Avenue Living doubles portfolio in 18 months, tops $3B

RENX  Residential  •  Office, Retail, Apartments, Land  •  National

Calgary-based real estate company Avenue Living Asset Management began in 2006 with the purchase of 24 rental units for $3 million in Brooks, Alberta. Just recently, the company surpassed $3 billion in assets under management.

CAPREIT sells T.O. King’s Club stake, buys Quebec apts.

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments

Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAR.UN-T) has sold two properties in Toronto for about $143 million, including its one-third managing interest in the downtown King’s Club, and acquired a portfolio of three modern apartment buildings in Quebec City.

Hootsuite’s Vanc. office undergoes post-COVID redesign

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Vancouver Sun

As more companies shift to hybrid work models, the design of Vancouver offices has changed — especially for the 400 employees at Hootsuite, 10 per cent of whom returned to work Sept. 7 and were met with an entirely different floor plan.

Centurion to make record Quebec apartment acquisition

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Greater Montreal

Centurion Asset Management, the asset manager of Centurion Apartment REIT, has announced it will make the largest apartment transaction ever in Quebec, buying 30 newly constructed multifamily properties in the Greater Montreal Area. The portfolio comprises 3,678 rental units.

The outlook for Canadian CRE brightens

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Bloomberg

In 2020, experts predicted employees would be flocking back to offices in the fall. It hasn’t played out that way. However, there are bullish signs for Canada’s property market as office leases remain firm, retail recovers and industrial booms.

The Saskatchewan Edge › How to de-risk your spec CRE build

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

San Fran fintech opening Toronto office

Commercial  •  betakit  •  BlogTO

Stripe is opening its first Canadian office in Toronto. The San Francisco-based fintech company expects to sign a lease for office space in downtown Toronto sometime over the next few months, though a location has yet to be revealed.

A second urban rail system for Toronto (Part 1)

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Toronto’s growth is truly impressive, with the GTA expected to be home to over 8 million residents within the next decade. In this two-part story, Toronto’s regional rail ambitions will be discussed. Part 1 focuses on projects within the City of Toronto.

Calgary-born Ronmor Developers growing into U.S.

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

Multi-generational private real estate company Ronmor Developments was launched by local families who began assembling land in Calgary almost 60 years ago. The company remains active in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C., and is expanding into the southwestern U.S.

Companies delay return to office due to Delta variant

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Despite initial plans for a return to the office this fall, companies across the country are now starting to push back the expected date to early 2022 as the Delta variant of COVID-19 surges and companies deliberate on flexible work arrangements.

Supply chain crunch could threaten holiday wish lists

Commercial  •  CBC

The problems started in manufacturing last year when factories across Asia were forced to shut down due to COVID.  Rates for China to North America have jumped to more than $20,000 per container, compared to $4,500 a year ago, according to Freightos.com.

Walmart-Home Depot merger makes shiploads of sense

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

OPINION: Walmart and Home Depot are among U.S. retailers that have grown so frustrated with the limited space on container ships and rising cost of ocean shipping that they are chartering their own vessels. Costco also resorted to this option.

Global return to office heads in different directions

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  Globe St.  •  Commercial Search

The world’s leading financial centers are breaking step in their march back to the office. London and New York have, after a summer lull, regained some of their pre-pandemic bounce and a recovery is in sight.

Physicians Realty Trust to buy MOB portfolio: $764M

Commercial  •  Business Wire

Physicians Realty Trust, a self-managed healthcare real estate company, has executed an agreement for the acquisition of 15 class-A medical office buildings in eight states comprising approximately 1.5-million square feet, for an aggregate price of approximately $764.3 million.

CD&R wins $9.5-billion bid for U.K. supermarket chain

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has won the auction for Morrisons with a $9.5-billion bid, paving the way for the U.S. private equity firm to take control of Britain’s fourth-biggest supermarket group. A consortium led by Softbank was a second bidder.

Trading halted on Evergrande shares on takeover deal

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Evergrande halted trading of its shares on Monday, amid news it had missed another key bond interest payment, bringing the embattled Chinese real estate giant closer to default. The world’s most indebted property developer, Evergrande has been near collapse for weeks.

Berliners, Europeans are angry about housing

Residential  •  Bloomberg

During Europe’s deep Covid recession, millions of jobs were lost, incomes and livelihoods were destroyed and many feared for their financial future. Housing took a different path. A boom in property prices widened the gulf between haves and have nots.

Pandemic sends wave of buyers onto the Island

Commercial  •  Western Investor

According to search data from REW.ca, all 10 of the largest towns on Vancouver Island have seen an increase in homebuyer searches this year, led by Greater Victoria and Nanaimo, but including smaller such as Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

A search for more than band-aid housing solutions

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

There was a bevy of promises made during the federal election to address the housing crisis, but scant few that addressed truly affordable housing, say some housing experts. There were the usual plans to supply more housing, and a few initiatives to dampen speculation.

Affordable Vancouver housing for women, by women

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun  •  RENX

Three years ago, when reflecting on the dream of affordable housing designed and delivered by an entirely female team, a group of developers, architects and non-profit representatives gathered to talk about “flow” and wanting something fluid and organic in shape.