BOMA: What will Ottawa look like in 2036?

BOMA: What will Ottawa look like in 2036?

Ottawa is in a time of transition. With new infrastructure and real estate projects such as light rail, Zibi and Trinity Centre at Bayview Station poised to transform how residents live, work and commute, the city’s planners and innovators say flexibility and ambition are key for the next few decades in Canada’s capital. In December 2016, city council launched a planning study to look at Ottawa’s 20-year trajectory.

Ottawa Business Journal – Property Biz Canada

Olympic bid’s demise creates roadblock for infrastructure: Mayor

Following voters’ rejection of holding an Olympic Games in Calgary, the city’s mayor says the billions in funding committed by higher levels of government for infrastructure is still needed. In a plebiscite, 56 per cent of voters rejected holding the 2026 Winter Olympics and the promise the Games could boost Calgary’s struggling economy. The vote was non-binding but the city and the bid corporation have said the process is now over.

Globe and Mail – CBC

CT REIT plans new developments, internalizes management

CT REIT (CRT-UN-T) was described as “reliable, durable and growing” during its Q3 2018 earnings conference call by president and CEO Ken Silver. To continue that trend, Silver announced an in-sourcing of most of its property management, a half dozen new developments and an increase in its distributions beginning in January 2019. Included among the developments is a new shopping centre in Fort St. John, B.C.

Property Biz Canada

GTA residential land increasingly scarce, costly

As land for single- and multi-family homes gets more scarce and expensive due to population growth in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), investment activity shows confidence and remains strong in the sector. “When you increase demand and don’t increase supply to accommodate it, you’re going to increase prices,” said Mike Czestochowski, executive vice-president of CBRE Canada’s Land Services Group, which recently released new research on this issue.

Property Biz Canada

Caution rising, but capital keeps flowing into Vancouver market

When Vancouver investment sales figures for the first half of 2018 began being released in September, signs pointed to a record year and rising caution. CBRE Ltd. indicated 2018 investment deals could exceed last year’s total of $11.75 billion. Meanwhile, Avison Young tipped “heightened political uncertainty, rising construction costs and affordability issues” as factors in a more cautious approach among “buyers and lenders alike.”

Business In Vancouver – Western Investor

Metro Vancouver mayors agree to suspend Surrey LRT

Mayors across Metro Vancouver have voted to indefinitely suspend plans for light-rapid transit lines in Surrey and have asked TransLink to put forward a business case for a SkyTrain extension to Langley. The Mayors’ Council approved a motion “recognizing the City of Surrey request to change the technology and timing of the Fraser Highway project from LRT to SkyTrain.”

CBC – Vancouver Sun – Globe and Mail

It’s not 1918 anymore: Adaptability key to survival

If the 100th anniversary of the First World War armistice should teach us anything, it’s that change is constant and even the most momentous of events don’t set the agenda for long. Just look at what’s happened over the past couple of weeks. The U.S. mid-term elections, deemed the most important in the nation’s history, left American politics more fragmented than before.

Read more

Feds pledge $17.7M for Hamilton port modernization

The federal government has earmarked $17.7 million for Hamilton’s port, in support of port authority’s $35.45 million Westport modernization project. Transport Minister Marc Garneau was in Hamilton this week to announce the funding. The port authority says the project will help its lands be used more efficiently, and be reconfigured to create “new employment land development parcels” and allow for new transportation infrastructure.

CBC

Deerfoot City opens Food Lodge and Boulevard

Deerfoot City, Calgary’s newest open-air shopping, dining and social destination, Thursday celebrated the progress of its retail transformation journey with the opening of the Food Lodge and Boulevard. The Food Lodge is the first completed social zone that allows shoppers to retreat, refuel and warm up by the fireplace or explore the children’s play area. To start, guests will find Opa! of Greece, Mia Pasta and Chachi’s.

Globe Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Toronto Premium Outlets unveils expansion lineup

Toronto Premium Outlets announced a lineup of luxury brands for its 140,000 square-foot expansion which opened Thursday. The joint venture between Simon and SmartCentres boasts more than 500,000 square feet of retail space with more than 130 designer outlets. Notable Canadian retailer Aritzia also launched its first outlet in North America as part of the expansion.

Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada

Forest City stockholders approve acquisition by Brookfield

After facing some opposition, Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.A-T) will move forward with its $6.8 billion purchase of Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. (FCE-A-N. Forest City’s shareholders voted in favor of the deal on Thursday morning, the company announced. The vote clears the way for Brookfield to buy the real estate investment trust, a deal that is expected to close on or before Dec. 10.

The Real Deal – IPE Real Assets – Property Biz Canada

Toys ‘R’ Us Canada plots rebound after near-death

It should have happened by now. There should have been chattering online, fuelling repeated requests from children and parents stalking parking lots, waiting for toy stores to open. But this year, there is no hot toy for the holiday shopping season, says Toys “R” Us Canada president Melanie Teed-Murch. Last year, it was Fingerlings. People knocked on store doors, asking whether Toys “R” Us had received a new shipment.

Financial Post

Bankrupt Sears wins court approval for plans to sell stores

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD-Q) won U.S. bankruptcy court approval on Thursday to move forward with plans to stay in business and sell itself, even as it continues to evaluate offers to liquidate its business. The 125-year-old retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, faces opposition to its plan to sell from some creditors, who argued Sears would be squandering hundreds of millions of dollars by pursuing a sale.

Reuters – Bloomberg

Starlight secures $800M in financing for multi-family portfolio

HFF secured financing totaling $800.45 million for Toronto-based Starlight Investments’ 23-property multi-family portfolio consisting of 7,289 units across eight U.S. states. The master note, secured by the cross-collateralized pool of properties owned by Starlight U.S Multi-Family (No. 5) Core Fund (STUS-A-X), will be serviced by HFF. The class-A properties are located in the Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Antonio and Tampa markets.

Connect Group Media

Regional theme parks extend the thrill

Merlin Entertainments, a British entertainment company with attractions all over the globe, sees Goshen, a bucolic town in New York’s Hudson Valley, as the perfect spot to build its most ambitious and expensive project: the world’s largest Legoland theme park. The 61-hectare park, expected to open in 2020, will have eight themed areas and a 250-room hotel that will look as if it were constructed of Lego bricks.

Globe and Mail

Market Trends and Research

U.S. realtors see increase in CRE income, sales volume

U.S. commercial real estate markets are on the rise, with realtors specializing in CRE reporting both an increase in member’s gross income and sales volume, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2018 Commercial Member Profile. Corresponding to tightened inventory conditions, sales transactions for NAR’s commercial members have slowly decreased in the last two years, down from eight in 2016 to seven in 2017.

PR Newswire

Real Estate Companies

PowerOne Capital acquires Firm Capital shares

PowerOne Capital Corp., a corporation wholly owned by Pat DiCapo, a director of Firm Capital American Realty Partners Corp. (FCA-U-X), announced it acquired 50,000 units of the issuer, each unit consisting of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. The units were purchased in a private placement at a price of US$8.10 per unit for gross proceeds of US$405,000 ($10.71 per unit for a total of $535,410 Cdn.)

Globe Newswire – Canada Newswire – Globe Newswire

Cineplex shares plunge 20% on Q3 earnings miss

Hit films helped deliver box office and concession stand gains for Cineplex Inc. (CGX-T), but that wasn’t enough to keep the entertainment giant from missing expectations as lower profits caused the company’s shares to fall by nearly 20 per cent. The Toronto-based movie theatre operator said it earned $10.2 million, or 16 cents per diluted share, in Q3, a 40.7 per cent drop from $17.2 million or 27 cents per diluted share the year before.

Financial Post

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Dundee Corp., (DC-A-T), Globe Newswire

* Invesque Inc., (IVQ-U-T), Canada Newswire

* Sienna Senior Living Inc., (SIA-T), Globe Newswire

* Skyline Investments, (SKLN.TA), Globe Newswire

* StorageVault Canada Inc., (SVI-X), Globe Newswire

* Timbercreek Financial, (TF-T), Globe Newswire

REIT Financial Reports

Latest financial results:

* Agellan Commercial REIT, (ACR-UN-T), Business Wire

* Boardwalk REIT, (BEI-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* Plaza Retail REIT, (PLZ-UN-T), Canada Newswire

* PROREIT, (PRV-UN-X), Canada Newswire

Retail

Walmart puts Amazon on notice with higher forecast

Walmart Inc. sailed into the holiday season with stronger-than-expected sales and a boosted full-year outlook, signaling the world’s largest retailer can more than hold its own against rival Amazon.com Inc. in the critical holiday weeks ahead. Comparable sales for Walmart stores in the U.S. — a key performance barometer — rose 3.4 per cent in the third quarter, beating analysts’ estimates.

Bloomberg

Home Depot signals U.S. housing demand slowing

Home Depot Inc. (HD-N), the largest U.S. home improvement chain, suggested on Tuesday that the pace of U.S. home sales was slowing, and said impending trade tariffs could force it to raise prices on some products. The warning from the country’s top seller of power tools, flooring and lawnmowers overshadowed its stronger-than-expected third-quarter results and a higher annual sales forecast.

Reuters – Bloomberg – PR Newswire

Cannabis industry news

Invictus, GTEC Holdings announce merger

Invictus MD Strategies Corp. (GENE-X) announced it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with GTEC Holdings Ltd. (GTEC-X) for the acquisition by Invictus of all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of GTEC in an all-share transaction valued at approximately $100 million, forming Western Canada’s largest indoor vertically integrated cannabis companies.

Canada Newswire

Ontario rules could throw retail partnerships into disarray

Ontario is limiting pot producers’ retail exposure, issuing rules about store licenses that could throw several partnerships into disarray. A company is not eligible for a cannabis retail license if it’s more than 9.9 per cent owned or controlled by one or more licensed producers, the province said in rules issued this week.

Bloomberg – Ottawa Business Journal – Edmonton Journal

Infrastructure

Ford undecided on future of $1.5-B Mississauga LRT

The Ontario PC government has confirmed it remains undecided on the future of a planned LRT line down Hurontario Street that would connect the Port Credit GO station to the Gateway Terminal in Brampton. Earlier on Tuesday, the opposition NDP issued a release stating it was concerned for the future of the $1.5 billion project, which was slated to be completed by 2022.

Mississauga News

Other

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