Recent Articles
Pandemic barely dents booming Victoria apartment sector
Pandemic barely dents booming Victoria apt. sector
Despite the pandemic-induced drop in students and out-of-towners, B.C.’s second-largest city is enjoying a residential rental market boom. Victoria’s rental housing is one of its biggest success stories of the last year, said panelists at the Vancouver Real Estate Forum.
Zonda buys Urban Analytics to expand in Canada, U.S.
American company Zonda has acquired Vancouver-based Urban Analytics to take advantage of each other’s strengths and expand geographically. “There are so many synergies here that it really made sense to do something together,” said Urban Analytics Michael Ferreira.
SmartStop acquires large Oakville self-storage facility
SmartStop Self Storage REIT has acquired one of the newest and largest self-storage facilities in the Greater Toronto Area with its purchase of 450 Iroquois Shore Rd. in Oakville.
Aoyuan’s M2M aims to fill T.O.’s family unit gap
• Toronto Star • RENX
Fan Yang, the Aoyuan International general manager overseeing the five-building, 1,800-unit M2M condo project at the former Newtonbrook Plaza site in North York, says the development addresses a major “gap” in housing in Toronto — a shortage of family-oriented units.
Fed budget includes $100B for housing, transit, green
• Globe and Mail (Sub. required) • CBC
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s pandemic budget includes an extension of wage and rent subsidies through to September, $100 billion of new stimulus money for housing, transit and green technology, and sets the stage for a national $10-a-day child-care program.
B.C. offers low-interest loans for affordable housing
• CBC
The B.C. government is investing $2 billion in a low-interest loan program for builders of affordable housing. Housing Minister David Eby said Thursday the financing will be offered to private developers and community groups through the province’s HousingHub program, a division of B.C. Housing.
Canadian Tire, Loblaw pay millions in exec bonuses
• Globe and Mail (Sub. required)
Loblaw Cos. Ltd.’s (L-T) board chose to scale back the benefits to its executives from the sales boom, while Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. (CTC-T) allowed its plan to pay out maximums for the COVID-19-boosted revenue.
Chartwell hikes bonuses, praises pandemic response
• Globe and Mail (Sub. required) • RENX
Executive bonuses rose last year at Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH-UN-T) as the company said it responded effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic and gave itself perfect scores for employee engagement, customer satisfaction and its reputation with the public.
MEC attempting to make a comeback
• Globe and Mail (Sub. required)
Six months after joining MEC, president and chief operating officer Jay Taylor and three other new executives are in the midst of a turnaround plan. It is not the first one attempted at the beleaguered retailer.
Wpg. condo example of designing wonderful on a dime
• Globe and Mail (Sub. required)
Architecture studio 5468796′s 62M is one of Winnipeg’s most surprising new condo complexes: A disk-shaped building that rises on concrete stilts in an industrial area. (Its name comes from its address, 62 MacDonald Ave.)
Small businesses move to lock in rental deals
• Toronto Star • Retail Insider • Bisnow
When Sohel Imani went looking for a second location for his bike shop in Toronto’s West End, he knew he’d be able to leverage the city’s current commercial rental market with dozens of storefronts sitting empty in any given neighbourhood.
Ontario outlines essential construction projects
The Ontario government has issued a list of construction projects and activities considered essential under expanded emergency orders including services associated with the health care sector or long-term care, including new facilities, expansions, renovations and conversion of spaces.
Highwoods acquires U.S. office, mixed-use assets for $964M
• Globe Newswire • CP Executive
Highwoods Properties, Inc. (HIW-N) has agreed to acquire four class-A office assets in Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., and one mixed-use redevelopment site in Atlanta from Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (APTS-N) for $964 million Cdn.
Kroger amassing a robot army to battle Amazon, Walmart
Kroger was late to embrace the web’s potential, but under pressure from Amazon’s arrival in the category and Walmart’s massive investments, CEO Rodney McMullen is now overseeing a bold wager on robotics that the company lifer needs to get right.
Prison REITs consider going private as political tide turns
• Bisnow • Directors Talk
CoreCivic (CXW-N) and GEO Group (GEO-N), the two U.S. REITs that dominate the private prison sector, have ceased paying out dividends while each has put out a statement saying they are “evaluating its structure as a REIT.”
German CRE investment down 30% from five-year average
$14.2 billion Cdn was invested in German commercial real estate in Q1 2021, 30 per cent below the five-year average. “The start of 2021 has been characterised by a cautious attitude from several owners,” says Savills CEO Germany Marcus Lemli.
Housing starts soar 21.6% in March, set record: CMHC
• Reuters • Canada Newswire • Toronto Star
Canadian housing starts rose 21.6 per cent month-over-month in March, easily beating expectations and setting a record, data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) showed on Monday. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 335,200 units.
Pandemic has made our homes more than just a home
Homes are no longer just a place to retire after work and sleep. They have become workplaces for millions during COVID-19, daycares for their young children and schools for those who pursue online learning, either by choice or force.
Quebec retirees looking to sell sooner than expected
The real estate market is booming in parts of Quebec, and Damien Meunier, a RE/MAX real estate agent focused on the Brossard area, said he’s met more and more retirees who are thinking of changing from owning to renting.
Homes are winning out over hotels for travellers
• Financial Post • RENX
VIDEO: Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking.com, speaks about the state of the travel and tourism industry amid the pandemic.
Industry Events
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Canada Real Estate Auctions
Dec 01 2024
to Dec 31 2024
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Global Property Market
Dec 03 2024
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building -
Toronto Real Estate Forum
Dec 04 2024
to Dec 05 2024
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Feb 19 2025
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RealCapital
Feb 25 2025
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Mar 11 2025
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Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France