Halifax office, industrial vacancy rates drop

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Industrial  •  Atlantic Canada

There’s “cautious optimism” for continued  improvement in the Halifax office market in 2019, while the city’s “pretty healthy” industrial sector has dipped below 10 per cent vacancy. Those are the observations of Alexandra Baird Allen of Turner Drake & Partners Ltd.

Block $2B Royalmount project: Urban planner

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  Montreal Gazette

It’s nonsensical that the Town of Mount Royal, with just one per cent of the population on the island of Montreal, can impose the Royalmount project on everyone else, says a leading urban planner.

Square One to open 40,000-square-foot Food District

RENX  Commercial  •  Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

Square One in Mississauga will become the latest major shopping centre to take its food services to the next level in April, when it opens Food District in the west expansion. The 40,000-square-foot centre will contain 22 new businesses.

Canada’s CRE market set for blockbuster 2019: AY

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX  •  Canada Newswire

Canada’s commercial-property boom is expected to stretch into this year, helped by a tight supply and the lowest unemployment rate in at least four decades, according to brokerage Avison Young Canada Inc.

CRE to see proptech acceleration: Altus Group

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

The latest Altus Group CRE Innovation Report (AIF-T) highlights the significant acceleration in adoption of property technology, the effect of disintermediating technologies and a growing trend of CRE firms investing directly in proptech companies and startups themselves.

Tech firms taking over downtown Ottawa

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Amid the revitalization of Ottawa’s downtown core, federal government tenants are competing for office space with the booming technology industry. CRE experts say the light-rail transit system has helped push Ottawa’s office vacancy rate to a two-decade low.

Canadian railways ration space over congestion

Commercial  •  Reuters

Canada’s two major railways are rationing space on trains traveling to the country’s biggest port and recently prioritized some commodities over others to deal with congestion, the latest indication of their struggle to meet demand from new trade deals.

Mattamy expands in Phoenix with $6.3M acquisition

Residential  •  PR Newswire

Mattamy Homes has acquired a 59-acre piece of Phoenix property zoned for 199 lots in total. Mattamy purchased the property next to Camelback Ranch-Glendale Field from Mortgages Limited for $6.3 million.

Marriott International sets record in 2018

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Marriott International (MAR-Q) today announced record organic rooms signings in 2018, ending the year with a record global pipeline. In 2018, the company signed management and franchise agreements for 816 properties, comprised of 125,000 rooms.

Moose Jaw hotel back for sale at nearly $11M

Commercial  •  Regina Leader-Post

Moose Jaw’s Grant Hall Hotel is again listed for sale — and the owners say they’re sure to lose on the deal. Avison Young is making an “aggressive” push to sell the 82,804 square-foot building, which is listed at $10.999 million.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Differences between regional and national CRE brokers

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

Understanding values behind B.C. CRE assessments

Commercial  •  BC Business

The increased value of commercial properties has sparked debate about the true value of commercial properties in B.C. Market demand for those properties is what really drives prices up or down, says Tina Ireland, BC Assessment Regional Assessor.

Winnipeg airport set record for passenger traffic in 2018

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  CBC

The Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport set a new annual passenger record in 2018: 4.5 million passengers — a 4.2 per cent increase and the fifth consecutive year of total passenger growth. The airport is responsible for more than 17,000 jobs.

Fort Architecture making a name for itself in Calgary

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

When Fort Architecture was founded last April by three young but experienced design professionals, it was the new kid on the block during a fairly tough time in this market.

Brexit-backer Dyson shifts HQ to Singapore

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Gateway cities continue to top global CRE investment

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

London maintained its position as the top city for global real estate investment in 2018, according to JLL (JLL-N). Investors continue to favour cities they are familiar with and have well-established investment markets and high levels of transparency.

Reinventing the suburbs: Small buildings, fewer rules

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Right now, the site at 80 Overlea Blvd. isn’t doing much for the City of Toronto. It’s got a one-storey industrial building, where only a few people currently work, and a big parking lot.

Fixed vs. variable: Mortgage rate predictions for 2019

Residential  •  CBC  •  Toronto Star

In the fall of 2018, many economists predicted that the Bank of Canada would increase interest rates three or four times in 2019, but that’s no longer the case. The global economy appears to be slowing and rarely do central banks increase rates when an economy is struggling.

Vancouver ranked world’s second-least affordable market

Residential  •  Bloomberg  •  Vancouver Sun

Hong Kong has been ranked the world’s least-affordable housing market for a ninth straight year. Vancouver was ranked second, leapfrogging Sydney — where the housing boom has gone into reverse. Melbourne came in fourth. Toronto tied for 10th.

Airbnb’s adverse impact on urban housing markets: Opinion

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Winnipeg Free Press

It’s now clear Airbnb,  a single American company, has upended local markets, pushed rental prices skyward and could be contributing to poverty, especially in cities popular with tourists.