Recent Articles
Jeffrey Soliman creates new CRE venture, buys office building
Soliman creates new CRE venture, buys office building
Two years after launching a successful commercial mortgage brokerage firm in Montreal, Jeffrey Soliman has started a second real estate business, with the hopes of acquiring US $1 billion worth of real estate in 10 years.
SmartCentres proposes 35-storey TOD for Eglinton West
• Urban Toronto • RENX
SmartCentres REIT recently applied for rezoning for a 35-storey tower at the future Crosstown LRT, part of a wider planned community known as SmartCentres Eglinton West. The Turner Fleischer Architects-designed project at 2400 Eglinton Avenue West would include 400 residential units.
Plazacorp, Firm Capital plan Midtown mixed-use
Plans are in the works for a Plazacorp/Firm Capital JV development in Midtown. The redevelopment of 1233 Yonge St. and 9 Woodlawn Ave. would replace the existing rental buildings with a new mixed-use development containing condo and rental units, and ground-floor retail.
Grandé Studios expanding Mtl. film facilities
Grandé Studios will add 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of filming space to its Pointe-Saint-Charles district studio by the start of 2022 to host Hollywood productions. Grandé Studios, which was inaugurated in 2016, currently has 220,000 square feet of filming space.
Montrealers torpedo plan to redevelop church site
For the second time in five years, N.D.G. residents have torpedoed a plan to build residential housing on the site of a former Anglican church. At least 200 signed the register opposing a plan to construct 10 family homes on the site.
Mortgage stress tests set to tighten
• Globe and Mail (Sub. required) • Canada Newswire • Global News
Ottawa has joined the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions in toughening up borrowing requirements for homebuyers on the same day the Bank of Canada warned that growing household debt has become a risk to the economy again.
Caisse triples its stake in Shopify
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has tripled its stake in Shopify to more than $500 million. Quebec’s largest institutional investor released more than $400 million to buy shares in the e-commerce solutions provider in Q1 2021.
WPT Industrial inks 354K-sq.-ft. California Lease
• CP Executive • RENX
WPT Industrial REIT (WIR-U-T) has signed a full-building leasing agreement with iDC Logistics at an industrial facility in Perris, Calif. The logistics firm will occupy the 354,810-square-foot class-A building, its fourth location in the state.
CN enters definitive agreement for KC Southern merger
CN (CNR-T) and Kansas City Southern have entered into a definitive merger agreement to create a transportation network connecting the U.S., Mexico and Canada “with a seamless single-owner, single-operator service”. The transaction still requires numerous regulatory and other approvals.
Three cheap REITs to buy now
Granite REIT (GRT-UN-T) pays an initial yield of 3.7%. Despite rebounding from the selloff, H&R REIT (HR-UN-T) still has a long way to go before it gets back to the $20 range. Fronsac REIT (FRO-UN-X) offers monthly income with above-average growth potential.
Real estate podcasts
•
Alistair Pickering, Oxford and Nick Gaganiaras, Colliers: The national view on industrial, CRE Podcast
Marco Ding, CPP Investments: The way forward for one of Canada’s largest investors, REALtalk: Episode 23
Edward Burtynsky, photographer: How will the workforce shift toward climate adaptation? Work/Place Episode 3
REOC first-quarter financial results
•
Firm Capital Property Trust, (FCD-UN-X), Globe Newswire
Gulf & Pacific Equities Corp., (GUF-X), Globe Newswire
Skyline Investments Inc., (TASE: SKLN), Globe Newswire
Ares, Black Creek to form $29B investment manager
• CP Executive • IPE Real Assets
In a deal that will create a $29 billion investment manager, the real estate arm of Ares Management Corp. will acquire Black Creek Group. Black Creek, a diversified Denver-based investment management firm, will add $11.6 billion worth of AUM to Ares’ $17.2-billion platform.
Hines Global acquires D.C. office building
Hines Global Income Trust Inc. has acquired a 10-storey, 396,000-square-foot trophy office property in the Capitol Waterfront submarket of Washington, D.C., a market with the lowest office vacancy rate in D.C. at 7.9 per cent. The property reportedly sold for $215 million-plus.
Target building five new sortation centres
• Bisnow
Target is adding to the expansion plans it laid out just a quarter ago. The retail giant will be adding five logistics facilities by the end of the year in addition to the four regional distribution hubs it had announced.
London skyscrapers rising next to vacant towers
When the Gherkin tower opened 17 years ago, its skyline-defining silhouette heralded a new era in the low-rise City of London. Now, a spate of new planned skyscrapers threaten to erase it from view and from relevance.
Quebec City top choice for millennials: Survey
Quebec City is the most desirable city in Canada for millennials – the oldest of whom turn 40 this year – while Ottawa is No. 2 and Kingston, Ont., is No. 3, according a new national survey by Point2Homes, an online real estate marketing firm.
Big city rental markets turned corner in May
Paul Danison, content director with Rentals.ca, said rental prices in major Canadian markets have turned a corner and expects a full upswing by 2022. In Rentals.ca’s April report, the average listing for a two-bedroom Toronto apartment rose 1.5 per cent month-over-month.
Saskatoon posts one of Canada’s top housing recoveries
Housing starts in April more than tripled in the Saskatoon region year-over-year, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation numbers show housing starts in the Saskatoon region increased from 86 in April 2020 to 299 year-over-year.
Apartment rents on the rise in most U.S. markets
Apartment rents are rising quickly in many cities and towns across the U.S.—faster than most economists were anticipating. “Pricing in most spots—really all but the gateway metros—is at all-time highs,” says Greg Willett, chief economist for RealPage.
Industry Events
-
Canada Real Estate Auctions
Dec 01 2024
to Dec 31 2024
-
Global Property Market
Dec 03 2024
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building -
Toronto Real Estate Forum
Dec 04 2024
to Dec 05 2024
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building -
Quebec Apartment Investment Conference
Feb 19 2025
Palais des congrès de Montréal -
RealCapital
Feb 25 2025
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building -
MIPIM: The Global Urban Festival
Mar 11 2025
to Mar 14 2025
Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France