WeWork bends to landlords’ office space demands

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)  •  RENX

In January, WeWork executives convened many of Toronto’s top landlords to dine on fine Italian fare and to court their support for the office-sharing company’s aggressive expansion plans. Its message: WeWork will be more flexible with new contracts.

Fiera Capital to acquire Integrated Asset Management

RENX  Commercial  •  Investment  •  National

UPDATED: Fiera Capital Corporation has an agreement to acquire Integrated Asset Management. Fiera will pay about $74 million for the private alternative asset management firm, which has about $3.1 billion in assets under management and committed capital.

Westbank, Allied have big plans for Union Centre Tower

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Allied Properties REIT (AP-UN-T) and Westbank Corp. of Vancouver (with which Allied is currently building 19 Duncan and KING Toronto plus another three projects in Western Canada), have hired the renowned Bjarke Ingels Group to design a skyscraper on Station Street.

Zillow signs more homes listing agreements in Canada

RENX  Residential  •  Technology, Homes  •  National, International

Zillow, an American-based online real estate and rental marketplace, entered Canada in October and has been growing steadily ever since. So far, the platform has nine Canadian companies offering their listings via the service.

Sun Life, Toronto spar over heritage designation

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

When Sun Life Canada in 2016 pitched a plan to develop a 59-storey tower at 100 Simcoe St., the insurance giant and its architects, Diamond Schmitt, envisioned a project fairly similar to many high-rises in the area.

Ambitious plans set to transform Scarborough Centre

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

While work progresses behind the scenes on the controversial Scarborough Subway Extension, planners at both the City of Toronto and Oxford Properties are cooking up their own master plans for what might accompany the new transit hub in Scarborough Centre.

Sponsored by Harbour Equity Harbour Equity’s 4th joint venture development fund 50% committed

Harbour Equity closed its 4th joint venture development fund in April 2018 and has now committed 50% of the Fund. Harbour Equity continues to actively review investment opportunities for the balance of the Fund.

Harris Square’s ground floor taking shape at River City

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Construction is underway at the fourth and final phase of Urban Capital Property Group’s River City community in Toronto’s West Don Lands. The 13-storey Saucier + Perrotte Architects and ZAS Architects-designed building will contain a mix of residential and retail.

ONE Properties presents revised Toronto development

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

ONE Properties and Kirkor Architects recently presented to Toronto’s Design Review Panel (DRP) revised and slightly reduced plans for a pair of towers at 351 Queen East (also referred to as 161 Parliament).

Winnipeg to sell Pantages Theatre, protect downtown HBC

Commercial  •  CBC

Winnipeg councillors voted Thursday to protect a 92-year-old Hudson’s Bay store downtown and sell a 105-year-old theatre to developers who plan to maintain the performance space. The six-storey Bay will be added to Winnipeg’s list of historic resources.

Metrolinx scraps portion of Hurontario LRT

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Hamilton Spectator  •  Global News

The province’s transit agency is scaling back plans for a major transit line linking Brampton and Mississauga in order to cut costs. The changes include removing the proposed loop around Mississauga city centre, and eliminating three stops.

Brookfield may never fully integrate Oaktree: CEO

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX  •  Globe Newswire

Developer appeals ruling in Toronto condo presale dispute

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

A Toronto condominium developer has appealed a ruling that ordered it to return a pre-sale purchase deposit after being found to have terminated a contract in bad faith.

ECREIT unitholders approve CAPREIT portfolio acquisition

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

European Commercial REIT (ERE-UN-X) announced its unitholders overwhelmingly approved, among other things, the previously announced indirect acquisition from Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAR-UN-T) of a portfolio of multi-residential properties located in the Netherlands comprising 2,091 suites in 41 properties.

REIT financial results:

Commercial  • 

Automotive Properties REIT, (APR-UN-T), Canada Newswire

REOC financial results:

Commercial  • 

Fiera Capital Corporation, (FSZ-T), Canada Newswire

Mortgage industry underwhelmed by federal budget

Residential  •  Canadian Mortgage Trends  •  CBC  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

“The RRSP withdrawal limit change is a nothing burger, since it was only being used less than 10% of the time for down payment,” Ron Butler of Butler Mortgage said of the Liberal government’s 2019 budget. “So, essentially meaningless.”

‘Monster homes’ transforming Toronto neighbourhoods

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Harvey Knopman’s spidey senses gave him an inkling in 2010 that his Bedford Park-Nortown neighbourhood was about to undergo a major transformation. Knopman and his neighbours had noticed increasing inquiries about their appetite to sell the bungalows that line their area.

Chinese investors still sold on Canadian real estate

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

China and Hong Kong-based investors will still have a growing desire for Canadian real estate in 2019, predicts Juwai.com, but the increase will be slim compared with the ravenous growth of the past.