Slate’s Blair Welch: Annaly, CRE financing, ‘food logistics’

RENX  Commercial  •  Retail, Investment  •  International

Slate Asset Management CEO Blair Welch believes the firm’s acquisition of New York-based Annaly Capital Management’s commercial real estate credit business and portfolio will open up new post-pandemic opportunities.

RoseFellow buys Montreal industrial site for $100M fund

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Greater Montreal

RoseFellow has established a $100 million industrial development fund it calls a first of its kind in Quebec and has made an acquisition with some of its proceeds.

FCPT buys two apartment properties, looks to sell some retail

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Retail, Apartments  •  National, Edmonton, Atlantic Canada

Firm Capital Property Trust (FCPT) has acquired two multiresidential properties, with a combined five buildings and 260 units, in Edmonton and Lower Sackville, N.S. for $43.2 million.

Ontario pension manager plots retail cut

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Investment Management Corp. of Ontario (IMCO) is cutting its exposure to retail property after suffering a 12.1 per cent loss on those holdings last year. “There are assets that we’re going to have to sweat,” CEO Bert Clark said.

Vestcor acquires interest in Crown Realty Partners

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Fredericton-based investment manager and pension and employee benefits administrator Vestcor Inc. has acquired a minority interest in Crown Realty Partners on behalf of a number of its long-term investment clients. Crown is an integrated CRE investment and management firm.

Decluttering, new façades revitalize aging buildings

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  RENX

Slate Asset Management-owned St. Clair Centre in Toronto’s midtown was an elegant design when it was built 50 years ago, but it had become cluttered and drafty as scores of different tenants made alterations to the building over the years.

Sponsored by Yardi Reconsider how tech will enhance your property management edge

In an era characterized by uncertainty, Canadian businesses are discovering that advanced technology can be a source of stability. In fact, according to KMPG’s 2020 CEO Outlook, 92% of Canadian CEOs fast-tracked their transformation to meet COVID-19 challenges …

ELAD Canada’s Emerald City community sold out

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

A milestone 15 years in the making, ELAD Canada Realty is celebrating the selling out of its entire Emerald City community in North York, which has created 3,000 condominium residences across nine towers and 300 units in purpose-built rental buildings.

Triumph REIT discusses state of Calgary CRE

Commercial  •  Calgary’s Business

VIDEO: Mario Toneguzzi’s guest on 5 Questions: David Wallach, president/founder of the Triumph Real Estate Investment Trust, discusses the current state of Calgary’s commercial real estate market.

Tech’s prime time is dawning in Calgary

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

With the rapid growth of remote working during the past year, some of the perceived barriers to grow a more vibrant and larger technology sector have vanished, leaving Calgary in a much better place, according to Attabotics executive Jennifer Aubin.

Halcyon buys one million Artis units from Joyce Group

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Halcyon International Limited has acquired 1,000,000 trust units of Artis REIT (AX-UN-T) from the Joyce Family Foundation. The acquired units represent approximately 0.75 per cent of the 133,593,711 units issued and outstanding as of  March 15, 2021 and had a total purchase price of $10,990,000.

Port of Montreal suffers 30% drop in capacity

Commercial  •  La Presse

Montreal Port Authority president/CEO Martin Imbleau said Tuesday that after an 11 per cent drop in March volumes, the port of Montreal has suffered a reduction of nearly 30% of its port capacity due to a recent deterioration in labour relations.

Bally’s to acquire Tropicana Las Vegas hotel and casino

Commercial  •  PR Newswire  •  Globe Newswire

Bally’s Corporation (BALY-N), a leading U.S. omnichannel provider of land-based gaming and interactive entertainment, has agreed to purchase the Tropicana Las Vegas casino from Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. for approximately $308 million.

California’s ArcLight, Pacific Theaters to close for good

Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

Pacific Theaters, which operates some 300 screens in California, including the beloved ArcLight theatres and the historic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, said Monday it will not be reopening. Pacific Theaters also operates L.A. multiplexes The Grove and The Americana malls.

Nordic property market attracting record investment

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg

The Nordic property market is hot due to a growing number of international investors. Nordic property adviser Newsec says the number of transactions in Europe’s rich north is likely to jump more than 10% this year to a record $60 billion.

Pandemic powers shift to data centre investment in Asia

Commercial  •  South China Morning Post

Since the pandemic struck, data centres have stood head and shoulders above the rest. The shift to digital work and play from home has proved a boon for the warehouse-like facilities that power all kinds of online products and services.

The struggle to define future of Van.’s False Creek

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Residents mostly agree False Creek South, home to a 50-year-old Vancouver experiment in affordable urban housing, needs more affordable housing options and more diversity and that any redevelopment should be gradual and not disruptive to the people living there.

Cottage country ‘frenzy’ continues: Royal LePage

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

The aggregate price of a house in Canada’s recreational regions is forecast to increase 15 per cent in 2021 to $502,730, Royal LePage reports. The firm revised its 2021 recreational property forecast – from November 2020 – upward to reflect the increasing demand from potential buyers.

More Quebecers looking to buy a home in next two years

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  Canada Newswire

While Quebecers have the highest intention of buying a home in the next few years according to the RBC Spring Housing Poll at 52 per cent, many say they have given up on the dream of home ownership.

Shared housing promotes affordability in cities

Residential  •  CBC

For Tina Afridi, finding a quiet spot in her multigenerational home can be challenging. The Pickering, Ont., resident lives with her husband, his 87-year-old mother, several adult children, and two generations of cats.