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RENX’s Top-30 CRE stories of 2019

4 years ago

RENX   •   • 

It was close … very close. But the largest commercial real estate transaction in Canadian history has beaten out the ongoing WeWork saga as RENX’s top commercial real estate story of 2019.

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British Columbia Investment Management Corporation moved over 40 Canadian real estate assets into a new $7B fund in partnership with RBC Global Asset Management and QuadReal Property Group. RBC’s Michael Kitt called it Canada’s largest-ever CRE transaction.

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It was a year of struggles for WeWork, where CEO Adam Neumann resigned as its valuation dropped from $47B to $10B. A plan by Ivanhoé Cambridge to invest up to $2.9B in real estate assets was also shelved.

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Cadillac Fairview acquired what’s planned to become the largest commercial development in Canada, the 38-acre Toronto East Harbour project, from First Gulf. “This will be the largest commercial development ever undertaken in Canada,” CEO John Sullivan said.

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Oxford Properties unveiled plans in June for the largest mixed-use development in Toronto’s history, a four-tower, $3.5-billion, 4.3-million-square-foot project called Union Park. It includes 3.3 million square feet of office space, approximately 800 residential rental units, and three acres of public space.

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The sale of the 60.5-acre Celestica property was “a once-in-a-decade type of deal” said a broker who helped facilitate the transaction. That’s good, because it took over a decade from the company’s first overtures to sell, to close the deal.

Marcus & Millichap

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In September, Dream Global REIT entered into an agreement to be acquired affiliates of U.S.-based real estate giant Blackstone in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.2 billion Cdn. The deal valued Dream Global at $16.79 per share.

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Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP-N) purchased downtown Vancouver’s Bentall Centre office complex in a joint venture with an affiliate of Blackstone Property Partners (BX-N). China’s Anbang Insurance Group had owned the four-building, 1.45-million-square-foot complex since 2016. 

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The Squamish Nation is proceeding with a $3B Sen̓áḵw housing development project on Kitsilano reserve land in Vancouver, one of the biggest First Nation housing projects in Canada. In Calgary, meanwhile, the massive Taza mixed-use development also broke ground.

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Daniel Fournier retired as CEO of Ivanhoé Cambridge after a decade-long relationship and was replaced by president Nathalie Palladitcheff. Ivanhoé Cambridge also halted the partial sale of 10 Canadian malls after it failed to get the price it wanted.

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Canada’s hotel industry continues to perform at record levels. CBRE’s Canadian Hotels Outlook 2019 cited all-time highs in occupancy, daily rates and REVPAR. In mid-2019, the hotel construction pipeline also hit an all-time high with 273 projects/35,787 rooms, says Lodging Econometrics.

CBRE Land

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Epic Investment Services and MDC Group have merged, becoming a fully integrated real estate platform with a portfolio worth more than $16.5B, encompassing 35 million square feet of office, retail, industrial and residential assets under management in Canada and the U.S.

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Continuum Residential Real Estate Investment Trust’s proposed initial public offering was taken off the table with the announcement that Starlight Investments has an agreement to acquire the REIT’s multiresidential portfolio for $1.732 billion.

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Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT) (CAR-UN-T) issued three equity offerings that raised more than $1 billion in 2019. Including a mid-December purchase in Halifax, CAPREIT added more than 9,000 suites and manufactured homes sites valued at $1.2B to its portfolio during the year.

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Minto Apartment REIT was again very active in 2019. Among its acquisitions were Montreal’s Le 4300 and Haddon Hall for $281.1M; a 40% interest in Toronto’s High Park Village for $131.2M; and 50% interest in two large Montreal and Toronto properties for $209M.

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Ventas Inc. (VTR-N) completed its 87 per cent acquisition of a class-A portfolio of apartment-like senior housing assets in Quebec through an equity partnership with Quebec’s Le Groupe Maurice (LGM). The portfolio is valued at $2.38 billion.

Happy Holidays - Real Estate Forum

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Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (BBU-UN-T) announced it would acquire a 57 per cent interest in residential mortgage insurer Genworth MI Canada Inc. in a transaction valued at about $2.4 billion. The offer represented a price of $48.86 per share.

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Tricon Capital Group (TCN-T) announced it would acquire the Starlight U.S. Multi-Family No. 5 Core Fund (STUS-A-X) in an all-share transaction valued at almost $1.9 billion Cdn. The fund comprises 23 multi-family properties totalling 7,289 units, located primarily in the U.S. Sun Belt.

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Pure Multi-Family REIT (RUF-UN-T) agreed to be acquired and taken private by Atlanta-based Cortland Partners, LLC in an all-cash transaction which valued it at US$1.2 billion. Cortland’s bid for Pure’s class-A units represented US$7.61 per unit.

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H&R REIT (HR-UN-T) capitalized on strong pricing for downtown Toronto office assets in selling its 1.1-million-square-foot Atrium for $640 million. In confirming the transaction, KingSett Capital CEO Jon Love called the Atrium a “key acquisition.”

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Allied Properties REIT (AP.UN-T) continued to add major assets in Montreal, first spending $400M to purchase the nearly million-square-foot 700 De La Gauchetière St. W., and the 343,579-square-foot RCA Building. It then paid $276M for World Trade Centre Montreal at 747 Square-Victoria.

Harbour Equity

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The commercial portion of the 69-storey Stantec Tower in Edmonton’s ICE District was sold to German investor Deka Immobilien. The tower includes 29 floors of commercial space. SKY Residences (483 residential units on floors 30-66) were not included in the sale.

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TD Bank Group will lease 33 floors and acquire part ownership in Toronto’s 160 Front Street West office tower being constructed by Cadillac Fairview and IMCO. The leasing portion will see TD occupy 840,000 square feet, bringing the building to 100% leased.

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Vancouver’s one-time MacMillan Bloedel headquarters, a Arthur Erickson-designed, 26-storey office tower, was acquired by Reliance Properties, KingSett Capital and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments. The property was assessed at $255 million in 2018.

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The federal government will anchor a new 200,000-square-foot office building at the massive Zibi development in Ottawa. In addition, a 24-storey apartment tower is being built in partnership with U.S.-based housing provider Common, containing both “co-living” and traditional rentals.

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Calgary-based real estate firm Strategic Group obtained protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act for 56 of its Alberta properties in December. CEO Riaz Mamdani told RENX the extended downturn in the province’s economy is to blame.

Yardi Multifamily Suite

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Summit Industrial Income REIT (SMU-UN-T) purchased an “institutional-quality” portfolio of 37 light industrial properties in Alberta, totalling more than 3.3 million square feet, for $588 million. Of the total, 22 properties are in Edmonton, 14 are in Calgary and one in Grande Prairie.

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KingSett Capital paid $271M for the entire portfolio of Dream Industrial REIT’s (DIR.UN-T) Eastern Canadian properties, comprising 38 assets and about 2.8 million square feet of space. Kingsett made the purchase for its KingSett Real Estate Growth LP No. 7 fund.

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Cadillac Fairview has a binding agreement to sell 50-per-cent interests in two flagship shopping malls to funds operated by TD Asset Management Inc. The TD funds are investing in CF Carrefour Laval in Montreal and CF Sherway Gardens  in Toronto.

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Crombie REIT (CRR-UN-T) is nearing the midpoint in its plan to spend $511 million on five mixed-use redevelopments at properties across Canada. “We have live cameras of every project. I look at them every day,” COO Glenn Hynes told RENX.

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Choice Properties REIT (CHP-UN-T) sold a major portfolio of 30 retail and distribution properties across Canada for $426 million. The portfolio included 27 stand-alone retail properties and three distribution centres, all in smaller or secondary markets.

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