Space squeeze spurs Vancouver stacked industrial

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Metro Vancouver

Metro Vancouver’s industrial land shortage and insatiable demand for logistics space means developers are getting serious about stacked industrial. Vacancy is at 1.9 per cent, said Bart Vanstaalduinen of Newmark Knight Frank at the Vancouver Real Estate Strategy and Leasing Conference.

Burnaby could be home to B.C.’s tallest towers

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC  •  RENX

A proposed tower in Burnaby would be the tallest building in B.C., but it’s not the only high-rise vying for the title. Pinnacle International wants to construct three buildings near Lougheed Town Centre SkyTrain station. The tallest would be 82 storeys.

Langley master-planned community to cover 74 acres

Residential, Commercial  •  Western Investor

Vesta Properties‘ Latimer Heights, a 74-acre mixed-use development in the Township of Langley said to be the largest master-planned community of its type in Metro Vancouver, is officially underway. The total cost of the development is projected at $1 billion.

BSR buys Houston, Dallas housing properties for $92.8M

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  International

BSR REIT (HOM.U-T) has acquired two garden-style communities in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth markets of Texas for $92.8 million. The REIT, registered in Ontario but based in Arkansas, has purchased eight properties in the 17 months since its IPO.

Board votes to keep Sidewalk Labs’ project alive

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC  •  Bloomberg  •  Reuters

Waterfront Toronto‘s board voted unanimously Thursday to move ahead into an evaluation phase of Sidewalk Labs‘ proposed Quayside development  — a so-called “smart city” that would be built on the shore of Lake Ontario in the city’s East End.

Value: Weighed and Measured › The affordable housing riddle: Cost to build only a third of the story

John Clark: Vice President , The Regional Group of Companies Inc

Ottawans mull golf club purchase to halt development

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  Ottawa Citizen

Spurred on by an appeal from billionaire tech titan Terry Matthews, Kanata residents are stepping up with offers to donate funds to save ClubLink’s Kanata Golf and Country Club from being razed for a new residential development.

Ottawa curling club turns to redevelopment

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

The Granite Curling Club of West Ottawa says it wants to swap land with the city to secure the club’s future with a new mixed-used development. The developer would build a high-rise commercial and residential tower that could be 25 storeys.

Azure proposes 23-storey mixed-use Ottawa building

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Azure Urban Developments filed plans to construct an apartment tower on an empty lot in Westboro. The mixed-use development would include 241 residential units, 5,554 square feet for commercial use on the ground floor and a four-level underground parking garage with 146 spaces.

Zinc bringing Canada’s first Ace Hotel to Toronto

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Ken Zuckerman, the founder of Zinc Developments, recently unveiled The Ace Hotel in Toronto. The 124-room, full-service hotel with 140-seat restaurant, 70-seat lobby area, unique rooftop bar and meeting facilities will be the first in Canada.

UCP could kill Green Line funding on 90-days notice

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald  •  CBC

New proposed legislation from the Alberta government will allow the UCP cabinet to terminate $1.53 billion in Green Line funding “without cause” with just 90 days’ notice to the City of Calgary.

REIT third-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Allied Properties REIT, (AP-UN-T), Globe Newswire

Morguard REIT, (MRT-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Halifax development fees rise for first time in 20 years

Residential  •  Toronto Star

For the first time in 20 years, property development fees are rising in Halifax. Halifax regional council approved a new set of fees for everything from building a deck to getting a high-rise approved at its meeting on Tuesday.

Kelowna approves controversial new development fee

Residential  •  Kelowna Capital News  •  Kelowna Daily Courier

Kelowna city councillors have passed an amended bylaw will see an additional $7,180 paid by developers on every new residential condo or home, to offset some of the infrastructure expenditures incurred to service the further growth of parks in the city.

Westbank gets green light for $450M Seattle tower

Residential, Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  RENX

Vancouver-based Westbank Corp. has landed $450 million in construction financing for a planned 47-storey downtown Seattle tower — replete with a cantilevered rooftop pool, gardens and apple orchard. First Lightwill have 459 luxury condo units and 115,000 square feet of retail space and offices.

Brookfield opens One Manhattan West office tower

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Brookfield Property Partners (BPY-UN-T) has officially opened One Manhattan West, its 2.1-million-square-foot office high-rise on the Far West Side of Manhattan. The 67-storey class-A office property is the first new office tower to open within the Manhattan West complex.

Tarion failing homebuyers, auditor finds

Residential  •  CBC  •  Toronto Star

Tarion, Ontario’s home warranty agency, has failed thousands of new homebuyers by placing the interests of builders ahead of theirs, according to a scathing report tabled by Bonnie Lysyk, the province’s auditor general.

Federal foreign speculator tax expected to pass

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

A federal tax on foreign real estate speculators is expected to be passed by Parliament. The first of its kind, the equity tax will penalize foreign buyers by one per cent and will raise $217 million in the first year.

Where to find a condo for under $100,000

Residential  •  National Post

Finding an affordable condo as a young and willing property owner may seem like an impossible task in Canada if you limit yourself to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. But elsewhere, you might be surprised to discover condos for less than $100,000.

Celebrities love Toronto’s Bridle Path

Residential  •  National Post

The Bridle Path, a lavish neighbourhood in North York, Toronto has often been coined “Millionaires Row.” With its dazzling mansions spread across a few streets, it’s no surprise the neighbourhood has grabbed the attention of celebrities around the world.