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Spaces, Regus ‘can’t keep up’; plan major Canadian expansion

5 years ago

Global flexible workspace provider IWG plc will add 375,000 square feet of new Regus and Spaces locations in Canada during 2019. “Although we have three million square feet of space … we can’t keep up with the demand,” IWG’s Wayne Berger told RENX.

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With 365,000 square feet of new True North Square office building space on the market, it is no surprise the vacancy rate in downtown Winnipeg office space has gone up.

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Edmonton’s downtown office market is on the rise thanks in large part to three “trophy” buildings elevating the quality tenants seek. The evolving city skyline has led to the highest demand for office space since 2012, says CBRE Canada.

Canada’s office, industrial and retail commercial real estate investment compares favourably to international markets, according to Avison Young. “In the North American context, Canadian markets captured five of the continent’s 10 lowest vacancy rates,” said AY’s Bill Argeropoulos.

Yardi

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Pitblado Law has become the first major law firm in Manitoba to adopt energy efficiency practices as part of Manitoba Race to Reduce. The law firm currently occupies two stories of a 760,000-square-foot building located on the iconic corner of Portage and Main in downtown Winnipeg. 

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QuadReal Property Group announced Saturday the first confirmed retail tenant at The Post development in downtown Vancouver: Loblaws CityMarket. The grocery store will offer meat, produce and bakery items, a grab-and-go section, a café and cooking classes.

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A handful of new projects near Calgary’s core could lure money and businesses — but a new report by Ernst and Young (EY) is generating plenty of questions. The report assesses the economic impacts of a possible entertainment district.

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Throughout Greater Montreal, major infrastructure projects are underway: bridges and buildings, hospitals and highways, and the REM line. Montreal has also had a boom in residential construction, building new condos downtown and starter homes in the suburbs.

NAI Commercial

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RioCan REIT (REI-UN-T) has applied for permission to tear down Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre, paving the way for a new retail development on the West Ottawa property. The company filed its site plan proposal with the city recently.

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Ottawa’s planning committee has approved a rezoning application that could see the development of a forested triangle of land. Taggart Investments wants to build a grocery store, retail shops, a restaurant, a gas station and a car wash.

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Celebrated Canadian chef Mark McEwan has opened his third gourmet grocery retail location at one of the busiest (and most expensive) corners in Toronto. Covering 17,000 square feet, the store is located at the corner of Yonge and Bloor.

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Classes began Monday at Niagara University‘s modern new site located in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC). The 12,000-square-foot addition includes seven classrooms, faculty and administration offices and student lounge areas.

DC & Associates

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Dare Foods says it will close a cookie-making plant on the south shore of Montreal by mid-2020. Spokesman Marc Duchesne says the St-Lambert, Que., plant can’t be expanded or modernized because it is “landlocked” near residential and commercial areas.

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Sunshine Village, an internationally known ski resort in Banff National Park, has signed new site guidelines that include a plan for future growth — despite having grave concerns with it.

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Etkin Johnson Real Estate Partners, a full-service, privately owned commercial real estate investment and development company based in Colorado, sold its 1.95 million-square-foot Colorado Industrial Portfolio to Berkeley Partners for $247.5 million US

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Just north of Emporia, one of Virginia’s poorest cities, sits a 1,600-acre tract of weeds, wildflowers and the occasional wild turkey. Save for a few patches of trees and parcels of cotton, the site is virtually empty.

Informa

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Canada is considering subjecting private lenders to the same mortgage stress test rules faced by banks to prevent housing markets from being destabilized by the lenders’ rapid growth, three sources said.

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In the long-running debate on renting versus buying, the scales have tipped a little toward renting. Renting has become cheaper than buying on a national level for the first time in years, National Bank of Canada said last week.

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A new report by property management firm Hope Street suggests Calgary’s slumping rental market could be on the cusp of a rebound. The report crunched data from its own lease agreements, and from other sources.

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A proposal to build a mixed-use, 10-storey rental building while preserving the heritage facades of two existing buildings in Victoria’s 800-block of Fort Street will go to public hearing. The ownership group is named 825 Fort Street.

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