Canadian CRE investors lose ground in U.S.

Canadian CRE investors lose ground in U.S.

The Manhattan West development exemplifies a trend that has seen Canadian pension funds, insurance companies and investment firms participate in U.S. commercial real estate deals worth $92-billion (U.S.) since 2007 – more than any other country – according to data firm Real Capital Analytics. Until now.

Globe and Mail

Buying, selling continues for Dalfen America Corp

If you call Sean Dalfen asking about some deals that his company recently announced, there is a good chance that he has just signed off on another that he hasn’t gotten around to announcing yet. That’s exactly what happened this week with a call to Dallas-based Dalfen America Corp., a company with its roots in Quebec about a slate of divestitures announced this month.

Property Biz Canada

Twenty major upcoming Ontario and Quebec construction projects

Daily Commercial News

Bonnie Doon mall looking at redevelopment

One of Edmonton’s oldest shopping malls is preparing for an overhaul after losing another major anchor tenant. The Sears outlet store at Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre will close its doors Dec. 24 because the retailer doesn’t have as many items to sell there as it did in the past, company spokesman Vincent Power says.

Edmonton Journal

Receiver appointed for Edmonton-area golf course

The Northern Bear Golf Course is for sale and an interim receiver has been appointed, after the Vancouver owners missed this month’s mortgage and equipment payment. The Sherwood Park facility, designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus, is ranked as one of the top public courses in Canada.

Edmonton Journal

TOBY winner profile: Intact Place

The twin tower Intact Place was built in downtown Calgary 36 years ago and is still performing so well that it earned The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award for buildings ranging from 250,000 to 499,999 square feet from Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada on Sept. 22 as part of its BOMEX 2016 conference and exhibition.

Property Biz Canada

Sakto proposes apartment for Ottawa’s Preston Square

Sakto Corp. is looking to increase the offerings in its Preston Square portfolio, proposing a new 24-storey residential building on the site as well as a single-storey addition to its existing Adelaide rental property. Sakto’s present portfolio is heavily weighted towards office buildings.

Ottawa Business Journal

Ottawa hotel industry interested in regulations for Airbnb

Ottawa’s hotel industry will ask city hall to consider regulations for short-term home rentals, which have become popular through the booking website Airbnb. Steve Ball, president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, said the industry has decided municipalities, not just the province, have a role to play in monitoring the short-term rental market.

Ottawa Citizen

A private cafe in plain view on Toronto’s Yonge St.

Have you been to the Accountant Zoo, Toronto’s newest downtown attraction? It’s on the northwest corner of Yonge and Adelaide Sts. where people strolling by can watch accountants in their own habitat. It’s not a petting zoo though; the accountants are safely behind glass, seemingly oblivious to the world outside.

Toronto Star

CBRE rolls out WELL certification in its buildings

Standing desks, natural light and noise cancelling diodes are all part of a make-over that is turning CBRE Limited offices across Canada into some of the country’s most advanced workplaces. In the last two years, the real estate services and investment firm has applied the WELL Building Certification to three of its six Canadian offices.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Snap Fitness gains downtown foothold

A new anchor tenant has been found for an overlooked building in the heart of downtown. Local Snap Fitness franchisee Ryan Sourisseau plans to open an 11,000- to 12,000-square-foot Snap Fitness location in the Dayton Building at 323 Portage Ave., across from the MTS Centre.

Winnipeg Free Press

First Neoshop in N.A. showcases startups’ goods

Quebec’s young startups will get a chance to show off their most innovative products to the public with the launch of Neoshop in Montreal. It will be the first such store in North America. The business will open in December as a pop-up shop that travels around Quebec and then as a retail boutique in downtown Montreal.

Globe and Mail

Sales of ‘zombie’ U.S. office buildings hit 10-year high

They’re out there. Thousands of them milling about in markets like Detroit, Northern New Jersey, Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and Washington DC.  Zombie buildings that is — empty or nearly lifeless office buildings that are still standing, creating dead zones that drain the vitality out of otherwise commercially viable areas.

CoStar Group

Brookfield, co-investor sell Australian shopping centre

Brookfield and co-investor Hawaiian Investments are selling a shopping centre in Perth to Dexus Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF) for AUD140m. The deal marks the entry of the DWPF, which manages AUD7.1bn for domestic and international institutional investors, into Western Australia.

IPE Real Estate

Li Ka-shing sells Shanghai complex

Tycoon Li Ka-shing has sold a Shanghai office and retail complex to a company majority owned by China Life Insurance Co for 20 billion yuan ($2.95 billion), paring his investment on the mainland while the yuan has taken a tumble.

Business in Vancouver

Market Trends and Research

Edmonton construction industry bracing for tough 2017

Increased competition and tough times in the oilpatch mean some Alberta contractors will likely go bankrupt over the next few months, the president of the Edmonton Construction Association says.  The city should weather the downturn better than Calgary, with its 22-per-cent core office vacancy rate.

Edmonton Journal

Real Estate Investment Trusts

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Retail

LCBO expects to lose market share to grocers: Video

Globe and Mail

Competition Bureau ramps up probe into Loblaw pricing

The Competition Bureau has stepped up its investigation of Loblaw Cos. Ltd. (L-T) and its pricing practices with its suppliers in a high-stakes grocery industry inquiry. Competition commissioner John Pecman this month asked the Federal Court to force four key Loblaw suppliers to provide financial information.

Globe and Mail

New Development

Is Ontario’s anti-sprawl policy really that smart?

Paul Cheshire thinks Ontario’s anti-sprawl Smart Growth policies might just be one of the dumbest ideas that Britain ever exported. The London School of Economics professor is the latest economist to suggest that Smart Growth is pouring fuel on the Toronto region’s overheated housing market by limiting the supply of developable land.

Toronto Star

Infrastructure

Selling off airports no panacea to resolving high costs

Selling off Canada’s largest airports is an alluring idea. They’re worth billions of dollars and there is considerable investor interest in acquiring them.   Airports around the world typically sell for 10 to 20 times earnings (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

Globe and Mail

Residents fret over fate of former Royal Alberta Museum

Supporters of the former Royal Alberta Museum received one piece of good news this week from the provincial government — the site will not be sold to a private developer. A public meeting about  the old museum heard that its future is up in the air and the province is not ruling out demolition.

Edmonton Journal

Other

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