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RENX Newsletter – Friday, November 13, 2020

4 years ago

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BusinessGreen has today announced it is to host a new webinar that will provide a unique opportunity to explore one of the biggest technical, economic, and political challenges facing the global push to build a net zero emission economy, namely how do you decarbonise the energy and carbon-intensive industries that provide many of the building blocks for the modern world?

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Summit Industrial Income REIT (SMU-UN-T) has entered into an agreement to acquire the remaining 50% interest in two  properties in the Hanlon Creek Business Park in Guelph, Ont., totalling 387,610 square feet of leasable area, from JV partner Cooper Construction for $33.9 million.

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Fresh Perspectives is an ongoing series looking to find out how consumer behaviours are changing, what are the biggest challenges for produce and what is the outlook for this critical department? Up today is/are xxxxx.

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CentreCourt developments announced president Shamez Virani has been named a recipient of this year’s Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award. Virani joined CentreCourt in 2010 when the company had only one employee and was about to commence development of its first residential tower.

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Metro Self-Storage announced plans for a new state-of-the-art, climate-controlled, drive-through facility in Halifax’s Bayer’s Lake Business Park. The new location at 138 Chain Lake Dr. will feature 120,000 square feet of easily accessible class-A storage over four floors.

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Michael Hungerford, Hungerford Properties: Pioneering development strategies, CRE Library: Episode 42

Mark Rothschild, Canaccord Genuity: Analyzing the REITs, CRE Podcast

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In September, the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation’s Muse Flats officially opened on Colony Street in downtown Winnipeg and began accepting tenants for its 119 units, 46 of which are classified as affordable according to provincial guidelines. Many units are barrier-free.

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BIC announced it has signed an agreement to sell its Clichy-La-Garenne-based (France) Headquarters and BIC Technologies sites for $269 million Cdn to BNP Paribas Real Estate and Citallios, representing approximately a $260 million gross capital gain.

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Adi Bertacchi is happy his Italian-made hat shop is open again in Gastown and he is not surprised the Vancouver neighbourhood is seeing a retail revival. The owner and operator of Bertacchi Italian Hats moved after his previous lease expired.

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Tishman Speyer has launched a $300 million blank cheque company that will invest in proptech firms. Tishman, one of the largest landlords in the U.S., formed a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), priced at $300 million in preparation for an IPO.

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As the digital revolution gathers speed from the COVID-19 pandemic, Lululemon Athletica and Low Tide Properties founder Chip Wilson urges businesses to find flexible leases and employees.

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Leon’s Furniture Ltd. (LNF-T), announced record financial results for Q3 2020. Total system-wide sales increased seven per cent year-over-year to $762.8 million. Leon’s achieved record revenue in the quarter of $630.8 million compared to $601.4 million in Q3 2019, an increase of 4.9 per cent.

RENX   •   • 

The office market in Canada’s major cities experienced its largest negative quarterly net absorption in over decade during Q3 2020, according to JLL, totalling nearly 2.7 million square feet of occupancy losses. The national vacancy rate rose 60 basis points to 10.8 per cent.

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A new grant program is offering $20,000 to Alberta-based small business owners and entrepreneurs facing the financial impact of the pandemic. The Big Future Innovation Grant is an initiative of Alberta Central, the central banking facility for the province’s credit unions.

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OPINION: As COVID-19 impels us to rethink how we move from home to work to play and back, a confluence of transportation initiatives currently underway offers an opportunity to rethink connections within the urban core of the National Capital Region.

RENX   •   • 

Starlight Investments has completed the two-year-old forward purchase of a New Westminster, B.C., high-rise containing 398 apartments and 4,600 square feet of ground floor retail space. Aqua at Plaza 88, at 40 storeys, is the tallest residential rental development in Western Canada.

IMAGE: John Clark of Ottawa's Regional Group of Companies.

AACI, FRICS | Vice President, The Regional Group of Companies Inc.

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The Canadian Construction Association has partnered with Cognit.ca to launch the Construction R&D Portal and the Construction R&D Showcase speaker series to help the country’s construction industry capitalize on the $14 billion of research that occurs at Canadian universities every year.

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In 2018, the ALDO Group became the first fashion footwear and accessories company in the world to be certified climate neutral for its corporate stores, offices and distribution centers. In 2019, the company reinforced its environmental commitment by also having eCommerce shipments and product transportation certified climate neutral. In 2020, the ALDO Group carries forward its sustainability journey by continuing to reduce its net emissions and compensating the unavoidable ones through a combination of nature-based forest conservation and clean energy projects.

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Emergia Inc. (the “Corporation” or “Emergia”) is pleased to announce that, as part of a thorough review of its assets started in 2019, in order to reach the segment allocation established in its business model, strengthen its balance sheet and reduce related high interest short-term debt, the Corporation has and intends to conclude joint ventures and sell certain assets.

Until now, two transactions have been agreed to or completed. One transaction, completed last September, involves the creation of a joint venture to allow an early launch of a development project located in Dorval. The transaction considers an office revenue-generating property and related excess land to develop a multi-residential apartment building in a 50-50 joint venture with a third party, whereby the Corporation remains in charge of the management of the property and development project and also benefits of a 3-year option to buy back the project once completed.

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HomeEquity Bank announced it has sold about $100 million of reverse mortgages to Concentra Bank. It marks only the second time HomeEquity Bank has completed its annual program for sale of reverse mortgages to another financial institution.

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For the fifth time, the Tridel Corporation won the prestigious 2020 Ontario Home Builder of the Year award from the Ontario Home Builders’ Association in its Awards of Distinction program.  The 2020 Ontario Renovator of the Year honours went to Amsted Design-Build.

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McDonald’s Corp. (MCD-N) beat third-quarter revenue and profit estimates on Monday, as customers in the United States ordered more hamburgers and fries in drive-thru outlets and on delivery apps to avoid dining out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Anyone who has bought or sold a property since the COVID-19 state of emergency was declared in Ontario last March will have experienced a sea change in how these deals are legally closed.

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Canada’s three biggest pension plans – Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – confirmed they’re backing Intact Financial Corp.’s (IFC-T) global expansion plans by buying $3.2 billion of the insurer’s shares.

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Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) says it is looking to grow its reinsurance business with the creation of a new entity, BAM Reinsurance. Brookfield plans to pay a special dividend of a fraction of a share for class-A shares of Brookfield.

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Home Capital Group Inc. has ended 97 per cent of the payment deferrals on mortgages that it granted to clients amid the coronavirus pandemic without a spike in write-offs or delinquent loans.

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U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management has agreed to buy Great Canadian Gaming (GC-T) in a $2.1-billion deal that quickly faced opposition from some shareholders who complained the casino operator is being sold too cheaply to a foreign player.

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Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L-T) has continued to benefit from higher grocery sales during the COVID-19 pandemic as restrictions on restaurant dining continue. The Toronto-based retailer reported on Thursday that its revenue grew 6.9 per cent in the third quarter, to $15.7 billion.

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A strong summer rally in GTA real estate had watchers wondering if the market would run out of steam in the fall. However, October proved to be record-setting for the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board: sales rose 25.1 per cent year-over-year.

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Hudson’s Bay Co. ULC has staved off eviction at Oxford Properties’ Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill and has been ordered to pay 50 per cent of the rent it had been withholding since April.

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VIDEO: Glaciers in China’s Qilian mountains are disappearing at a shocking rate as global warming brings unpredictable change and raises the prospect of crippling, long-term water shortages.

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Shell will become the first gas retailer in Canada to offset emissions from customers’ fuel purchases with an optional buy-in at the pump, recreating a program it runs in Europe as it signals its intention to help meet global goals to slow climate change as outlined in the Paris Accord.

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The priciest property sale in B.C. in the last three years was finalized three weeks ago – and it’s only one of the many luxury houses that have been purchased since COVID-19. The house in Vancouver’s First Shaughnessy sold for $23 million.

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The accompanying tables show the top 10 major upcoming private and government office building construction projects in the U.S. They are all in the planning stage and are mainly new projects, but may also involve additions and/or alterations.

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The accompanying tables show the top 10 major upcoming private and government office building construction projects in Canada. They are all in the planning stage and are mainly new projects, but may also involve additions and/or alterations.

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California voters rejected a proposal to partially dismantle the state’s 42-year-old cap on property taxes, a move that would have have raised taxes for many businesses, Proposition 15 had only about 48% support and was trailing by more than a half-million votes.

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Elaina’s Sustainability Fund, by the IREM (Institute of Real Estate Management) Foundation, is now accepting applications for funding to support green real estate management initiatives. The purpose of the grants is to encourage innovation or adoption of sustainability and occupant wellness initiatives that impact the buildings where people live, work, shop, and play.

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A hailstorm in Calgary, the fourth-largest claim in Canadian history at $1.2 billion, is just one examples of catastrophic losses impacting insurance and contributing to a hard market, where premiums are increasing and capacity for many types of insurance are decreasing.

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The Ontario government is ensuring it has the flexibility to prohibit commercial evictions whenever it deems necessary. A proposed amendment to the Commercial Tenancies Act gives the Minister authority to make regulations to impose future non-enforcement periods for COVID-19-related reasons.

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With four cranes working away on the below-grade levels of M2M Condos‘ first phase, developer Aoyuan International is moving ahead with the next phase of its transformation of the former Newtonbrook Plaza on Yonge at Cummer in North York.

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Fraser Valley home sales were up 55.9 per cent in August year-over-year, according to the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA). They soared 63 per cent higher in Chilliwack, where the average home price is $585,000 compared to the City of Vancouver’s $1.07 million,

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Insurance and reinsurance industry losses from wildfires across U.S. states, including California, Oregon and Colorado, were estimated to be more than $8 billion, according to a monthly report on global catastrophes by Aon Plc .

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Firm Capital Apartment REIT, (FCA-UN-X), Globe Newswire
SmartCentres REIT, (SRU-UN-T), Globe Newswire
WPT Industrial REIT, (WIR-U-T), Globe Newswire

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Brookfield Asset Management, (BAM-A-T), Globe Newswire
Invesque Inc., (IVQ-U-T), Canada Newswire
Sienna Senior Living Inc., (SIA-T), Globe Newswire
StorageVault Canada Inc., (SVI-X), Globe Newswire
Tricon Residential, (TCN-T), Canada Newswire

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While the bottom lines of some of the largest publicly traded retail REITs continued to deteriorate in the third quarter, many executives say they are finally emerging from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic with renewed momentum.

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Procore Technologies, Inc.’s latest worker hours report showed construction activity continues to recover. While Quebec has seen the strongest rebound of all of the included provinces, Alberta continues to experience less activity than before the pandemic.

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Courtney Cooper, Alate Partners: Investing in proptech, CRE Podcast
Jeff Hauswirth, Ferguson Partners: The field of executive search, REALtalk: Episode 13
Ashley and Jeff Kielbratowski, Harbr: Looking at construction scheduling data, The Construction Record Podcast: Episode 97

RENX   •   • 

Montreal-based developer Maître Carré hopes its new rental housing brand Mellem will eventually become a hit across Canada. The brand takes its inspiration from Danish housing projects which Maître Carré founder and president Hugo Girard-Beauchamp saw in Copenhagen.

IMAGE: Nina Dragicevic.

Guest Columnist

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Blackstone has expanded its logistics presence in China by about one-third of its portfolio size with a majority stake acquisition of a logistics development. The company spent $1.1 billion on a 70 per cent interest in R&F Group’s logistics park in Guangzhou.

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Global energy infrastructure specialist Victory Hill Capital is planning to raise up to £400m (€443m) for a sustainable energy investment fund via a share placing and stock listing on the London Stock Exchange.

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On the first day of the 2020 Greenbuild virtual conference, a group of U.S. Green Building Council leaders talked about health and well-being, decarbonization, renewable energy, water efficiency and resiliency and how LEED can help combat climate change.

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Walmart is teaming up with the General Motors’ autonomous vehicle unit to test driverless delivery in Arizona. The companies say battery-powered Chevrolet Volt vehicles will begin deliveries in Scottsdale early next year. At first they’ll have human backup drivers.

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Mayors in Canada’s largest cities are calling on the federal government to add billions of dollars more to poverty reduction measures to curb homelessness in their communities as part of the post-pandemic economic recovery.

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JC Penney should be able to emerge from its restructuring later this month as a U.S. bankruptcy court has approved the sale of the 118-year-old retailer to a group including major property owners Brookfield Asset Management and Simon Property Group.

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The Transportation Safety Board says the Port of Vancouver may be close to exceeding its ability to safely handle large container ships. The board issues the caution in its report into a January 2019 incident where a container hit a crane.

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Brookfield Infrastructure, (BIP-UN-T), Globe Newswire
Dream Unlimited Corp., (DRM-T), Business Wire
Melcor Developments Ltd., (MRD-T), Globe Newswire

RENX   •   • 

SmartStop Self Storage REIT will acquire Strategic Storage Trust IV, in a US$370M transaction. The deal will create a company with operations in the U.S. and Canada totalling 136 wholly owned properties and five Toronto joint ventures with SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T).

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Great Canadian Gaming Corp. (GC-T) has agreed to be acquired by Apollo Global Management Inc. (APO-N) in a deal valued at more than $3.3 billion, the latest shift for the casino industry that’s been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Five types of Vancouver homeowners with the most to fear from an Empty Homes Tax audit: non-residential use properties; vacant land or uninhabitable units; lengthy construction process; use of other mailing addresses; and tenant has left, refuses to provide documentation.

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An increase in job losses usually impacts housing markets by triggering a decline in sales and mortgage debt. Despite the increase in COVID-19-induced job losses, however, sales and mortgage debt have also increased in many cities across Canada.

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Brookfield Asset Management is embarking on an aggressive move into the secondary market for private assets, the first step in what CEO Bruce Flatt says could become a US$50 billion business. Brookfield’s first such transaction was an L.A. multifamily project.

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Early in the new year, the Hamilton YWCA will open a 50-unit affordable housing complex fitted out with a full complement of energy efficient design elements: extra-thick, heavily insulated walls, triple-glaze, high R-value windows and air-tight exterior cladding designed to minimize conductive heat loss.

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Despairing of ever being able to afford a home in Toronto, Madeline Taylor, 24, and Mitchell Kingsley, 25, cast their gaze to New Brunswick, where they ended up buying a 225-acre forested property with its own lake and a cabin for under $200,000.

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Cushman & Wakefield has expanded its reach in North Carolina with the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Triad Commercial Properties. Triad, an office and industrial brokerage and advisory services firm, has locations in Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

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Fronsac REIT (FRO-UN-X) announced it has agreed to acquire five grocery store properties leased to affiliated brands of Loblaws located in Beauport, Que., Roberval, Que., Sydney, N.S., New Glasgow, N.S., and Kirkland Lake, Ont. The properties are 100 per cent occupied.

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BSR REIT, (HOM-U-T), Canada Newswire
Minto Apartment REIT, (MI-UN-T), Canada Newswire
PROREIT, (PRV-UN-T), Canada Newswire

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On Tuesday, Ottawa’s planning committee approved the request from KingSett Capital and Ivanhoé Cambridge to allow residential towers of 27 and 30 storeys on land beside their Bayshore Shopping Centre. They will be located along the city’s future light rail network.

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The Government of Canada is investing $580,902 in Curve Lake Catch Basin and Roads Stormwater Improvements through the Green Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada plan. The Government of Ontario is providing $141,972, while Curve Lake First Nation is contributing $51,662.

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BSR REIT (HOM-U-T) announced it has sold six non-core properties, comprising 1,483 apartment units for $130 million US. Four of the assets sold are in the Little Rock, Ark., metropolitan statistical area while the other two are in the Houston MSA.

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Montreal-headquartered Dalfen Industrial has been awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award from Commercial Property Executive in the “Best Investment Transaction: Single Property” category. The award ceremony took place virtually on Nov. 3, highlighting the top companies in CRE.

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Timbercreek announced the rebranding of Timbercreek Equities Corp. as Hazelview Investments. As part of the previously announced reorganization of the Timbercreek group, Timbercreek Equities Corp. has assumed ownership of the direct real estate and public securities investment management business.

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Sales launched in September and are going well for QuadReal and Menkes’ Festival condominium, the second component of their ambitious plan for the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC).

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Willis College, one of Ottawa’s largest private career colleges, is embarking on an aggressive plan to expand to other provinces under a new leader who says he has “a track record of putting schools on steroids and building them.”

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Three Nordic investors, PKA, PenSam and Storebrand, have announced the launch of a new energy transition fund, with the trio committing most of the €4bn being targeted.

The fund is to be run by AIP Management, the alternatives joint venture belonging to Danish pension funds PKA and PenSam, with Norway’s Storebrand coming in for the first time as co-investor as well as co-owner of the alternatives management operation.

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OMERS Infrastructure, Australian firm Stilmark and ATN International have teamed up to jointly pursue opportunities in Australian telecommunications infrastructure. The trio have formed the Symphony Consortium, a partnership believed to be planning to buy a portfolio of towers from Optus.

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The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at the University of B.C., one of the province’s most iconic structures but particularly vulnerable to a potential earthquake, is being rebuilt with a “base isolation system,” the latest in seismic technology.

RENX 

Sales launched in September and are going well for the Festival condominium by QuadReal and Menkes, the second component of their ambitious plan for the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC).

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Quebec will soon give the green light to the creation of “innovation zones,” which will be somewhat of 5.0 industrial parks, in order to stimulate applied research projects between large companies and those which are starting up.

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Montreal-based leading provider of cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms Lightspeed POS Inc. has announced its entry into a definitive agreement to acquire ShopKeep Inc., a leading cloud commerce platform provider based in New York City. The scale achieved by the combination of Lightspeed and ShopKeep presents retail and restaurant business owners in the United States with enhanced resources to pivot their operations.

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Family members of seniors still living at Résidence Herron were advised by email on Monday the private long-term facility in Dorval, where the deaths of dozens of residents in the spring are under investigation, will be closed.

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The City of Edmonton is proposing eight accelerated climate initiatives expected to cost about $47 million in an effort to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions including expanding the solar rebate program to commercial buildings, tree planting, and additional bike lane infrastructure.

RENX   • 

“Leading world cities have been major victims of COVID-19, both from the virus itself and its accompanying economic disruptions,” BentallGreenOak head of Canadian research Phil Stone said while discussing the company’s new Future of Cities report.

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The European Commission has charged Amazon with abusing its dominant position in online retail to gain an unfair advantage over competitors. It said Amazon had used data on third-party sellers using its marketplace to boost sales of its own-label goods.

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Reitmans announced it has opened a new 5,200-square-foot store at the West Edmonton Mall. Reitmans, which has nearly 250 women’s apparel and accessories brand stores across Canada, filed for creditor protection on May 19.

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A popular chain of Toronto-area eateries is among the latest victims of the pandemic. Hospitality sector standouts King Street Food Company, which operates brands such as Buca, Jacobs & Co. Steakhouse and Jamie’s Italian, have filed for insolvency.

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For months, we’ve watched lenders slash five-year fixed mortgage rates to levels never seen before. However, we may have come to an inflection point. Optimism has seized the day and interest rates in the bond market rocketed higher on Monday.

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British Columbia’s hidden land ownership registry is scheduled to go live at the end of this month, but it is already too flawed to deter laundering dirty money through the real estate sector, according to the C.D. Howe Institute.

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American Hotel Income Properties REIT, (HOT-UN-T), Canada Newswire
BTB REIT, (BTB-UN-T), Canada Newswire
CAPREIT, (CAR-UN-T), Globe Newswire
InterRent REIT, (IIP-UN-T), Business Wire
Summit Industrial Income REIT, (SMU-UN-T), Canada Newswire

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CMLS Financial’s November Commercial Mortgage Commentary examines the heightened competition amongst lenders, changes to the federal government’s fiscal stimulus policies, how high yield lenders are coping with an uncertain market and more.

Sponsored by

Portfolio strategy in commercial real estate has become paramount to endurance as markets react in a ‘wait and see’ manner with the pandemic. While certain sectors of the industry that were previously flourishing have become increasingly vulnerable. . .

 •   • 

Former Bank of England governor to speak at Green Horizon Summit, which brings together CEOs, policymakers, and government officials to drive forward the financial sector’s role in the net-zero transition will say reaching net-zero emissions requires a “whole economy transition”.

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Chancellor unveils raft of green finance plans, including green taxonomy proposals and mandatory climate risk disclosure rules for listed companies. The government plans to cement the UK’s position as a global centre for green finance received a significant boost today, with the Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiling proposals to issue the country’s first sovereign green bond next year and make climate risk disclosure mandatory for major companies from 2025.

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Ceres congratulates President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their historic win. We, along with our networks of hundreds of investors and companies, stand ready to work with the new administration to build back better from Covid-19, advance a more equitable, just and sustainable future, and welcome the U.S. back into the global Paris Agreement.

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The Rockefeller Foundation will invest $1 billion over the next three years to boost a green pandemic recovery, including construction of 10,000 minigrids in developing countries. The foundation’s announcement says it will collaborate with global investors, governments and international organizations to drive public-private development of renewable energy projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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As COVID-19 swept the globe, #climatestrike marches were cancelled, bans on single-use plastic were put on hold, along with, well, everything. The pandemic also brought into sharp focus widening societal divides, with youth, women, and racialized and marginalized communities feeling the brunt of the economic fallout.

 •   • 

New York City was awash with impromptu street parties Saturday after news of Joe Biden’s presidential victory, and many in real estate issued a sigh of relief for one main reason: Much-needed federal funding could soon be on its way.

BIZ 

Beyond achieving the alphabet soup of environmental and health certifications, building owners and managers have to build sustainability into their day-to-day checklists and activities, sustainability experts said during a BOMEX Virtual 2020 panel discussion.

 •   • 

The B.C. government is extending the freeze on rent increases until July 10, 2021. Rental market insiders believe the freeze is “no big deal” because allowable rent increases are already insignificant when compared to rising costs.

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