Walmart selling Canadian banking operations

Walmart selling Canadian banking operations

Walmart Canada (WMT-N) is selling its banking operations to a U.S. investment firm and a Canadian financier. In a statement, the retail giant says it will sell Walmart Canada Bank to Centerbridge Partners LP and Stephen Smith. Smith, chairman/CEO of mortgage lender First National Financial Corp. and the largest shareholder in alternative lender Equitable Bank, is acquiring Walmart Bank Canada through his private holding company, First National Securities Corp.

CTV – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Comptroller criticizes Technoparc Montréal land sales

Land sold to developers for prices far below its future value. That was among the findings of a report on Technoparc Montréal by Montreal’s comptroller, Alain Bond, obtained by the Montreal Gazette under a freedom-of-information request. The report, submitted to the city Jan. 18, reveals why Mayor Valérie Plante announced on March 29 that the city is disbanding the non-profit organization that runs the high-tech industrial park in St-Laurent.

Montreal Gazette

CEO Domenico creates ‘completely different’ Partners REIT

Partners REIT (PAR-UN-T) is “a completely different company” than it was a few years ago and the future looks solid as the company moves to focus its holdings in Ontario and Quebec, says CEO Jane Domenico.  “We internalized management . . . and our balance sheet has been improved as a result of deleveraging our debt,” she said. “When I came on, there was almost $90 million of unsecured convertible debenture debt.”

Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Phase two of Surrey Health and Technology District opens

When Safe Software launched in 1993, the company’s first cramped office in Surrey, B.C.’s Newton neighbourhood had no windows. The firm’s second office, while a step up from its original digs, often smelled like the nearby fibreglass factory, joked Don Murray, who is co-founder and president of the enterprise systems and data automation program maker.

Property Biz Canada

Canadian institutions vie for Australia’s healthcare sector

Australia’s healthcare sector has become a battleground for Canadian institutional investors and pension funds as four groups seek a stake in the country’s second-largest private operator. On Monday, Healthscope attracted a $4.15-billion Cdn unsolicited bid from Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T). Last week, NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH-UN-T) independently acquired a strategic stake in the trust for $402 million for a 10.1 per cent stake, giving it a voice in any takeover move.

IPE Real Assets

Lessons learned from Bank of Canada makeover

The stone face of the Bank of Canada headquarters, completed in 1938 on Ottawa’s Wellington Street, is classicism shaved bare, a blank stare, a block of grey stoicism to suggest that an impenetrable bank is a good bank. Then, with the looser democracy of wide lapels and wide floor plans, came Arthur Erickson’s 1979 extension. It goes for exactly the opposite effect.

Globe and Mail – Globe and Mail

Spaces opens first of five planned Montreal locations

Creative workspace company Spaces has big plans for Montreal, beginning with the May 22 opening of its 30,000-square-foot location in Mile End. Spaces will have the seventh floor of the Allied Properties REIT (AP-UN-T)-owned, loft-style building at 5455 De Gaspé Ave., where video game publisher Ubisoft is the largest tenant. Berger said Spaces would like to work with Ubisoft if it needs further space in the 12-storey, 492,590-square-foot, ex-textile factory.

Property Biz Canada

Summit acquires GTA cold storage facility

Summit Industrial Income REIT (SMU-UN-T announced it has waived conditions and will acquire 100% of a 187,245-square-foot single-tenant cold storage facility in Mississauga. The property is leased to a national logistics company under a long-term lease with 14 years remaining. The property includes two potential expansion opportunities. Summit will pay $37.0 million for the entire property,

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

R&R acquires five U.S. hotels for $40.6M

R&R REIT (RRR-UN-X) today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of five economy extended-stay hotels in the U.S. and comprising a total of 656 rooms for an aggregate purchase price of $40.6 million Cdn from entities controlled by Majid Mangalji, executive chairman and trustee of the REIT and the largest beneficial unitholder of the REIT, and Michael Klingher, president and CEO of the REIT. 

Canada Newswire

Edison Properties buys Winnipeg high-rise

In a sign of growing confidence in downtown Winnipeg, a large residential developer has purchased a social housing highrise that has sat empty for the past three years. Edison Properties, which owns the Fort Garry Place towers and several other city apartment buildings, recently bought the 21-storey structure at 185 Smith St. from Manitoba Housing for $16.2 million. The property had been assessed by the city a year ago at $12.4 million.

Winnipeg Free Press – CBC

Cambie plan calls for major transformation

Vancouver’s recent approval of the third phase of the Cambie corridor redevelopment plan sets the stage for the biggest transformation of the area. While boosters tip it as the largest neighbourhood redevelopment since the West End in the 1950s, it makes more sense to frame it as giving Vancouver – long dominated by the metropolitan core – its own municipal town centre.

Business In Vancouver – Western Investor – Globe Newswire

Foreign buyers, Van. see potential in commercial strata

The surge in Vancouver commercial strata has attracted both foreign buyers and higher city fees for community amenity contributions (CACs), according to Vancouver appraiser Brady Fleguel. “The foreign-entity tax (FET) recently increased to a 20% tax while the B.C. speculation tax steps to two per cent annually in 2019 for foreign investors and satellite families. Strata office is exempt from both the FET and the speculation tax,” said Fleguel.

Business In Vancouver

Brookfield closing in on Kushner’s troubled tower

The company controlled by the family of White House adviser Jared Kushner is close to receiving a bailout of its financially troubled flagship building by Brookfield Property Partners L.P. (BPY.UN-T), according to executives. Charles Kushner, head of the Kushner Cos., is in advanced talks with Brookfield over a partnership to take control of the 41-storey aluminum-clad tower at 666 Fifth Ave. in Midtown.

Toronto Star – TIME – Property Biz Canada

Arlington, Texas withdraws from Amazon HQ2 chase

Dallas-Fort Worth has one of the most comprehensive Amazon HQ2 bid packages in North America, with at least a dozen cities bidding at least one development site. So, facing steep competition in the region and approximately $5 billion in housing development costs, the City of Arlington on Tuesday officially withdrew its bid from consideration for Amazon’s second headquarters. Toronto is the only Canadian city still in the running.

CoStar Group – CP Executive

12 iconic American buildings that fell from grace

American cities are always being rebuilt. While cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco boast some of the most iconic buildings in the country, they also contain some notable buildings that have fallen from grace. New York City’s Singer Tower, for example, was once the tallest building in the world, but was knocked down in 1968 to make room for an even taller skyscraper.

Business Insider

Featured Column

H&M swings open its doors in Regina

Over a year ago, it was announced Regina’s downtown Cornwall Centre was getting an H&M store. The store opened this past weekend to a lineup of folks hoping to cash in on doorcrasher coupons valued at between $10 and $300. So why did it take so long to finally open the doors?

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Sydney, N.S.’s downtown district sees new life

Sydney, N.S.’s downtown and surrounding area have been plagued with an exodus of businesses leaving empty storefronts, vacant spaces and a couple of large, derelict buildings. But that is starting to change after a concerted effort by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Bradley Murphy, CBRM’s downtown regeneration co-ordinator, started his new job last year by creating an inventory of vacant spaces.

CBC

Real Estate Companies

Morguard finds tenant for Sears space in Bonnie Doon mall

Morguard Investments Ltd. (MRC-T) plans to announce the tenant that will move into the former Sears store at Edmonton’s Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre in the next four to six weeks. The Sears store closed more than a year ago. The new tenant — focused on education and wellness — will draw more than 1,000 people per day to the mall, said Margaret Knowles, senior vice-president of development at Morguard.

CBC

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Starlight U.S. Multi-Family (No. 1) Value-Add Fund, (SUVA-A-X), Canada Newswire

* Starlight U.S. Multi-Family (No. 5) Core Fund, (STUS-A-X), Canada Newswire

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* PROREIT, (PRV-UN-X), Canada Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

BSR completes US$135M IPO

BSR REIT (HOM-U-T) announced today it has completed its initial public offering of 13,500,000 trust units at a price of US$10.00 per unit. The offering raised gross proceeds of US$135,000,000. In connection with the offering, the REIT indirectly acquired a 48-property portfolio of multi-family properties (one of which is to be acquired following closing of the offering) located across five bordering states in the Sunbelt region of the U.S.

Canada Newswire

U.S. health care REITs to watch

The market for health-care real estate remains liquid and asset prices are near historical highs, providing an attractive backdrop as health-care REITs plan to sell large volumes of assets this year. These sales are aimed at accomplishing a variety of strategic and financial objectives that, when implemented, have positive credit implications.

CP Executive

Retail

Nordstrom sales disappoint

Sluggish sales at Nordstrom Inc. (JWN-N) underscore why members of the founding family wanted to take the company private in the first place. With unseasonable temperatures crimping demand for apparel in the first quarter, comparable sales missed analysts’ estimates. The closely watched measure rose 0.6 per cent, the department store chain said Thursday. Analysts were expecting an increase of one per cent, according to Consensus Metrix.

Globe and Mail

IKEA to open first South American stores

IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, plans to open its first stores in South America after signing a franchise agreement with Chilean retailer Falabella, the companies said. The Swedish firm aims to open at least nine stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru over a period of 10 years and will sell through online sales channels in the three countries, it said late on Thursday.

Reuters

Restaurants and Eateries

Starbucks aims to triple China revenue by 2022

Starbucks Corp (SBUX-Q) is looking to more than triple its revenue and almost double its store count in China over the next five years, doubling down on the market as traffic growth comes under pressure in the U.S. The U.S. coffee chain, which recently raised $7.15 billion in a deal with Nestle SA, aims to have 6,000 stores in the country by the end of 2022.

Reuters

Cannabis industry news

A peek at some of Canada’s new pot shops

Meta Cannabis Supply Company, the Ottawa company that plans to convert some Second Cup coffee stores into pot shops, has provided a peek at what customers in Western Canada can expect when they stroll in to buy their legal weed. An artist rendering of the shops depicts a cool, uncluttered space decorated in white with magenta accents and splashes of hot pink, like any other boutique at the mall.

Ottawa Citizen – Globe and Mail

Langford, B.C., wants cash from pot retailers

Cannabis retailers wanting to set up shop in Langford, B.C., will improve their chances of approval if they are willing to give the city a piece of the action. With federal legalization only months away, Langford has issued a request for proposals looking for up to five applicants interested in selling “cannabis and cannabis related products” as part of what is being called a pilot project.

Victoria Times Colonist

New Development

Development partners plan Sydney mixed-use project

Local development partners Fraser McColl and Dan Robbins are planning to spend at least $9 million to buy Sidney, B.C.’s old fire hall and an adjacent parking lot. McColl and Robbins are aiming to put up a six-storey building featuring ground-floor commercial space with condominiums above, and one level of underground parking.

Victoria Times Colonist

Renovation and Restoration

Old buildings ferment into stylish breweries

The building used to be painted an undesirable mustard-yellow. Now it’s known more for the golden ales and lagers. In Ottawa’s Centretown neighbourhood, about 10 minutes south of Parliament Hill, Flora Hall Brewing – a craft brewpub serving up nine styles of beer and a menu of shareable snacks – has opened its doors to much fanfare. In just a few months, more than 15,000 customers have imbibed.

Globe and Mail

Adaptive reuse sparks opportunity in Detroit

SLIDESHOW: Adpative reuse is becoming an increasing popular strategy for developers looking to reposition vacant or obsolete assets for today’s uses while preserving the historic character of a city’s buildings. Attendees at the 2018 ULI Spring Meeting had the chance to tour several recently completed and underway adaptive reuse projects in Detroit, observing how the developments have spurred further investment in the city.

CP Executive

Times Square building to be converted into offices

The estate of deceased porn magnate Richard Basciano wants to swap out live nudes for clothed office workers at his infamous Times Square property. Basciano’s estate filed plans for an office conversion at 303 West 42nd Street with the city’s Department of Buildings on Wednesday. The building would expand only from about 59,000 to 61,000 square feet under the plans, and remain 12 stories and 120 feet tall.

The Real Deal

Infrastructure

Montreal trying to fix its decrepit water system

With more than 7,000 kilometres of pipes and sewers across the island, Montreal’s underground sewer system is one of the largest in Canada. At least a third of pipes, though, have reached the end of their lifespan and another third will by 2020. For years, the city has been trying to tackle the problem, but the Plante administration has stressed urgency and made replacing the aging water infrastructure a priority.

CBC

Other

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