Builder Roussin eyes major mixed-use development

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Apartments, Seniors Housing  •  Quebec City

Nathalie Roussin is banking on the Quebec government soon giving the go-ahead to a tramway system in Quebec City. Her family-run real estate businesses own over three million square feet of development land near the proposed route.

Office, industrial, multifamily, retail: What’s to come?

RENX  Commercial

When four panelists met to lay out their prospects for the four major commercial real estate asset classes during a recent virtual panel in Toronto, trends had been pretty clearly established in three of the sectors.

Torys LLP partner to lead firm that controls Loblaw

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Cornell Wright, a partner from prominent corporate law firm Torys LLP, will take over as president of Wittington Ventures, the holding company that controls Loblaw (L-T) owner George Weston (WN-T) by the end of the year.

Canada sets deal-making pace with record $102B haul

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Transactions valued at US$102 billion have been announced by Canadian companies this year, up 143 per cent year-over-year. That’s already the most for a first quarter on record and compares with a 67 per cent year-on-year increase in U.S. deal values.

CP Rail acquisition bets on reshoring manufacturing

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post

Canadian Pacific Railway’s purchase of Kansas City Southern is a US$25B bet North American countries that allowed their manufacturing bases to erode over the past few decades, as production shifted to China, will commit to reshoring that capability.

Ivanhoé invests $85M in proptech Fifth Wall

Residential, Commercial  •  Wealth Management  •  PR Newswire  •  Financial Post (Sub. required)

Ivanhoé Cambridge is investing $85 million across four funds managed by property technology firm Fifth Wall. The funds Ivanhoe Cambridge is backing include Fifth Wall vehicles focusing on North America, Europe and retail real estate.

Value: Weighed and Measured › Affordable housing: The real challenge is paying for long-term upkeep

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

Bank of Canada sees more house flipping

Residential  •  Reuters

The Bank of Canada is seeing evidence of investor activity and “a lot more flipping” in some Canadian housing markets and is concerned “fear of missing out” may also be driving price gains, deputy governor Toni Gravelle said Tuesday.

Mainstreet’s Dhillon banking on bright future for Alberta

Residential  •  Calgary Herald  •  RENX

Despite its current problems, Mainstreet Equity Corporation (MEQ-T) CEO Bob Dhillon remains bullish on Alberta. “Look, these days only a few people can afford to buy a house in Toronto or Vancouver, while Alberta remains an easy place to live . . .”

Plaza proposes 28-storey mixed-use condo on Bloor

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Plaza Partners has submitted a zoning by-law amendment application for a 28-storey condo tower at 208 Bloor St. W., directly across from the Royal Ontario Museum. Offices for the BDP Quadrangle-designed building are proposed for floors 2 through 4.

RioCan’s Queen & Ashbridge condo towers taking shape

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

RioCan REIT  (REI-UN-T) and Context‘s Queen & Ashbridge condo complex in Toronto’s Queen and Coxwell area will launch with 366 condominium units. The Teeple Architects design will feature main 16- and 17-storey pyramid-shaped towers in addition to an eight-storey mid-rise.

Canadian Tire most reputable retailer: Survey

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post  •  Financial Post

Canadian Tire (CTC-A-T) is the most reputable company in Canadian commerce, according to a survey-based report by Léger Marketing Inc. that offers a snapshot of how the pandemic has affected Canadians’ perceptions of certain companies and sectors.

Carrefour acquires Brazilian retailer for $1.48B

Commercial  •  La Presse  •  Business Wire  •  Bloomberg

Two months after a failed merger with Laval’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-A-T) , Carrefour announced on Wednesday it would strengthen its position as No. 1 food retailer in Brazil, with the acquisition of Grupo Big for $1.48 billion Cdn.

WeWork lost $3.2B In 2020, angles for SPAC deal

Commercial  •  Bisnow

Co-working giant WeWork told existing and potential investors during a presentation it lost $3.2 billion last year, according to a source. The company wants to go public via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, or blank cheque company.

Amazon expects most employees to return to office

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  Commercial Observer  •  Bisnow

Roughly 90 per cent of its office-using employees are working remotely today, but Amazon vice-president of global real estate and facilities John Schoettler believes “that we’ll come back pretty much as we were pre-COVID.”

Confidence in U.S. CRE values widely by sector

Commercial  •  CoStar  •  CP Executive

Unsurprisingly, industrial landlords have been the most bullish. Roughly 97 per cent of all U.S. industrial submarkets larger than four million square feet posted rent gains over the past year and that number remained consistent during the pandemic.

Brokerages run afoul of money laundering rules

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Canada’s top anti-money laundering watchdog has assessed fines against two real estate brokerages, one in Markham, Ont., and one in Vancouver, but critics of Canada’s anti-money laundering effort say the cases highlight some of the weaknesses of the current regulations.

Big-city housing affordability is over. Now what?

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post

OPINION: Millennials and members of Gen Z are looking to government to cool the housing market and they’re starting petitions and letter-writing campaigns to advance their cause. Unfortunately, it’s too late for a lot of young adults.

Construction growth in Nova Scotia on the rise

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  Globe Newswire  •  Globe Newswire

Construction and maintenance activity in Nova Scotia is expected to increase between 2021 and 2023, driven by strong and broad-based demand across the province’s residential and non-residential sectors. This is according to the latest labour market forecast data by BuildForce Canada.

N.L. real estate market is red-hot

Residential  •  CBC

The housing market in Newfoundland and Labrador continues to sizzle long after a record-breaking summer, and its robust strength — which is holding despite the province’s negative economic outlook — has industry experts and real-estate agents scratching their heads.