Real Estate News Exchange (RENX)
c/o Squall Inc.
P.O. Box 1484, Stn. B
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5P6

thankyou@renx.ca
Canada: 1-855-569-6300

Pandemic pushes pace of change: PwC/ULI trends report

3 years ago

Some asset classes continue to perform better than others, but there’s a general sense of optimism in North America according to the just-released Emerging Trends in Real Estate report from PwC and Urban Land Institute.

SynerCapital had two complementary interests in the $33.2-million divestment of seven apartment buildings comprising 202 units in the Eastern Ontario city of Kingston.

The 2021 GRESB ratings have recognized real estate portfolios and funds owned and/or managed by 10 Canadian-based companies as Sector Leaders in their respective categories within The Americas.

 •   • 

A fourth wave of COVID-19 infections is fuelling doubts about downtown Montreal. “The possibility of recovering a general level of activity similar to that before the pandemic remains out of sight,” says Quebec’s Urban Development Institute‘s latest quarterly report.

345 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 • 

McGill metro station. Monday noon. The 5th Avenue boutique, which specializes in men’s clothing, is empty of customers. The BleuBlanc tailor-made cleaner is yet another “underground Montreal” business suffering from the absence of workers and the decrease in metro use.

 •   • 

With a growing population and the impending arrival of an electric train network, Greater Montreal Area city Brossard is taking steps to develop a new downtown. The project is planned around the future Panama station of the Réseau express métropolitain.

 •   • 

“ . . . if we don’t start filling up those vacancies and raising the assessed value of our downtown properties, we’re going to continue to be in a problem with our revenue stream,” Jyoti Gondek said after winning Calgary’s mayoral election.

 •   • 

Winnipeg-based Ironclad Developments has proposed a six-building project across from Kelowna’s Orchard Park Shopping Centre. Five rental buildings would vary in height from four to six storeys and include 401  units. They would be joined by a stand-alone one-storey commercial building.

Romspen

 • 

The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) will invest up to $19.3 million on the world’s largest raw wastewater energy transfer project, located at Toronto Western Hospital. The $42.9-million project will provide approximately 90 per cent of the hospital’s heating and cooling requirements.

 •   • 

Wage and rent subsidies for businesses due to expire Saturday will be replaced with what Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland described as “targeted measures.” The new initiatives will be in effect from Oct. 25 to May 7 at a cost of $7.4 billion.

 • 

When it opened in 1912, Ottawa’s Union Station was an architectural delight that led passengers through a procession of palatial rooms to board a train. However, by the time the railways moved out of downtown in 1966, tastes had changed.

 •   •   • 

CI Financial Corp. (CIX-T) continues its U.S. buying spree with the purchase of Seattle-based McCutchen Group, which caters to high-net-worth families. McCutchen Group, which manages US$3.4-billion in assets, is the fourth registered investment adviser acquisition announced by CI since June.

Panattoni

 •   • 

Nicola Wealth Real Estate (NWRE) has acquired Northgate Executive Center in Seattle, a low-rise office park on 6.7 acres totalling 200,558 square feet spread across three buildings. The multi-tenant office park is currently 86 per cent occupied at below-market rental rates.

 •   • 

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), King Street Capital Management and a sovereign wealth fund announced the creation of a joint venture working alongside East End Studios to acquire and develop class-A production studios, beginning in the Greater Los Angeles area.

 •   • 

Blackstone REIT (BREIT) announced an affiliate has completed its acquisition of WPT Industrial REIT (WIR.U-T) in a series of transactions that resulted in unitholders receiving US$22.00 per outstanding unit in an all-cash transaction valued at US$3.2 billion.

 •   •   • 

Teetering Chinese property giant China Evergrande formally abandoned plans to sell a $2.6-billion stake in one of its key units on Wednesday, as Beijing officials went out in force to say the problems would not spin out of control.

ProREIT

 • 

After years of back and forth with the False Creek South community, the City of Vancouver released a preliminary conceptual plan that would physically transform the 80-acre waterfront site between the Cambie Street and Burrard Street bridges.

 • 

According to a new Zoocasa study, Ottawa led Ontario cities with buyers paying an average of 27.8% more than the list price, from $523,842 to $669,874. In Whitby, homes sell for 16.4% more, from a list price of $938,831 to a sale price of $1,092,945.

 •   •   • 

The Nova Scotia government is enshrining the two per cent cap on rental increases in law until Dec. 31, 2023. Premier Tim Houston and Housing Minister John Lohr made the announcement during a news conference in Halifax on Wednesday.

 • 

Calgary had its strongest third quarter for housing sales since the price of oil plummeted in 2014, according to the latest report by the Calgary Real Estate Board. There were 6,628 sales in Q3, a sign that Calgary’s housing market remains resilient.

Industry Events