Concert fund buys 1.2M-sq.-ft. Lowe’s Calgary property

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Calgary

The Concert CREC Commercial Fund LP has acquired one of Western Canada’s most significant distribution hubs, the newly constructed, 1.2-million-square-foot Lowe’s facility in Rocky View County just outside Calgary.

Shelborne Capital buys $90M Ontario industrial portfolio

RENX  Commercial

Shelborne Capital got off to a somewhat impetuous start five years ago, but that initial investment paid off and the growing firm has just acquired a 21-property industrial portfolio in Barrie for $90 million.

Slate Office offers $254.8M for Ireland’s Yew Grove REIT

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office  •  International

Slate Office REIT (SOT-UN-T) has an agreement to acquire Irish trust Yew Grove REIT Plc, an owner of office, life sciences and light industrial properties, for $254.8 million. Slate calls the all-cash offer a “transformative” moment for its business.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Saskatchewan industrial vacancy rates lowest in a decade

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

Nexus negotiating seven industrial properties for $315M

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Nexus REIT (NXR-UN-T) announced it is in negotiations on potential acquisitions of seven industrial properties totalling approximately 1.7 million square feet for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $315 million, including two properties which are subject to conditional purchase agreements.

T.O. waterfront CRE ‘destination of choice’: Menkes

Commercial  •  Toronto Storeys  •  RENX

“Over the last several years, the waterfront established itself as a destination of choice for office tenants for several reasons (including) a flight to quality in new state-of-the-art office buildings,” Sean Menkes, vice-president, Office/Retail at Menkes Developments, said.

Sponsored by Yardi Watch these three transformational property management trends

It’s heartening that growth in the Canadian real estate industry offers a sign that recovery from pandemic-driven slowdowns is in full swing. As the rebound progresses, three emerging trends will strongly influence the future of property management:

Ubisoft to set up a new studio in Sherbrooke

Commercial  •  Daily Hive  •  Canada Newswire  •  Les Affaires

Ubisoft is continuing its expansion across Quebec, announcing it will open its fourth video game development studio in the province. The new studio will be in Sherbrooke, which Ubisoft says is the “academic and economic hub of the Eastern Townships.”

Townsend, Ont. — a planned ‘utopia’ gone wrong

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Born in the 1970s, Townsend, Ont., was pitched as an Ontario government-sponsored development that would transform a rural section of Haldimand and Norfolk counties into a “megalopolis” to house hundreds of thousands drawn to the area by industrial employers.

Calgary to invest $6M in growing tech sector

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

The City of Calgary says it will invest $6 million into a venture capital fund in an effort to boost the city’s growing tech sector. The investment will be made by the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund.

Drones, virtual tools drive commercial property sales

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

A pandemic-driven boom in remote technologies and virtual-viewing platforms has kick-started more tech-enhanced transactions in commercial property sales, a marketplace that has typically been slower to adapt to innovation, says Tiffany Hoos, marketing manager for Cushman & Wakefield, in Vancouver.

REIT third-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

H&R REIT, (HR-UN-T), Canada Newswire
Nexus REIT, (NXR-UN-T), Globe Newswire

Invesque sells five-property U.S. portfolio for $93M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Invesque Inc., (IVQ-U-T) announced today that it has sold a four-property skilled nursing portfolio with 436 beds operated and a 144-bed assisted living community portfolio to The Ensign Group for US$93.0 million. The portfolio is located in California, Kansas and Arizona.

Trump has a deal to sell Washington hotel for $375M

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Former U.S. president Donald Trump’s family hotel company has reached a deal to sell the rights to its Washington, D.C., hotel for US$375-million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing sources.

WeWork reports smaller loss on rebound in demand

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Business Wire  •  CNBC

Office-sharing firm WeWork Inc. (WE-N) on Monday reported a smaller loss in its first quarterly result since going public last month, as a rebound in demand for office space due to easing COVID-19 related restrictions helped boost occupancy.

U.K. turns down London’s tulip skyscraper

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

The U.K. government is fine with a Gherkin, Walkie Talkie and Cheesegrater dotting the City of London skyline. However, it has rejected plans lodged by late billionaire Joseph Safra to build a 1,000-foot tulip-shaped tower in the financial district.

Pace of housing starts slowed in October: CMHC

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire

The trend in housing starts was 264,264 units in October, down from 270,661 units in September, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts.

B.C. to research blind-bidding rules elsewhere

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The provincial government is expected to study other real estate markets and their bidding practices — such as blind-bidding and automatic step-up clauses — before presenting new real estate legislation for B.C. this spring.

T.O. developer looks to transform house into six condos

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Through a new venture called InCommon Projects, developer Matthew Cohen and business partner, Brian Torry aim to transform a house 44 Wilson Park Rd., in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood, into a missing-middle-type cluster of six condos.

Canada second-frothiest housing market in the world

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Daily Hive

OPINION: Based on a combination of various metrics, we found that New Zealand had the highest average rank (indicating its housing market is the frothiest of the group), followed closely by Canada and Sweden.