Crombie REIT sells retail portfolio for $161.6M

RENX  Commercial  •  Retail  •  National, Atlantic Canada

Crombie REIT (CRR.UN-T) will sell an 89%, non-managing interest in 26 retail properties to a U.S. private equity group for $161.6M. Crombie will retain 11% ownership and continue to manage the properties. The unidentified buyer also has an option for three additional assets.

PC Urban builds stacked industrial strata in Vancouver

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Metro Vancouver

PC Urban Properties will build a stacked industrial strata development in Vancouver’s False Creek Flats. “We’re really excited about the potential for this development to showcase a solution to the lack of industrial and commercial land,” said Brent Sawchyn.

Are shopping malls making a comeback?

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

I remember with grainy Kodachrome fondness spending days on end in the local mall. It was the late 1980s, and the mall cops were always trying to keep us teenagers from “loitering” at the Sheridan Mall in Pickering, Ont.

TD Bank leases 33 floors, buys interest in CF’s 160 Front

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Toronto / GTA

TD Bank Group will lease 33 floors and acquire part ownership in Toronto’s 160 Front Street West office tower being constructed by Cadillac Fairview and IMCO. The leasing portion will see TD occupy 840,000 square feet, bringing the building to 100% leased.

Edmonton calls for ‘creative’ bids for RE/MAX Field

Commercial  •  Edmonton Journal

The city is accepting pitches for tenancy at RE/MAX Field, which could ultimately push the Edmonton Prospects baseball club out after its 2019 season wraps up. Ward 10 Coun. Michael Walters said he’s hoping to see a baseball team as an anchor.

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Average construction start value down 70% in Van.

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

B.C.’s average construction start value for projects over $50 million fell 30.7% to $197 million in 2018 from $284.9 million in 2014, according to data on Business in Vancouver’s list of the biggest B.C. construction starts in 2018.

Ottawa office availability rate shrinks to 4.8%

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

A spike in companies relocating from suburbia to the city centre and burgeoning growth in Kanata’s tech sector continued to shrink the amount of available office space in both parts of Ottawa in Q1 2019, a new Colliers International report notes.

Sheridan College expansion underway

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Work is in full swing to expand Sheridan College’s Hazel McCallion Campus beside Square One in Mississauga City Centre. The campus is growing once again with an expansion of the Moriyama + Teshima and Montgomery Sisam Architects-designed Phase 2 building.

Right at Home acquires Your Choice Realty

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Right at Home Realty Inc., Canada’s largest independently owned and operated real estate brokerage, announced its acquisition of the assets of Your Choice Realty. The acquisition marks RAH’s expansion outside of the GTA into the Barrie and Ottawa markets.

Shareholders approve First Capital Realty repurchase

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Canada Newswire

First Capital Realty Inc. (FCR-T) announced the previously announced purchase for cancellation of 36,000,000 common shares of FCR from a subsidiary of Gazit-Globe Ltd. received overwhelming approval of approximately 99.7 per cent of the votes eligible to be cast.

Lanesborough REIT’s receivership application withdrawn

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Lanesborough REIT (LRT.UN-T) announced the Application for Receivership filed by Connect First Credit Union Ltd., scheduled to be heard at the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta today, has been withdrawn.

Walmart assembling an army of robots

Commercial  •  Business Insider  •  The Verge  •  Tech Crunch

Walmart is going all-in on robots. In a statement Tuesday, the retail giant said that it was unleashing a number of technological innovations, including autonomous floor cleaners, shelf-scanners, conveyor belts, and “pickup towers” on stores across the U.S.

MTY Group swallows Papa Murphy’s pizza chain

Commercial  •  La Presse

Montreal’s MTY Group (MTY-T) has entered into an agreement to acquire pizzeria franchisor and operator Papa Murphy’s Holdings (FRSH-Q) in a transaction valued at approximately $253.2 million, including debt.

Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre architecture feted

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg’s Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre has been chosen for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the National Trust for Canada’s 2019 Prix du XXe siècle, an annual award that recognizes Canada’s landmark buildings of the 20th century.

Canada’s KPMB designing Boston U building

Commercial  •  Building Design & Construction

The KPMB Architects-designed Boston University’s Data Science building is sure to turn some heads when it completes in 2022. The 17-storey, 345,000-square-foot building will resemble a stack of books rising up from a podium on the university’s central campus.

Is Airbnb so popular?

Residential  •  La Presse

At a time when some people blame Airbnb’s huge popularity for the scarcity of rental housing this spring, Statistics Canada has quietly released a document estimating $2.8B in annual hosting revenue across all short-term rental platforms  in the country.

Only New West adopts rental-only legislation

Residential  •  CBC

Last April, British Columbia’s new rental-only zoning legislation was heralded by Housing Minister Selina Robinson as “a powerful tool to deliver homes people can afford.” However, only New Westminster has taken direct action and a corresponding lawsuit has been filed.

Van. developers seeks role in affordable housing: UDI

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Vancouver Sun

Finding a way to include for-profit developers in the building of more-affordable rental units for minimum, low-wage and regular workers is where there could be opportunities for the industry, says Anne McMullin, CEO and president of the Urban Development Institute.

Hundreds line up for New Kleinburg grand opening

Residential  •  Newinhomes.com

Hundreds lined up at the New Kleinburg grand opening on the weekend. There are three sales centres for New Kleinburg; Paradise Developments has its own, Fieldgate has its own, and Arista Homes, DECO Homes and OPUS Homes are sharing one.