Cannabis already driving up Canadian retail rents

Cannabis already driving up Canadian retail rents

Even before online cannabis sales began across Canada on Wednesday, Toronto landlords reported getting offers from tenants with perks that include everything from 12 months of rent in cash up front to stock options in underlying marijuana companies. And all of these proposed tenancies include rents well above the market, even as much as a 30 per cent premium, in anticipation of sales demand from across Canada and marijuana tourism.

CoStar Group – Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – CTV

LRT expected to raise demand for East Ottawa office space

One of Ottawa’s largest developers and property managers says the launch of light rail has the potential to breathe new life into an often overlooked corner of the city’s office market. The office vacancy rate in Ottawa’s east end stood at 19.6 per cent at the end of the second quarter – more than double the citywide rate of 9.8 per cent, according to data from CBRE (CBG-N).

Ottawa Business Journal – Property Biz Canada

The Edison: Aspen renews aging Calgary office building

BOMEX 2018 in Calgary offered building owners and property managers from across Canada a guided tour of an innovative and shining example of how to turn an aging downtown property into an office building of the future. The Edison is a first of its kind in Calgary. Aspen Properties took a 30-storey B-class tower built in 1981 and turned it into an amenity-rich building in the heart of the city.

Property Biz Canada

‘Anti-development sentiment’ in Vancouver: Urban Analytics

Shifting political winds could exacerbate an already-softening Metro Vancouver housing market buffeted by recent government policies and higher borrowing costs, said an industry analyst at the Urban Development Institute’s annual real estate industry outlook on Tuesday. Michael Ferreira, principal of Urban Analytics, warned a number of Metro Vancouver municipalities could take on an anti-development slant after the Oct. 20 election.

Vancouver Province

Metrolinx to JV with developer for Mimico Go station revamp

In a move that could signal a shift in how transit infrastructure is built in Toronto, Metrolinx plans to partner with a unnamed developer to revamp a GO Transit stop in Etobicoke with no direct cost to the public. Metrolinx says under the proposed deal a developer would “pay all construction costs” for a new station building, parking facility and public park at Mimico GO station.

Toronto Star

Avison Young targets Montreal market for growth

Avison Young Montreal is aiming to be among the top three of Montreal commercial real estate brokerages in terms of sales volume or number of brokers within four years, says a new partner in the Montreal office who recently moved over from CBRE. “We can do this by acquiring some good people (and we) might buy some smaller shops,” says Robert Metcalfe, principal, capital markets at Avison Young Montreal.

Property Biz Canada

Ivanhoé Cambridge’s Jonathan Pearce discusses future of CRE

It’s always useful to get perspective on the outlook for CRE by engaging in a dialogue with an industry-leading broker. There’s also abundant value in talking with landlords at the top of their game. But if you’re looking for truly well-rounded insights into the future of our sector, it may be the best source is an executive who has done both and has excelled in leasing and asset management.

CRE Tech: Riding the Digital Wave

Firm Capital acquires 50% interest in Montreal industrial property

Firm Capital Property Trust (FCD-UN-X) announced the closing of a 50 per cent interest in a 159,164-square-foot single tenant industrial property located in Montreal. The acquisition price of the property is approximately $11.0 million, excluding transaction costs. The property will be part of the current Montreal portfolio with all of the existing investors participating in their pro rata share.

Canada Newswire

Devencore, Transwestern establish U.S.-Canadian strategic alliance

Devencore and Transwestern Commercial Services, two privately owned CRE firms based in Montreal and Houston, respectively, Tuesday announced a strategic alliance, extending their integrated commercial real estate services capabilities across North America to serve clients globally. Specifically, the companies will collaborate on cross-border occupier, agency, and capital markets opportunities, and provide research, marketing and consulting support for existing and future clients.

Globe Newswire

50-storey mixed-use tower proposed for downtown Edmonton

A proposed high-rise on the site of the now-demolished BMO building could provide housing for hundreds of people in downtown Edmonton. The city’s design committee heard a presentation Tuesday evening from architect Jimmy Amichandwala of Der Associates Architecture Ltd. The 50-storey tower would include 371 residential units and 168 hotel rooms, along with the opportunity for commercial space on the ground floor.

CBC

Waterfront Toronto advisers threaten resignations

At least three members of Waterfront Toronto’s digital-strategy advisory panel say they may resign following a key meeting on Thursday if the government agency doesn’t address their concerns over its proposed development partnership with  Sidewalk Labs. Sidewalk, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet Inc., is developing the project known as Quayside in conjunction with Waterfront Toronto.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Financial Post – Property Biz Canada

Stymied developer files $30-M lawsuit against City of Winnipeg

Winnipeg real estate developer Andrew Marquess has filed a lawsuit against city hall and four senior officials, accusing them of a co-ordinated effort to thwart his plan to develop the Parker lands. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday morning in Court of Queen’s Bench in Winnipeg, seeking at least $30 million in damages. The figure is a preliminary estimate and expected to rise daily, as further legal costs accrue.

Winnipeg Free Press – CBC

Bankruptcy judge approves financing to keep Sears open

A bankruptcy judge Monday approved $300 million in financing to keep Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD-Q) open through the holiday season, giving the century-old retailer a chance to remain in business. Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier on Monday with a plan to close about 142 of its 700 stores by year-end and sell its best-performing stores in an auction in January to a buyer that will keep them operational.

Reuters – Bloomberg – CoStar Group

Ivanhoé, CapRock start construction on Colony Commerce Center

Ivanhoe Cambridge, a global real estate investor, and CapRock Partners, a California-based investment and development firm specializing in industrial real estate, recently highlighted the start of construction of Phase I of the Colony Commerce Center in Ontario, Calif. Phase I includes state-of-the-art, class-A buildings of 1.3 million, 589,000 and 700,000 square feet respectively, with clear heights of 36 feet.

Ivanhoé Cambridge media release

CRE attracts record $1.8T in global investment

Despite headwinds both real and potential — the slowing of the economic cycle, interest rates, inflation and geopolitical uncertainty over such factors as trade wars and Brexit — global investment in CRE rose 18 per cent over the 12 months ending in June, to a record high of $1.8 trillion US, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield.

CP Executive

Market Trends and Research

Car wash companies make big splash with prime real estate

Car wash operators are snapping up a record number of prime real estate locations across the U.S., in no small part because drivers can’t wash their cars online. An all-time high of more than 100,000 car washes are open across the country, according to a 2017 report from the U.S. Census Bureau. They’re located in traditional car wash facilities and in prime retail space once occupied by banks and convenience stores.

CoStar Group

E-commerce drives largest industrial leases

Of the 100 largest leases by square footage for industrial and logistics (I&L) space in the first half of this year, a majority of 56 were signed by e-commerce companies or by third-party-logistics (3PL) companies that predominantly handle distribution for goods purchased online, according to a new report from CBRE. It’s thus clear that demand for e-commerce distribution space drove many of the largest I&L leases completed in the U.S. in the first half of this year, “highlighting users’ preference for large, modern facilities,” according to the CBRE analysis.

CP Executive – Toronto Star

Real Estate Companies

Brookfield Infrastructure completes $4.3B acquisition of Enercare

Enercare Inc. (ECI-T), Enercare Solutions Inc. and Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP-UN-T) and its institutional partners Tuesday announced the completion of their previously announced plan of arrangement under section 192 of the Canada Business Corporations Act. Pursuant to the terms of the Arrangement, Brookfield has acquired all the issued and outstanding common shares of Enercare for $29 per share.

Canada Newswire

Lone Star nears $3B for latest global real estate fund

Lone Star has raised $2.99 billion US in a first close for its latest global real estate fund, according to a source. The first close for Lone Star Fund XI was held earlier this month and Lonen Star hopes to eventually raise $6 billion. The fund will invest in distressed situations and debt opportunities on a global basis, according to sources.

IPE Real Assets

Retail

Walmart lowers earnings forecast, citing Flipkart

Walmart Tuesday lowered its earnings predictions for fiscal 2019, adjusting for the financial impact of its biggest-ever, hard-fought acquisition: Flipkart, an Indian online retailer. However, the company’s outlook for 2020 is optimistic. After beating out Amazon.com, Walmart bought a 77 per cent controlling stake in Flipkart for $16 billion US earlier this year, in an effort to bolster its online business and stake its claim in the lucrative Indian market.

Toronto Star

L Brands pursuing possible sale of La Senza

The parent company of La Senza says it is pursuing “alternatives” for the beleaguered Canadian lingerie retailer after about a decade of ownership. News of L Brands Inc.’s possible search for a buyer boosted its shares by 11.7 per cent to an intraday high of nearly US$32 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. By Friday morning, the Ohio-based company was trading above US$31.

Financial Post

Cannabis industry news

Merritt to be B.C.’s next big boom town for production

Merritt, B.C., is about to get a whole lot greener. Emerald Plants Heath Source, a licensed medicinal marijuana producer, announced it’s partnering with Merritt Valley Cannabis to begin work on a 56-acre farm and research facility. Groundbreaking is scheduled for early 2019 for the first phase of the project, which will start with a 30,000 square foot state-of-the-art “Cannabis Campus.”

CBC

20 power players putting down roots in cannabis industry

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (CF-T) CEO Dan Daviau may not be the first name that springs to mind in cannabis, but he deserves credit for steering a once-middling investor into an industry powerhouse that has made the most deals (32 between July 1, 2017, and July 15, 2018, according to FP Data Group) and raised more than twice as much money ($1.48 billion) than any other player.

Financial Post

New Development

Quicken Loans to open technology office in Windsor

Quicken Loans, the largest home mortgage lender in the U.S., Monday announced plans to open a new location in the historic Old Fish Market Building (156 Chatham St. West) in downtown Windsor. The expansion into Canada will allow Quicken Loans and its Family of Companies to recruit top talent from Windsor, Toronto, Waterloo and all of Ontario to support the company’s growing need for additional technology talent.

Canada Newswire – Windsor Star

Sports Venues

Bowling goes down a new lane

In April 2010, financial advisor Paul Donato was giving a prospective client some guidance, or so he thought. “I was cross-sold,” he recalls. “I went home to my wife that night and said, ‘Would you believe some guy tried to get me to invest in a bowling alley?’ ” Donato invested a month later, and in December 2010 the 23,500-square-foot Ballroom Bowl opened in downtown Toronto.

Globe and Mail

Infrastructure

Two more Canadian LNG projects inch toward construction

Two more liquefied natural gas export projects are poised to proceed in Canada over the next six months, setting up what analysts call “a dream scenario” after years of delays. Both Pieridae Energy Ltd.’s $10-billion Goldboro LNG project in Nova Scotia and Woodfibre LNG’s $1.6-billion project in British Columbia are nearing the finish line in a tight race to be the second LNG project sanctioned in Canada.

Financial Post

Other

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