BTB REIT closing in on goal of $1B in properties

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Industrial, Retail  •  Greater Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City

BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB-UN-T) is on track in 2019 to reach its long-held goal of having $1 billion worth of assets, says president and CEO Michel Léonard. “I think that we’re within reach in 2019,” he says. “We’re almost there.”

Gupta seeks to duplicate cancelled Icona condos

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star

This time it’s political, say angry condo buyers, who are warning Vaughan politicians against approving another development application from Gupta Group, the company that cancelled the Icona condos in September. Gupta Group cited financial reasons for Icona’s cancellation,

Tiny coffee shops help owners save on rent

Commercial  •  National Post

Customers who don’t work in the building that houses Kento Kitayama’s tiny cafe near Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood better be prepared to settle for takeout. He can only take orders through a little window facing the sidewalk.

Palm Holdings seeks value in underperforming hotels

RENX  Commercial  •  Hotels and Resorts  •  National

Palm Holdings’ acquisition of an interest in 12 former InnVest Hotels is a strategy the family-run business plans to employ again, says managing director Anil Taneja. “We’re very actively seeking more acquisitions and looking at recycling lower-grade real estate portfolios.”

Aurora Cannabis to acquire Whistler for $175M

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire

Aurora Cannabis (ACB-T) has signed a deal to buy Whistler Medical Marijuana Corp. in an all-stock deal worth up to $175 million, including certain milestone payments.

Value: Weighed and Measured › Should cannabis ‘farming’ be assessed as industry or agriculture?

John Clark: Vice President , The Regional Group of Companies Inc

No big names win Ontario cannabis lottery

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Ontario has announced the results of its much-anticipated cannabis retail lottery, naming 25 companies that are now eligible to begin applying for a licence to operate a brick-and-mortar pot shop in the province.

Saanich poised to ban concrete pot buildings

Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

Saanich is poised to ban cannabis production in buildings with concrete flooring on protected agricultural land. A proposed amendment set for a public hearing  Jan. 15 seeks to align with B.C. regulations for growing cannabis within the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Court OKs Elad Group takeover of Agellan

Commercial  •  Business Wire

Agellan Commercial REIT (ACR-UN-T) has obtained a final order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice approving the previously announced plan of arrangement pursuant to which Elad Genesis Limited Partnership will acquire all of its outstanding trust units.

Vancouver port development dealt difficult bridge hand

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Developers of North Shore port infrastructure face the same transportation challenge as their residential housing counterparts: bridge congestion. However, the challenge for the area’s port developers is shaping up to be far more complex.

Sluggish Whistler business plagues Vail Resorts

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver  •  Canada Newswire  •  Vancouver Sun

The shares of Whistler Blackcomb owner Vail Resorts Inc. (MTN-N) fell about 13 per cent Friday after the company trimmed its full-year earnings guidance and discussed its weak December for guest visits, largely because of Whistler Blackcomb.

Surrey designing ‘world-class’ track & field stadium

Commercial  •  CBC

Even on a weekday morning, the well-worn track at Bear Creek Park is packed with joggers weaving between groups of people out for a stroll. Jessie Dosanjh with Universal Athletics Track and Field Club isn’t paying much attention.

Kayne Anderson’s focus: U.S. medical offices, senior housing

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg

VIDEO: Al Rabil, co-founder, chief executive officer, and managing partner at Kayne Anderson Real Estate, discusses the U.S. real estate market and the sectors his business is most focused on. He speaks on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.”

Tim Hortons prepares to start building first China stores

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

VIDEO: Alex Macedo, president of Tim Hortons, talks about the progress he’s seen in the company’s relationship with its franchisees and the initiatives in the works for 2019.

Frankfurt’s office market breaks records

Commercial  •  The Real Deal  •  IPE Real Assets

Ever since the Brexit referendum, Germany’s financial capital has been positioning itself to receive an influx of London bankers. With just months to go until the split is official, those ambitions have pushed Frankfurt’s CRE market to record heights.

Burger King surges in Brazil

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Brazil, known for unique steak houses and premium beef exports, is seeing a growing appetite for a different type of meal, Burger King’s 680-calorie whopper.
Burger King is opening a new site in Brazil every three to four days.

Canada home prices fall for third straight month: Teranet

Residential  •  Reuters  •  Bloomberg

Canadian home prices fell in December for the third consecutive month, led by weakness in Edmonton and Vancouver, the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index showed on Monday. The index showed prices fell 0.3 per cent last month from November.

Property tax deferrals by B.C. seniors grow 53%

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The number of seniors in B.C. who deferred their property taxes in 2017-18 has grown by 53 per cent in four years, according to a report. Last year, 57,305 seniors deferred their property tax, an increase of 21 per cent year-over-year.

Housing costs push young professionals out of Vancouver

Residential  •  CTV  •  BC Business

Iain Reeve and his wife moved from rental home to rental home in Vancouver, but their final solution for secure housing was to move to Ottawa and buy two houses — one for them and another for his parents.

CMHC aims to address rental squeeze in Merritt, B.C.

Residential  •  CBC

In 2017, the city of Merritt, B.C., about three hours east of Vancouver, had a vacancy rate of 2.2 per cent, lower than the national 2.4 average, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).