Stantec to anchor Edmonton’s ‘engineering hub’

Stantec to anchor Edmonton’s ‘engineering hub’

With a market value of more than $3 billion, Stantec (STN-T) is Edmonton’s most valuable publicly traded company. In 2018, when it moves into its new downtown headquarters in the city’s burgeoning Ice District, Stantec will have the splashy digs to match At more than 60 storeys, the imposing Stantec Tower will rank among the tallest office buildings in Canada.

Edmonton Journal

Plan B coming for CalgaryNEXT?

Sport Calgary’s CEO is hopeful the CalgaryNext arena plan will be approved by the end of the year, but is stressing the need for a Plan B for a multi-sport field house in the event the controversial proposal doesn’t go ahead. Murray Sigler spoke at the Calgary Multisport Fieldhouse Society’s annual meeting on Tuesday.

Calgary Herald – CBC News

AHIP another hotel REIT on a roll

Vancouver-based American Hotel Income Properties REIT (AHIP) (HOT.UN-T) had an excellent first quarter, reflecting revenue and profit gains from acquiring 19 hotels and approximately 1,800 guestrooms over the previous year. Funds from operations jumped by 65.4 per cent to US$7.2 million and total revenues rose by 35.9 per cent to US$40.1 million over the same period in 2015.

Property Biz Canada

Claridge, Ivanhoe Cambridge form investment partnership

Claridge and Ivanhoé Cambridge have created a partnership to invest alongside private property developers in mid-sized real estate projects in the Greater Montreal region. The partners are setting up a vehicle to invest about $100 million, with an undisclosed split between them

Property Biz Canada

Hunting for a solution to Calgary’s office space glut

Calgary is grappling with a glut of vacant space in downtown office buildings, a situation Greg Kwong, regional managing director for CBRE Canada, described as “gloom, but not doom.” With some companies expected to lay off more staff this year, CBRE Canada anticipates the vacancy rate “may reach a level never seen before in Calgary’s downtown market.”

Calgary Herald

Brookfield sells Sydney office tower

Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) is investing in a Sydney office tower, creating a wholesale trust with Australia’s listed Charter Hall Group to purchase the $493 million Cdn asset. The trust announced its first purchase of the Sydney office tower from Brookfield Property Partners (BPY.UN-T).   

IPE Real Estate

Brookfield, Starwood sell German hotel portfolio

Starwood Capital Group and Brookfield Property Partners (BPY.UN-T) will soon hand over 4,131 keys in Germany — keys to hotel guestrooms, that is. The partners recently signed on to sell the nine-property Inter-Hotel portfolio to FDM Management, an entity formed by Foncière des Regions and institutional investors. And the sale price is: undisclosed.

Commercial Property Executive

Oak Bay’s Canadian Princess Lodge sold

Oak Bay Marine Group’s Canadian Princess Lodge in Ucluelet, B.C., has been sold to a Nanaimo family. Bob and Sue Se took over the 46-room Canadian Princess last week and their daughter, Michelle Se, has been appointed manager. The purchase price was not disclosed. The Se family bought the Travelodge hotel in Nanaimo five years ago.

Victoria Times Colonist

Bluesky potentially tied to Anbang: Report

The buyer of InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust (INN.UN-T), one of Canada’s largest hotel owners, was unheard of before the $2.1-billion deal was announced last week. It may have ties to China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co., according to sources. InnVest agreed to be acquired by Bluesky Hotels & Resorts Inc., described as a privately held real estate investor.

Bloomberg

Industrial users battle office developers for sites

With high demand for virtually every commercial property type, there is increased competition for available sites. In some markets, technology companies and multi-family developers are stealing away sites from new industrial users who need to locate close to population centres. Currently, industrial supply isn’t coming close to meeting the appetite from new tenants.

National Real Estate Investor

Indigo CEO unveils new store concept

After some rocky years at Indigo Books and Music Inc. (IDG-T), Heather Reisman is in growth mode again. “We think there is room to add six or seven new stores across the country . . . big ones,” the CEO said as she unveiled the company’s latest store concept, the closest realization yet of her vision of a “cultural department store.”

Financial Post – Toronto Star – Canada Newswire

Lowe’s Canada CEO aiming for top spot

Lowe’s Canada (LOW-N) CEO Sylvain Prud’homme is gunning to become the top choice of home improvement shoppers following its takeover of Rona Inc. On the heels of its $3.2-billion acquisition, U.S. parent Lowe’s Cos. Inc. has just over $6 billion of annual sales in this country, about $1 billion less than top player Home Depot Canada (HD-N).

Globe and Mail – Financial Post – Ottawa Business Journal

Drone mishap no barrier to Canadian Tire’s digital future

While Canadian Tire Corp. (CTC-T) CEO Michael Medline hasn’t had the best of luck with delivery drones, he says home delivery is vital to the 93-year-old retailer’s push into online shopping. In an interview last week, Medline related an unfortunate experience with the nascent technology while giving speech in 2014.

Bloomberg

Korea’s largest investment fund ready for N.A. push

South Korea state-run Korea Post Savings, which has recently sampled a taste of U.S. commercial real estate, is looking to take a bigger bite. The entity that oversees $90 billion US in investments issued a request for proposals in Seoul searching for global real estate fund managers to direct core real estate investments in the U.S, and Canada.

CoStar Group

Arlington Street Investments names ex-Brookfield exec COO

Ed Romanowski, former director of Special Projects at Brookfield Residential has joined Arlington Street Investments (ASI) as chief operating officer (COO).  Romanowski’s career spans more than three decades in real estate development, construction, business operations, management consulting and government.

Canada Newswire

	Fort McMurray wildfire news
	RENX will be summarizing news regarding the Fort McMurray wildfire and its consequences for the real estate industry in the following section of the newsletter.

 

After the fire: One last boom?

Building contractors, along with everyone else, won’t be allowed into Fort McMurray to start the long recovery process until June. But they’ve spent much of May positioning themselves to rush back. “They can’t wait to get back to start the rebuild. We’re anxious,” says Lance Bussieres, a realtor and councillor for the McMurray region.

Maclean’s

BoC sees economy shrinking in Q2 on wildfires

The Bank of Canada says the country’s economy will likely shrink in the second quarter, dragged down by the Alberta wildfires and persistently weak business investment. But the central bank, which held its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday, said growth will rebound in the third quarter as the oil patch resumes full production and rebuilding begins in Fort McMurray.

Globe and Mail – CBC News – Financial Post – Toronto Star

Crude production restarts thanks to cool weather

Some crude producers restarted operations on Tuesday as a mass evacuation of Fort McMurray entered its fourth week, though cool weather and light winds were helping firefighters dampen the blaze. No oil facilities or communities were in the fire’s path as of Tuesday morning as its footprint grew slightly to 523,000 hectares.

Reuters – Financial Post – Financial Post – Financial Post

Market Trends and Research

RECon 2016 sentiment reflects optimism, anxiety

At least 37,000 retailers, brokers, investors and other purveyors of mass consumption are crowding the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center this week. While the general mood is upbeat, individual discussions with RECon attendees reflected uncertainty and even anxiety about the scope of changes facing landlords, brokers and their retail tenants across virtually every retail subtype.

CoStar Group – Gllobest.com – Gllobest.com – National Real Estate Investor

Shopping for bargains in luxury mall sector

According to Green Street Advisors, there are more than 200 malls in the U.S. considered ‘C’ or below in quality, which are the most at risk to close over the next several years. In a research report, Green Street suggests out of roughly 1,035 malls in the U.S., roughly 32 per cent (337) of the malls are ‘C’ rated or lower.

Forbes – CoStar Group – CBC News

Global push by U.S. retailers expands footprint

The World Wide Web may be the fastest-growing retail space, but the physical world itself is still a target for U.S. retailers seeking growth. The U.S. led all other nations in global retail real estate expansion last year, opening more stores overseas than anyone else, according to a new report from CBRE Group.

CNBC

Real Estate Companies

Cushman to lease retail at Herald Examiner building

The vacant Herald Examiner building in Los Angeles’ Arts District is finally poised for reinvention. New York developer Georgetown Co. and partner the Hearst Corporation have tapped a Cushman & Wakefield team to market the building’s repositioned retail space, which has lain vacant since the newspaper shuttered in 1989, The Real Deal has learned.

The Real Deal

London names new real estate manager

The City of London Corporation, which oversees the U.K. capital’s main financial district, has appointed a new surveyor to manage more than $4.7 billion Cdn of real estate for the district. Paul Wilkinson will oversee the corporation’s 16 million square feet of commercial-property holdings including Tower Bridge.

Bloomberg

REOC Financial Reports

	REITs & REOCs – First-quarter 2016 report
	RENX has prepared a table with a convenient list of the companies and a summary of links to their reports that will be updated quarterly. First-quarter results are now arriving. Canadian REITs & REOCs – First-quarter 2016 report

 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Three great REITs for every portfolio

RioCan REIT (REI.UN-T) owns 293 retail operations encompassing a whopping 37 million square feet. Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAR.UN-T) owns more than 47,000 residential units across 6,299 leasing sites primarily in major urban centres in Canada as well as in Ireland. Boardwalk REIT (BEI.UN-T) has more than 30 million rentable square feet across nearly 33,000 properties.

Motley Fool

Apartment REITs continue selling spree

Apartment REITs continue to cash in on their highly priced properties as they prune their portfolios.”Since 2011, we have completed the sale of $2.4 billion of assets and expect total dispositions to approach nearly $3 billion by the end of 2016,” says Richard J. Campo, chairman and CEO of Camden Property Trust (CPT-N), which owns and operates approximately 158 U.S. communities.

National Real Estate Investor

Manulife exec likes Milestone Apartments

Milestone Apartments REIT (MST.UN-T) owns affordable apartment properties in higher growth markets of the U.S. The company is in the sweet spot given the strong job growth in low-wage service jobs, increasing household formation and lack of residential housing starts driving up demand for apartments and given them pricing power.

BNN.ca

Retail

Target exec reveals retail giant’s urban moves

Although it’s been only a year since Target (TGT-N) shuttered its 133 Canadian stores, the company has already moved on in a big way, namely rolling out “flexible format” locations in major cities, which means smaller, less traditional Target stores customized to meet the needs of urbanites, including carrying smaller pack sizes and locally relevant merchandise. 

The Real Deal

Ikea sees upside from cocooning Canadians

Home improvement projects have been thriving thanks to cocooning Canadians, and Ikea is one of the trend’s biggest beneficiaries. “Canadians are not travelling like they have done in the past,” said Stefan Sjöstrand, president of Ikea Canada. “When the dollar is weak, they stay home, and when they stay home they invest in their homes . . .”

Financial Post

Best Buy CFO to step down

Best Buy Co Inc‘s (BBY-N) earnings beat expectations Tuesday and the company registered strong online sales growth, but a lower-than-expected outlook for current-quarter profit sent its shares down more than five per cent in early trade. Best Buy also said CFO Sharon McCollam will step down on June 14 and remain in an advisory role until Jan. 28.

MarketWatch – Winnipeg Free Press

Restaurants and Eateries

MTY to double in size with acquisition of Kahala chain

MTY Food Group (MTY-T) has a friendly deal to acquire an Arizona-based restaurant franchise company with 2,800 stores worldwide. The Montreal-based company will add more than a dozen brands to its current 30 restaurant banners including Cultures, Thai Express, Vanellis and ManchuWok. MTY stocks shot up 17 per cent to $41.74 in morning trading.

Financial Post

Infrastructure

SaskPower to upgrade power grid

SaskPower will be spending $108 million in the coming months to upgrade the provincial power grid in order to decrease the number of unplanned power outages, one third of which are the result of aging infrastructure, the Crown corporation announced. SaskPower president and CEO Mike Marsh said much of SaskPower’s infrastructure was built in the 1950s and ’60s. 

Regina Leader-Post

Technology

Superstore brings Click and Collect service to Winnipeg

Grocery shopping has become a lot easier for some local Superstore customers. Customers can order their groceries online from two Winnipeg Real Canadian Superstore outlets and a store employee will not only fill their order for them, he or she will even take it out to their vehicle when they pick it up.

Winnipeg Free Press

Other

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