Real Estate News Exchange (RENX)
c/o Squall Inc.
P.O. Box 1484, Stn. B
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5P6

thankyou@renx.ca
Canada: 1-855-569-6300

Plaza REIT launches grocery-anchored Halifax dev.

4 years ago

Plaza Retail REIT’s focus on grocery- and needs-based retail has provided a strong base during the COVID-19 crisis. The resilience of its strategy has even allowed the REIT (PLZ-UN-T) to launch a new Halifax development anchored by an Atlantic Superstore.

 •   •   • 

Confident the boom in online retailing will continue to spur demand for distribution centres and warehouses, Montreal-based Broccolini Construction Inc. is preparing to build another new facility outside Montreal, even though it hasn’t yet secured a single tenant.

 • 

Desjardins Group, the leading cooperative financial group in Canada, has an agreement with Purplebricks Group to acquire its Canadian holding company, 9059-2114 Québec inc. which operates two brands — Purplebricks Canada and DuProprio. The deal is worth about $60.5 million.

The first major in-person condo launch in Toronto since the pandemic, CentreCourt and Parallax Developments’ 39-storey 199 Church tower, takes place tonight at the new downtown City View Drive-In theatre and via an interactive online feed for up to 2,000 invitees.

CMLS - Mortgage Commentary

 • 

The City of Pickering has refused Pickering Harbour Company’s proposal for two 15-storey condo towers along the city’s waterfront. The mixed-use development, which would have seen nearly 400 units, was deemed by the city planning committee inappropriate for the location.

 •   •   • 

Council has unanimously rejected a proposal to build what would be the tallest building in Guelph. The Skyline Group, via subsidiary Skydevco, proposed to build a 25-storey mixed-use building — which would include 180 apartment units — at the company’s current headquarters.

 • 

For decades, Vancouver property owners and developers have needed to contend with mountain view cone height restrictions, but they now also need to overcome shadows that proposed new building cast on their vicinity, with particular focus on public spaces.

 • 

KPMG in Canada has launched a new automated tool to help commercial landlords apply to the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program, making it easier for them to offer rent relief to their impacted tenants.

Stewart Title

 • 

Despite COVID-19 and occurring four months later than planned, the Mayrand supermarket finally opens its doors today in Brossard. The business, which caters to both restaurateurs and individuals, occupies a good part of the former Sears location at Mail Champlain.

 •   • 

The Legault government will inject up to $100 million into a fund piloted by National Bank, the maximum size of which can reach $200 million, aimed at stimulating the revival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) following the COVID-19 pandemic.

 • 

addy Technology Corporation, a Vancouver-based proptech start-up on a mission to allow every person to become a homeowner, launched today enabling Canadians to invest in real estate for as little as $1.

 • 

American sports teams are doubling down on ambitious real-estate projects. This summer, Arturo Moreno, the owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels laid out a master plan for 150 acres of apartments, restaurants and retail surrounding the team’s Anaheim stadium.

Smart Density

 • 

Walmart has led a $1.2-billion investment in Flipkart Group, valuing the India-based company at $24.9 billion, about 19 per cent higher than when it sold a majority stake to the U.S. retailer. Tiger Global, Tencent and Accel are Flipkart’s other existing backers.

 • 

Amazon has a smart shopping cart. The cart uses cameras, sensors and a scale to automatically detect what shoppers drop in. It keeps a tally and then charges their Amazon account when they leave the store. No cashier is needed.

 •   • 

VTS, a leasing and asset management platform, recently launched VTS Market, the CRE industry’s first integrated, online marketing platform that enables landlords and their agency teams to market and lease their available spaces remotely for the first time.

 •   •   • 

Late last year, Apple (AAPL-Q) pledged a $2.5 billion commitment to combat the housing crisis in California and this week the company released the details for how the first $400 million will be allocated.

Informa - Land and Development

 • 

On July 6, Ashcroft Homes notified more than 50 Ottawa home buyers it was terminating their sale agreements rather than delaying a planned development even further. In this instance, a central issue appears to involve a municipal drainage report.

 • 

The overall occupancy rate for newer rental apartment buildings in Calgary fell by three per cent from the previous quarter to 84 per cent at the end of the second quarter of 2020, according to a new report by Urban Analytics.

 •   •   • 

Seventy per cent of the B.C. residential properties sold in June were transacted outside of Greater Vancouver. Housing sales in Greater Vancouver increased 19 per cent year-over-year,  but they soared 30 per cent in Chilliwack and 28 per cent in the South Okanagan.

 • 

Since Vancouver’s Grandview-Woodland Community Plan was finished in 2016, Claire LeLacheur has seen several applications to rezone for higher buildings and greater densities than were stated in the plan. She now wonders if there was a point in the residents’ effort.

Industry Events