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Development financing flows despite virus: Canada ICI

4 years ago

Canada ICI Capital Corporation was established by Dale Klein in 1993 as a boutique mortgage origination firm and has funded transactions worth more than $20 billion. However, until recently it had never brokered a major loan amid a global pandemic.

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Toronto-based Slate Asset Management has launched a $500-million real estate fund to provide liquidity to firms affected by Covid-19. Slate will provide equity to stabilize companies’ balance sheets and will use bridge financing to assist borrowers on acquisitions and refinancings.

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Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has issued a series of special orders to approve a handful of plans from prominent Toronto-area developers and quash any potential opposition, saying the projects are needed to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Naama Blonder

Architect, Urban Designer, Urban Planner | B.Arch, OAA, RPP, MCIP

CMLS - Mortgage Commentary

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Merivale Mall owner First Capital Realty is planning a significant makeover of the shopping plaza that includes a mixed-use high-rise as the first step in a long-term strategy. First Capital Realty says it wants to construct at least two buildings.

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The Canada Pension Plan earned a return of 3.1 per cent during the financial year ended March 31, the board reported Tuesday. Net assets for Canada’s national pension plan totaled $409.6 billion as of the end of March, up from $392 billion year-over-year.

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For Tobias Lutke, the road to e-commerce billionairedom was paved by a childhood gift from his parents. The Shopify (SHOP-T) founder was six when he received an Amstrad CPC computer. Video games were scarce, so he started building his own.

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Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-B-T) says the novel coronavirus pandemic will open up new takeover opportunities and accelerate its plans to introduce touchless technology as the Canadian convenience store giant grapples with rapidly shifting industry dynamics.

Stewart Title

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Parliament’s spending watchdog estimates a federal program aimed at giving small businesses a break on their rent could cost the public purse $520 million this fiscal year. Property owners with up to 10 eligible tenants were able to apply Monday and Tuesday.

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The value of Canadian building permits slumped by 17.1 per cent in April, the largest decline recorded since October 2008, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic caused officials to shutter non-essential construction in parts of Canada.

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Shares of Extendicare (EXE-T) and Sienna Senior Living (SIA-T) fell 1.3 and 0.7 per cent, respectively, after Premier Doug Ford said Ontario will consider all options for the future of the province’s long-term care homes, including taking over and operating them.

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Artis REIT, (AX-UN-T), Canada Newswire

ViveRE Communities Inc., (VCOM-X), Canada Newswire

Developer University

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Large cannabis-growing facilities are up for sale in communities across the province as the industry comes to grips with slower-than-expected sales of government-sanctioned cannabis products. An 18,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation and processing facility on 40 acres in Lumby is listed at $7.25 million.

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Troubled coworking giant WeWork could falter in the next few years as its costs spiral and the coronavirus pandemic upends its business model, Michael Franco, the president of Vornado Realty Trust (VNO-N), said on the group’s first-quarter earnings call.

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Allianz Real Estate has invested $212 million Cdn to buy three office buildings from Crédit Agricole Italia. The $111 billion real estate manager said the sale and leaseback acquisition was made on behalf of several Allianz group insurance companies.

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As European luxury shopping capitals from Paris to Milan slowly emerge from coronavirus lockdowns, stores are reopening to a trickle of customers, and virtually no tourists. The absence of big-spending travellers is a major drag on sales.

Real Estate Forum Webinar - May 27

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Since the Coronavirus pandemic began, Vancouver bookings have sufficiently slowed that several short-term rentals appear to be finding their way into the long-term rental market, popping up on Craigslist and other rental sites.

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As it continues to add to a string of planned new multi-unit developments near transit and retail hubs, Claridge Homes says it remains confident that the capital’s housing market will hit the ground running once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

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As restrictions on evictions during the novel coronavirus pandemic extend into their third month, some Ontario home buyers and sellers are discovering renters have incredible leverage over the fate of transactions, and some are willing to wield it.

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The GTA new home market saw record low new home sales numbers in April, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) announced. It was the lowest April for total new home sales since Altus Group started tracking in 2000.

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