers for eight years. A $1.5-billion deal Gateway struck in December with U.S. buyer Leisure Acquisition Corp. is now in jeopardy.

Rent strikes loom across Canada

Residential, Commercial  •  Reuters

Restrictions aimed at curbing the virus’ spread has hit the restaurant and retail industries hard, making rent payment a flashpoint expense for both employers and employees. A rent strike is gathering steam in Ontario.

Working from home may herald a new office era

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Marketplace  •  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With the onset of COVID-19, office life for hundreds of millions vanished virtually overnight. By 2020, working from home was dead easy. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Zoom had 10 million daily uses; today, the figure is 200 million and rising quickly.

COVID-19 impact on CRE will be felt for a long time: Survey

Commercial  •  CoreNet Global

In a survey of global corporate real estate professionals, nearly all of the respondents reported the expanded use of virtual meetings and remote work instituted as a response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will last beyond the current crisis.

Sponsored by Chicago Title Extended protection from Chicago Title during the COVID-19 crisis

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Property managers unable to enforce social distancing

Residential  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  CBC  •  CTV

Brydges Property Management, one of the larger property management companies in Manitoba with more than 10,000 condo residents and apartment tenants, is asking the province and Winnipeg Police Service for help enforcing social distancing and self-isolation rules.

Grocery store executives get a taste of the hard life

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Loblaw Cos. sent an email to its head office staff in early March, asking for volunteers to work in grocery stores. Angie Kim, a senior director of finance and former  store manager, has been working 12-hour days at Toronto-area stores.

Ontario essential construction list creates confusion

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News  •  Daily Commercial News

It was a weekend of confusion in Ontario’s construction sector as stakeholders placed phone calls and sent email questions to lawyers and construction authorities looking for guidance on what projects fell under the province’s new guidelines on essential workplaces.

Winnipeg closes underground concourse, skywalk

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The City of Winnipeg has shut the doors to the entire downtown overhead walkway system, along with the underground concourse at Portage and Main until further notice as a health precaution due to COVID-19.

REIT/REOC COVID-19 business updates

Commercial  • 

CT REIT, (CRT-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corp., (FC-T), Globe Newswire

Cineworld closes all its movie threatres

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  Bloomberg

British cinema operator Cineworld said on Tuesday it has shut all its 787 cinemas across 10 countries due to the coronavirus pandemic and that it was in talks with its lenders for ongoing liquidity requirements.

Airbnb secures $1B investment from Silver Lake, Sixth Street

Residential  •  Reuters  •  TechCrunch

Airbnb said on Monday private equity firms Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners will invest $1 billion in the U.S. home rental company, bolstering its finances at a time when the coronavirus outbreak has roiled the travel and leisure industry.

China sees dramatic rise in number of RE transactions

Residential  •  Mansion Global

The number of real estate transactions in China are starting to pick up, as the country emerges from its coronavirus lockdown, according to Knight Frank. Home sales across 30 major Chinese cities reached 5,976 on March 31, the highest daily total since Jan. 8.

Mapletree raises US$1.8B for U.S. and Europe logistics fund

Commercial  •  Mingtiandi  •  IPE Real Assets

Mapletree Investments has raised $1.8 billion for its first ever U.S. and European logistics fund, leveraging the returns from leasing warehouses to e-commerce firms to expand the Singapore-based company’s capital management business.

COVID-19 pummels Montreal’s residential market

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

Although 2020 marked one of the busiest Marches on record for the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a definite slowdown in the second half of the month, according to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers.

Montreal property brokers brace for spring freeze

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette

Property brokers are bracing for a spring freeze in Montreal after residential sales fell off a cliff in late March following the provincial government’s decision to put Quebec on pause to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Ontario, Quebec restricting short-term rentals

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

Ontario has restricted the operations of online accommodation services such as Airbnb, issuing an order that limits short-term rentals to those “who are in need of housing during the emergency period.”

Forgot your keys? Scan your face: Canadian firm

Residential, Commercial  •  Reuters

Plans for Canadian residents to use facial scans to enter their buildings have sparked privacy criticisms. Gatineau-based 1Valet says facial scanning helps keep tenants safe by preventing unauthorized access to buildings and by keeping track of those who do enter.