Caisse de dépôt invests $250M in Avison Young

Caisse de dépôt invests $250M in Avison Young

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has made a $250-million preferred equity investment in commercial real estate services firm Avison Young, the companies announced Monday. In addition to allowing AY to invest in acquisitions and recruitment, Avison Young says it will also allow the company to buy back shares from its current private equity partner, as well as other “non-management founders and principals”.

Property Biz Canada

Place Ste-Foy inaugurates second parking garage

Place Ste-Foy Friday announced the opening of its second parkade. A total of 1,500 parking spaces is now available in the two new structures. The new four-storey parkades balance out the parking available on each side of the shopping centre’s food court and improve the traffic flow in a rapidly densifying area. Ivanhoé Cambridge has invested nearly $400 million in Place Sainte-Foy and Laurier Québec since 2010.

Canada Newswire

Artis REIT sells four more Western Canada office buildings

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust (AX.UN-T) is continuing to shuffle its portfolio and reduce its position in Alberta, selling four additional Western Canadian office properties for about $157 million, the company announced Tuesday. Three transactions arranged during the second quarter of 2018 have closed, Artis said, while the fourth is to close in Q3. Artis did not disclose the purchasers.

Property Biz Canada

DELMA Group acquires income-generating assets, land

The Delma Group Inc. announced wholly owned subsidiary Delma Real Estate Corporation closed a transaction on July 12 with Gestion H. Petit Inc. (HPH) and four of its operating subsidiaries (namely GHP Real Estate Corporation Inc., Emergia Real Estate Inc., Aux 22 Sentiers Inc., and 9335-5709 Quebec Inc.). Over the last few months, Delma acquired from the acquired companies a real estate portfolio worth approximately $50 million.

Sedar

BTB acquires property in downtown Montreal

BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB.UN-T) has acquired a mixed-use property (with a retail and an office component) strategically located at the corner of Sainte-Catherine and Crescent Streets. The  $25.2-million acquisition is in line with the conclusions of BTB’s strategic review, selling its smaller properties or in smaller markets while purchasing larger properties or properties located in larger markets in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

Business Insider – Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Vancouver approves Plaza of Nations redevelopment

Vancouver council has approved rezoning for the Plaza of Nations site, one of the most valuable pieces of developable land left in downtown Vancouver. Councillors opted for allowing increased density in return for about $100 million in community amenity cash payments from the developers, plus other amenities the developers will build. The rezoning allows mixed commercial and residential buildings and includes three blocks of buildings.

Vancouver Sun

A primer on REITs, MICs, funds and SPV investing

In this article we will be discussing different types of pooled investments including Private Direct Investing via Asset Specific Pools, REITs, MICs and Investment Funds. As its name suggests, a pooled investment vehicle, sometimes called a pooled fund, is raised by pooling small investments from a large number of individuals.

Read more

Canada’s first commercial spaceport seeks approvals

Canada’s first commercial spaceport has submitted its proposal for environmental assessment, and is now awaiting approval from Nova Scotia’s environment minister to begin construction on the site that is expected to launch its first rocket in 2021. The environmental assessment study filed last week by Maritime Launch Services Ltd. references surveys of at-risk species in the area, such as mainland moose and bats.

Halifax ChronicleHerald – BBC

Honest buildings raises new funds for CRE project software

A US$30-million round of funding has been closed by New York City-based Honest Buildings, which bills itself as the only project management platform built for and backed by real estate owners. Honest Buildings’ software is utilized by several Canadian-based property owners and managers, and one of its key investors is First Capital Realty.

Property Biz Canada

Capital Pointe investors and buyers losing faith

When Levi Vallières put money into Fortress Real Developments’ Capital Pointe, she thought she was investing in “the best tower in the city.” Nearly six years later, the retired Ottawa woman is one of those who fear losing their investment as downtown Regina’s most infamous development faces the threat of backfill. They blame brokers and sales agents for providing scanty information.

Regina Leader-Post – Regina Leader-Post

Beljan plans makeover for Edmonton’s Strathcona Hotel

For 127 years — apart from the Prohibition era when it was a Presbyterian ladies college — Edmontonians have been rolling into the Strathcona Hotel for a glass of beer. The hotel, opened in 1891 as a stopping house for new arrivals straight off the train via the Calgary and Edmonton Railway, is being sold to Ivan Beljan of Beljan Development. He takes possession in October.

Edmonton Journal

U.S. investors eye bright spots in REIT sector

While U.S. investors say they are wary of the broader real estate industry in a rising interest rate environment, some are still bullish on sectors such as self-storage and manufactured homes. REITs are typically seen as a defensive investment bet as their large dividend payouts offset slow but predictable growth. The S&P 500 real estate index has outperformed in the last six months with a 5.8 per cent climb.

Reuters

U.S. companies vie for Niagara Falls casinos

Three U.S. gambling companies are in the final round of bidding for a pair of Niagara Falls casinos put on the block last year by an Ontario government agency, after Canadian rivals dropped out of a game that got too rich. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) announced plans to sell long-term leases for Casino Niagara and Fallsview Casino Resort in April 2017.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

U.S. bankers warn of commercial property risks

U.S. bankers have warned about mounting risks in commercial real estate, with figures showing they are putting the brakes on loans to buyers of office buildings, hotels and shopping malls. Executives said they were refusing to sign off on many property deals because they were worried about overheating, even as they extend more credit to much of the rest of corporate America

Financial Times

Global data centre market expected to soar

The global data centre transformation market is expected to grow from US$6.45 billion in 2018 to $12 billion by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2% during the forecast period. Data centre traffic is growing at a high rate and is expected to double every two years as a result, data centre transformation proves to be beneficial in handling heavy data traffics owing to consolidation and optimization of IT resources. 

PR Newswire

Real Estate Companies

L-Spark launches Kanata co-working space

Kanata-based L-SPARK, known for mentoring Canadian SaaS firms through its accelerator program, announced last week it will turn some of its open real estate into a co-working space catering to suburban startups. Marketing director Erin Blaskie said a shift in L-Spark’s accelerator model have recently left the company with extra space at its Kanata offices.

Ottawa Business Journal

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Agellan announces disposition of N.C. office building

Agellan Commercial REIT (ACR.UN-T) announced it has completed the sale of its 118,500-square foot, five-storey multi-tenant office building located at 10130 Perimeter Parkway in Charlotte, N.C. The sale price for the non-core asset of the REIT was approximately US$22.65 million (before closing costs) and represented an in-place capitalization rate of approximately 7.46 per cent.

Business Wire – Property Biz Canada

Top 10 highest-paid public U.S. REIT CEOs

Following are last year’s highest-paid CEOs of publicly traded U.S. REITs, with all data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. For the most part, the compensation packages grew once again from 2016 to 2017. Among these executives, all but one earned more in 2017 than they had the year before — and all took home total packages worth more than $11 million.

National Real Estate Investor – The Real Deal

Retail

Amazon Prime Day starts ‘Christmas in summer’

Three years ago, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN-Q) created a summer shopping holiday for its most loyal customers. That airspace is considerably more crowded today as its rivals jockey to grab deal-hungry online shoppers. Retailers Target Corp. (TGT-N), Best Buy Co. (BBY-N), Macy’s Inc. (M-N) and Walmart Inc. (WMT-N) all have special promotions planned to coincide with Amazon’s Prime Day, which runs for 36 hours in 17 countries including Canada starting today.

Bloomberg – Winnipeg Free Press

Vancouver retailers hit the road in mobile trucks

What started out as a long-running joke for Hilary Atleo turned into reality with Iron Dog Books, her mobile bookstore based in Vancouver. When Atleo, a long-time bookstore worker, and her husband moved to Vancouver, she had hopes of opening a used bookstore in their neighbourhood. However, Vancouver’s booming real estate market made affordable brick-and-mortar locations hard to come by.

CTV

Only one Blockbuster remains in the U.S.

It truly is the end of an era as two more Blockbuster Video locations closed on the weekend, leaving only one store left in the entire U.S. The general manager of Alaska’s last two stores, Kevin Daymude, said a liquidation sale is to begin Tuesday. With the closures of stores in Anchorage and Fairbanks, it means the only Blockbuster left is in Bend, Ore.

Global News – Quartz

Restaurants and Eateries

Tim Hortons looks abroad while sales at home shrink

There’s less than meets the eye to Tim Hortons’ flashy expansion plans in China, announced last week by owner Restaurant Brands International Ltd. (QSR-T). Tim Hortons will be a latecomer with its scheme to open 1,500 stores in China over the next decade. Starbucks Corp. and Whitbread’s Costa Coffee chain have already arrived in strength. And local players in China’s “café society” phenomenon will also put up fierce competition.

Toronto Star

Cannabis industry news

Local governments can regulate growth on ALR

Local and Indigenous governments in British Columbia will be permitted to prevent marijuana production in their communities on land that is part of the Agricultural Land Reserve, but with conditions. The Ministry of Agriculture said Friday the regulatory change is effective immediately and gives governments the right to prevent industrial-style, cement-based and cannabis-production bunkers in their communities.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Victoria Times Colonist – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Shopify pursues cannabis retailers

With Canada’s legal cannabis market on the verge of expanding, Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) is courting marijuana retailers to use its technology to run their websites, process transactions and manage inventory. Shopify has dabbled in the online sale of medical cannabis for five years, and won government contracts to be the software behind recreational-pot sales in three provinces.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Canada Newswire – CBC – Canada Newswire

Renovation and Restoration

Winnipeg movie houses find new purpose

In June, the owners of 394 Academy Rd., which began life in 1931 as the Uptown Theatre, announced plans for its latest redevelopment. Calling it a “centerpiece of the community,” Jeff Pratte, a planner and public-engagement consultant with Landmark Planning and Design, says the three-storey structure, most recently the home of Academy Lanes, will be transformed into a residential mixed-use facility that will combine rental apartments, commercial units and office space.

Winnipeg Free Press

Infrastructure

Omnitrax claims right to delay fixing Churchill line

Omnitrax says it has a right to retain its washed-out railway to Churchill, Man., without fixing it until its subsidiary has enough cash, in its appeal of last month’s regulatory order to immediately start repairs to the Hudson Bay Railway. “The order demands that HBR get blood from a stone,” the company’s lawyer argued in filings to the Federal Court of Appeal, submitted on July 6.

Winnipeg Free Press

Feds plan $32M retrofit of Alexandra Bridge

The federal government is looking to hire contractors to retrofit the Alexandra Bridge, the historic interprovincial steel truss structure connecting the National Art Gallery with the Canadian Museum of History. The $32-million project includes replacing the steel grating and rehabilitating the deck floor system, as well as various other steel repairs, according to procurement documents. 

Ottawa Business Journal

Other

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