Skydevco has ‘expansive’ Ontario development plans

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Apartments, Retail  •  Ontario

Skydevco, the new real estate development division of Skyline Group of Companies, has “expansive” plans for multifamily projects in several Ontario cities. Among them is a 25-storey development in downtown Guelph, including retail and office space in the podium.

Fengate, Freed acquire 5.4-acre mixed-use T.O. site

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX  •  Globe Newswire

Fengate Asset Management and Freed Developments Ltd. announced the joint acquisition of a 5.4-acre, transit-oriented and mixed-use site with development entitlements in Toronto from Allied Hotel Properties Inc. (AHP-X).

Loblaw to close Laval warehouse; 550 jobs affected

Commercial  •  La Presse

Loblaw (L-T), which operates the Provigo and Maxi supermarket chains in Quebec, will close its warehouse on Avenue Francis-Hughes in Laval. The 550 employees learned Tuesday morning the grocer will transfer the distribution of dry food to a subcontractor in Ontario.

The People Space › People Space: Colliers, Manulife, AY, Empire name new execs…

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Nexus acquires Sask. industrial properties for $17.4M

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Nexus REIT (NXR-UN-X) announced it has entered into an unconditional agreement to acquire three single-tenant industrial properties in Regina and Saskatoon, totaling 231,700 square feet of gross leasable area. The three-property portfolio will be acquired for $17.4 million.

Downtown Hamilton building for sale for $3.7M

Commercial  •  CBC

The Lincoln Alexander Centre is for sale — again. A listing for the downtown Hamilton building named after Canada’s first black Member of Parliament includes as asking price of $3.7 million for the 21,438-square-foot property on King Street East.

Sponsored by Yardi Making smart real estate decisions for coworking

According to coworker.com, there are more than 350 coworking spaces in Canada, with Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as the top markets. On a global scale, the 2019 Deskmag global coworking survey results estimated that, by the end of 2019, there

Reliance proposes Van. 29-storey office tower

Commercial  •  Vancouver Courier

Reliance Properties wants to build a 29-storey office tower in downtown Vancouver where a six-storey parkade currently sits.  The rezoning application proposes street-level commercial space, office space on the second to 29th floors, and a height of 337.5 feet.

Winnipeg alleges fraud in lawsuit over police HQ

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  Globe and Mail

The City of Winnipeg is suing individuals linked to the construction of its beleaguered police headquarters, accusing them of knowingly inflating the cost of the project. The lawsuit names Caspian Projects Inc., Armik Babakhanians and Triple D Consulting Services.

Edmonton’s 105th Avenue slated for $16M renewal

Commercial  •  CBC

A pothole-plagued, sidewalk-deprived section of 105th Avenue north of downtown Edmonton will finally get fixed after city council agreed to move ahead with the $16-million project. The plans to revitalize 105th Avenue started more than a decade ago.

Hotel, marina redevelopment pitched for Nanaimo

Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

The family which owns the Waterfront Hotel and Marina in Nanaimo is proposing to dismantle the 45-year-old building and replace it with a 10-storey waterfront hotel designed in a contemporary style.

Broccolini holds Maison Radio-Canada art contest

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

Quebec-based builder Broccolini has launched a public art contest inviting artists to submit ideas to cover a massive outdoor wall at its $140-million Maison Radio-Canada project in Montreal.

Roots struggles with global expansion, operations

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Bloomberg

Long before it was called “athleisure” and before Lululemon was selling $75 stretchy pants, Roots (ROOT-T) made it fashionable to pay a pretty penny for sweatpants. However, behind the brand’s cozy image of nostalgic Canadiana, a corporate crisis has been brewing.

Opinion: Is the HBC worth saving?

Commercial  •  Financial Post

It is 4 p.m., precisely a week before Christmas at a Hudson’s Bay (HBC-T) store at the corner of Yonge and Bloor in downtown Toronto. The area is one of the city’s biggest shopping destinations, but the Bay is dreary.

Pier 1 to close up to 450 stores

Commercial  •  Reuters

Home decor and furniture retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. (PIR-N) said on Monday it plans to close up to 450 stores, cut jobs and warned about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Covivio buys $870M hotel portfolio from Värde

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

French REIT Covivio is buying a portfolio of eight European hotels for $870 million Cdn, according to the seller Värde Partners. The full-service independent hotels have on aggregate over 1,100 rooms located in Rome, Nice, Budapest, Prague, Florence and Venice.

RBC CEO calls for stress test caution

Residential  •  Financial Post

Royal Bank of Canada CEO Dave McKay says the federal government needs to exercise caution as it considers adjusting the mortgage stress test that has loomed over the housing market and rankled the real-estate industry.

GTA sales up 17 per cent YOY: TREB

Residential  •  Globe Newswire  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe and Mail

December 2019 residential sales reported through TREB’s MLS System by Greater Toronto Area realtors were up by 17.4 per cent year-over-year to 4,399. Total sales for calendar year 2019 amounted to 87,825 – up by 12.6 per cent compared to the decade-low 78,015 sales reported in 2018.

Montreal trailer park a best-kept secret

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette

The next-door neighbours are enormous warehouses belonging to international conglomerates. There is a stop for a bus that passes during peak hours only, but no sidewalks along the wide, windswept boulevard used by a steady procession of transport trucks.

Airbnb can root out people who display ‘psychopathy’

Residential  •  Business Insider

If you’ve been rejected from booking an Airbnb rental, it may be because the app’s artificial intelligence determined that you’re a psychopath. Airbnb owns the rights to software that’s designed to scan people’s online presence.