KingSett buys last of Block 1’s apartment buildings

KingSett buys last of Block 1’s apartment buildings

Seven years after it began buying apartment buildings in Saskatchewan and eight months after it was granted creditor protection by a B.C. court, the last nine properties belonging to what was one of the city’s largest landlords have been bought by Toronto-based KingSett Mortgage Corp. KingSett acquired the remaining properties in a “credit bid” worth an estimated $126.5 million.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Montreal shopping centres seeing a resurgence

Online shopping is growing, major department store chains, like Sears, are struggling, while others, like Target, have disappeared from the Canadian market. However, mall owners in Montreal are investing millions of dollars into renovations and store openings can still draw lineups.  At CF Carrefour Laval, rents are on-par with the highest retail rents in downtown Montreal, says Cushman & Wakefield.

Montreal Gazette – Property Biz Canada

Industry leader, CAPREIT’s Thomas Schwartz passes away

Thomas Schwartz, who with his founding partner Michael Stein built Canadian Apartment Properties REIT into one of Canada’s largest residential landlords, has died after a battle with prostate cancer. Schwartz, who served as president and CEO of CAPREIT (CAR.UN-T) almost since its inception in 1996, was 68. “We are greatly saddened by Tom’s passing,” said Stein, who is the chair of CAPREIT.

Property Biz Canada – REMI Network

Voisin wins bid to redevelop Kitchener’s 48 Ontario

Voisin Capital beat out four other bidders and was granted approval by Kitchener, Ont., city council on Aug. 11 to purchase 48 Ontario St. N. for $1.5 million. “48 Ontario is almost immediately behind one of my other buildings, 8 Queen, and for the last three years I’ve been walking by it admiring its architecture and location …” said Voisin Capital president Frank Voisin.

Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

Edmonton bets $1.8 billion on LRT

Success on the $1.8-billion Valley Line LRT will be measured not just by the people it moves but by the new residential towers and a string of mini-downtowns around at least five of the coming LRT stations. However. Edmonton’s tax regime will work against redevelopment. Land speculators will profit from sitting on vacant land and aging buildings.

Edmonton Journal – Edmonton Journal – Edmonton Journal – Edmonton Journal

Bensimon Byrne to lease vacated CBC space

The studios of CBC’s Toronto headquarters have been the home of many popular TV series, but some of the massive sound stages and offices were declared surplus and put up for lease in 2015. The timing couldn’t have been better for advertising agency Bensimon Byrne, which was looking for larger quarters. The 45,000 square feet of space on two floors was dramatic.

Globe and Mail

Cassone proposes 16-storey Ottawa mixed-use tower

An Ottawa infill developer is looking to turn a used car lot near Billings Bridge Shopping Centre into a 16-storey mixed-use development, according to planning documents. Cassone Construction‘s plans call for 100 residential units as well as 1,050 square feet of retail space. Additionally, the building will have five floors of parking, two of which will be underground.

Ottawa Business Journal

Record-low CRE vacancy rate forecast for Vancouver: JLL

Unprecedented demand for office space in Vancouver is expected to drive CRE vacancies to the lowest rates ever, a new report says. The JLL report says a tight market will be driven by new demand from technology companies. Vacancy rates could dive from about seven per cent currently to three per cent in 2019, “the lowest vacancy rate on record.”

Victoria Times Colonist

Rocky Mountain tourist towns cracking down on Airbnb

Canmore and Banff are cracking down on illegal short-term vacation rentals found on sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. Under Canmore’s land-use bylaws, operating a tourist home or short-term rental is currently illegal in the vast majority of residential areas. The practice is allowed if the property is in a commercial or mixed-use area, with a business licence. 

Calgary Herald – CBC

Surrey, Squamish vie for Pattison hotel and resort

The Jim Pattison Group is developing plans to build a 400-room hotel and indoor waterpark resort in B.C. with potential sites identified in both Surrey and Squamish. “We still need to see if this is a project that will work in Surrey and we’ve publicly pursued a site in Squamish as well,” said Michael Lee, vice-president of Jim Pattison Developments.

Vancouver Sun

Colony NorthStar forecloses on $1.3B hotel portfolio

Colony NorthStar Inc. (CLNS-N) foreclosed on a $1.3-billion, 148-property limited-service hotel portfolio. Known as the “Tharaldson Portfolio,” the hotels were owned by Whitehall Street Global Real Estate LP 2005 and Whitehall Street Global Employee Fund 2005, of which Goldman Sachs was the major investor. The properties are managed by Tharaldson Hospitality Management, which originally sold the properties in 2006. 

CoStar Group

	B.C. wildfires’ impact on real estate, residents
	The following section of the RENX newsletter is dedicated to news about the wildfires in British Columbia and their impact on real estate.

 

Thousands of hectares burned as B.C. nears worst wildfire season

British Columbia is poised to face its worst wildfire season as flames scorch thousands of hectares of land and costs rise to deal with the devastation. BC Wildfire Service spokesman Kevin Skrepnek said an estimated 8,450 square kilometres of forest, brush and grassland has been burned since the start of the wildfire season on April 1.

Globe and Mail

Miniso to open 15 Metro Vancouver stores in 15 months

China-based variety store Miniso has launched one of the more aggressive retail-store rollouts Metro Vancouver has seen in recent years. The value-priced merchant is opening three stores this month, on the heels of two other store openings since April. Vice-president of development Yi Ma expects Metro Vancouver to have more than 15 Miniso stores by this time next year.

Business In Vancouver

Metro battles rising competition with e-commerce push

Grocery retailer Metro Inc. (MRU-T)  is battling industry pressures with an e-commerce push that includes extending online shopping to customers throughout Quebec and selling meal kits, CEO Eric La Flèch said Tuesday. Ongoing food price deflation dampened third-quarter earnings at Metro, which said a minimum wage hike in Ontario would further squeeze grocers in a highly competitive industry.

Financial Post – Globe and Mail – CTV – BNN

Office sector undergoing important shift in dynamics: AY

North American and European office leasing markets are generally performing well as they undergo an important shift in dynamics influenced by trends transforming both occupier demand and the supply of new product. Traditional drivers of demand are being joined by emerging disruptors that will increasingly shape the future of the office-space market and commercial real estate as a whole.

Canada Newswire

Restaurants reinventing food ordering with technology

The cut-throat U.S. restaurant industry is getting increasingly aggressive about technology, enlisting Facebook and Amazon.com in their race to make it easier for customers to order and pay for their food. Last month, TGI Fridays began letting customers foot the bill using their Amazon accounts. And pizza chains are locked in an escalating battle to adopt new ordering methods.

Bloomberg

Featured Column

Avoid the unexpected through good planning

Thirty years ago, Geraldo Rivera created a media sensation with a TV show that focused on the opening of a special vault in a Chicago hotel owned by gangster Al Capone. Despite all the build-up and hype nothing was found. While TV thrives on the unusual, the commercial real estate world does not.

Read more

Real Estate Companies

Lilydale plant heading to Calgary industrial park

A chicken-processing plant in the southeast Calgary community of Ramsay is negotiating to sell its site to the city and move to city-owned land in a southeast industrial area. Sofina Foods, the owner of the Lilydale plant,  is planning to build a new plant in the Dufferin North Industrial Park that would open around 2020.

Calgary Herald

CPPIB, Phoenix Mills acquire Indian retail site

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Island Star Mall Developers Pvt. Ltd., the strategic investment platform owned by The Phoenix Mills Ltd. (PML), has announced the acquisition of a land parcel in Wakad, Pune, for $32.0 million Cdn.The acquired land has a development potential of approximately 1.6 million square feet, of which approximately 1 million square feet is planned as premium retail development.

Marketwired

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Agellan Commercial REIT, (ACR.UN-T), Stockhouse  

* Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT), (CAR.UN-T), Marketwired 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

How do higher interest rates affect NorthWest?

NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH.UN-T) offers a yield of +7.5%, which is great for current income. Should unitholders of this REIT be concerned about rising interest rates? How will higher interest rates affect NorthWest Healthcare Properties, which has lots of debt on its balance sheet, just like any normal REIT with mortgages on its back? 

Motley Fool

U.S. REITs’ quarterly FFO hits record high

Quarterly funds from operations for equity REITs exceeded $15 billion for the second quarter, marking the first time FFO reached this milestone, NAREIT said Tuesday. FFO for Q2 was up 7.9% from Q1 and 7.3% from the year-ago period, according to NAREIT’s T-Tracker, a quarterly composite performance measure of US listed REITs. Only three years ago, quarterly FFO broke the $10-billion barrier.

GlobeSt.com

Amid interest rate worries, Killam Apartment soars

Killam Apartment REIT’s deleveraging initiatives during the past quarter provided the company with significant room to engage in additional acquisitions, which are expected to be significantly accretive to cash flow and provide increased growth over the coming quarters. During Q2, the REIT (KMP.UN-T) made $33.8 million of investments. 

Motley Fool – Motley Fool

Retail

Sears Canada to create fund for laid off employees

Lawyers representing workers at Sears Canada and the company have reached a deal to create a hardship fund for former employees who were denied severance payments when they lost their jobs at the retailer. The $500,000 for the fund will come from money set aside to pay bonuses under a key employee retention plan at the restructuring retailer.

CTV – Globe and Mail

U.S. housing boom propels Home Depot to record earnings

Americans are plowing money into their homes at an astonishing rate, new, used and even those not yet built, creating for Home Depot Inc’s (HD-N) a frenzy of loyal customers. The world’s biggest home improvement retailer rang up its highest quarterly sales, and richest earnings in the company’s history, and it boosted its outlook for the year Tuesday.

Financial Post – Reuters – Bloomberg – Canada Newswire

U.S. retail posts biggest increase in seven months

U.S. retail sales recorded their biggest increase in seven months in July as consumers boosted purchases of motor vehicles and lifted discretionary spending, suggesting the economy continued to gain momentum early in the third quarter. Retail sales for June and May also were revised higher, which should help to assuage concerns about consumer spending,

Reuters – Globe and Mail

New Development

Brigil wants 100-unit cap on Ottawa building lifted

Brigil‘s proposal to increase the number of residential units in a four-storey building in Kanata has some nearby residents concerned. There are already two three-storey condominium buildings on the site and a four-storey, 79-unit apartment building is currently under construction. Brigil wants to increase the number of units in a fourth building planned for the site.

CBC

Sports Venues

The 10 most expensive NFL stadiums

If you live in a National Football League market that isn’t New York — where the owners of the Giants and Jets and their investors covered all of MetLife Stadium’s $1.6 billion cost — your tax dollars are likely paying for the home team’s facilities. It isn’t just a minor contribution, either.

The Street

Human Resources

U.S. factory jobs have gone high-tech, but workers have not

Herbie Mays is 3M proud, and it shows in the 3M shirt he wears. But it’s all nostalgia. Mays’ last day at 3M was in March. Bent on cutting costs and refocusing its portfolio, the company decided to close the plant and move work to its plant in Mexico.

Toronto Star

Other

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