Starlight, AIMCo buy downtown Vancouver office tower

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Metro Vancouver

An 18-storey class-A office building at 1138 Melville Street in Vancouver has been sold to a joint venture involving Starlight Investments and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).

Fitzrovia, AIMCo join Hazelview’s Bloor and Dufferin project

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Retail, Apartments, Condominiums  •  Toronto / GTA

Hazelview Investments and Fitzrovia Real Estate will be the co-development managers of a mixed-use project at the corner of Bloor and Dufferin streets in Toronto after the departure of Capital Developments and Metropia.

Investment executives talk strategies at RealREIT

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Apartments, Condominiums, Investment  •  National

The combination of a strong performance by commercial real estate and underperformance by some other investment sectors has led to an “exceptionally robust” inflow of capital according to RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group managing director David Tweedie.

Huge Quebec apt. acquisition ‘game changer’: Romundt

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Greater Montreal

UPDATED WITH CEO interview: Centurion Apartment REIT will acquire a two-thirds interest in 30 Greater Montreal Area apartment buildings in the largest single multifamily transaction ever in the Province of Quebec. Centurion CEO Greg Romundt calls it a “game changer”.

Shopping centres getting new look

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Affected by the pandemic and the growing financial and environmental costs of heating and cooling acres of property, malls across Canada are being newly built or reconfigured as outdoor shopping and recreational spaces.

Canadian proptech startups have raised millions

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Proptech Collective’s 2021 report, Proptech in Canada, analyzes 300 Canadian proptech startups solving solutions for real estate and construction companies. Some of the report’s 25 top-funded startups, including Vancouver-based BuildDirect home improvement company, have raised hundreds of millions on the global stage.

Sponsored by Trez Capital Trez Capital expands equity investments and partnerships program

Trez Capital is one of Canada’s largest non-bank lenders supporting borrowers with custom real estate financings and investors with reliable income. Founded in 1997, with the vision to help build a successful future for developers and investors alike …

Low interest rates tempting for CRE investors

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

With low interest rates, prices rising constantly and a pandemic that has upended the way we work and shop, investing in commercial real estate right now can seem unusually tricky. But, it also can offer unusually good opportunities.

Committee approves Ott. hospital campus plan

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Citizen  •  Global News

A planning committee meeting that spanned two days ended with a vote in support of a master site plan for Ottawa’s future Civic hospital on the Central Experimental Farm. City council will vote on the master site plan Oct. 13.

Virtus REIT acquires Timmins office property

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Virtus Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired 179 3rd Ave. in Timmins, Ont. The office property is comprised of 34,767 gross leasable square feet and is leased by the federal government through January 2025, with a five-year option to extend the lease.

Shopping centre gets ‘backdoor’ approval: Councillor

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

A large shopping and an 833-unit residential complex has been approved on Calgary’s northwest boundary after what some Rocky View County councillors are calling “bizarre, backroom” dealings. It was given a green light in a 6-3 vote by Rocky View County council.

Van. land assemblies come with range of difficulties

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

OPINION: The detached house looks almost comical squeezed between two under-construction apartment buildings. The scenario is becoming common in Metro Vancouver as realtors try to put together land assemblies for new condominium complexes by convincing adjacent homeowners to sell.

Ivanhoé invests $150M in U.S. multifamily

Residential  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Ivanhoé Cambridge is expanding its relationship with L.A.-based Mount Auburn Multifamily by investing $150 million of preferred equity. Ivanhoé Cambridge will join the board of Mount Auburn and gain exposure to a diversified portfolio of multifamily properties.

Manulife signs million-sq.-ft. lease deal in Georgia

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Manulife Investment Management and Reliant Real Estate Partners announced the signing of a million-square-foot lease at Locust Grove Distribution Center in Locust Grove, Ga. CJ Logistics America signed a full-building, long-term lease in the centre.

Default concerns of Chinese developers deepen

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Growing worries about defaults at Chinese property developers triggered a rout in their shares and bonds on Tuesday with fresh credit rating downgrades and uncertainty about the fate of cash-strapped China Evergrande Group sapping investor sentiment.

Tricon announces U.S. IPO

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Tricon Residential (TCN-T), an owner and operator of single-family rental homes and multifamily rental apartments, announced today it has launched a marketed public offering of common shares in the U.S. and Canada, its initial  public offering in the U.S.

T.O. housing market at ‘critical juncture’: TRREB

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Home prices continued to climb in the hot Toronto area residential real estate market in September, hitting the third-highest mark on record for the month, according to data released Tuesday by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

Fall market expected to remain strong: RE/MAX

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

According to the RE/MAX Canada 2021 Fall Housing Market Outlook Report, RE/MAX brokers and agents expect the average residential sale price for all home types could increase by five per cent from now until the end of the year.

The open house may be headed for extinction

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Real estate agents are asking: Will open houses come roaring back post-pandemic? “I built my business on open houses,” said Andre Kutyan, broker with Toronto’s Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd. “And I don’t know if I’ll ever do one again.”

Tiny building, huge headache for Vancouver builder

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

It’s a tiny building on a little sliver of land, but local builders say the drama surrounding it reflects a big problem in Vancouver. City hall recently issued an order to remove a small shed under construction in East Vancouver.