Hungerford buys 15.5 acres of Vancouver industrial property

Hungerford buys 15.5 acres of Vancouver industrial property

Hungerford Properties has purchased two major Vancouver industrial sites and plans to redevelop them into mixed-use commercial and retail sites. One of the properties, a 12-acre site in South Vancouver, is considered the largest industrial acquisition in the City of Vancouver in a decade. Michael Hungerford said the two sites in South Vancouver will be redeveloped in conjunction with the City of Vancouver to create new employment-generating opportunities.

Property Biz Canada

Bidding heats up for Bombardier Downsview site

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing and two Canadian investors have made Bombardier’s short list of buyers for the manufacturer’s aerospace plant and surrounding lands in northwest Toronto, according to sources. Bombardier is mulling bids from three front-runners. Li’s CK Asset Holdings Ltd., a team-up by Toronto-based developers Great Gulf and Dream Unlimited Corp. (DRM-T), and Montreal-based PSP Investments are all said to be vying for the property.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Ivanhoé betting on warehouses in Amazon era

Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc., the real estate arm of one of Canada’s biggest pension funds, plans to increase its assets by a third with a bet on the booming warehouse space. The unit of Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec aims to expand its assets under management to $80-billion over the next five years by adding apartments, offices, and industrial space, president Nathalie Palladitcheff said.

Globe and Mail

Property technology experts offer guidance from experience

Property technology (PropTech) has had a growing impact on the real estate industry in recent years, and representatives from five companies addressed their experiences at a recent breakfast event presented by Real Property Association of Canada (REALpac) and MetaProp NYC. MetaProp NYC runs accelerator programs, acts as an adviser and is the most active global investor in the PropTech space, having invested in more than 80 companies.

Property Biz Canada

Tim Hortons moving Canadian HQ to Toronto

Tim Hortons (QSR-T) is moving its Canadian headquarters to downtown Toronto’s Exchange Tower (BPY-UN-T) after more than 50 years in Oakville. The change that will affect all 400 head office employees is expected to take place by the end of the year and is part of a corporate modernization plan, Tim Hortons president Alex Macedo said.

Toronto Star – Financial Post – CBC – Financial Post

Trinity, Timbercreek close on Main and Main portfolio

Trinity Development Group has teamed up with Timbercreek to purchase the Main and Main Urban Realty portfolio, a joint venture led by First Capital Realty (FCR-T). Six of the properties are in Ottawa. First Capital said in a March statement it had closed the sale of 18 properties for aggregate gross proceeds of $298 million. The buyers were not disclosed at the time, however.

Ottawa Business Journal – Property Biz Canada

Montreal, Vancouver enter Reinventing Cities competition

Montreal and Vancouver are among 16 cities participating in Reinventing Cities, a global competition aimed at transforming underused publicly owned sites into sustainable, carbon-neutral urban renewal projects. Winning bids from developers, architects and neighbourhood groups will need to demonstrate how they can develop carbon-neutral projects combining noteworthy architecture and local community benefits. It must also be possible to replicate similar projects worldwide.

Sustainable Biz Canada

Future of Winnipeg’s SkyCity condos questioned after RCMP raid

Some investors are questioning whether the tallest building in Winnipeg will ever get off the ground after the RCMP raided the headquarters of the company behind SkyCity Centre last week. Fortress Real Developments, headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ont., is the developer of the SkyCity Centre 45-storey mixed-use condo project on Graham Avenue in Winnipeg.

CBC

Hamilton rules buildings can’t be higher than escarpment

New City of Hamilton rules say high-rise buildings downtown can’t be any taller than the Niagara Escarpment.  The new downtown secondary plan, approved by city council’s planning committee Tuesday, says the escarpment is the limit in terms of building heights. That means at the lowest elevations designated for taller buildings, high-rises can only be about 30 stories tall.

CBC

Amazon may rent Vancouver’s old post office

Amazon is looking at renting the old post office in downtown Vancouver. Sources say the online retail giant wants to add a million square feet of office and commercial space downtown, part of an expansion to double the Vancouver Amazon workforce to 2,000 by 2020. Amazon didn’t immediately respond and leasing agent Tony Astles of Bentall Kennedy said “any discussions we do or don’t have with tenants are confidential, sorry.”

Vancouver Sun

Toys R Us rejects $890-million bid

Toys R Us appears to be back on the verge of permanently closing its doors. Attorneys and advisers for the bankrupt retailer have reportedly rejected MGA Entertainment Inc.’s bid of $890 million for 274 U.S. stores and the Canadian operations, according to various news reports. “If this is true, it is very disappointing,” said Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment and creator of Little Tikes.

CoStar Group – Reuters

Triple Five looking to buy L.A. redevelopment site

The owner of the Mall of America is negotiating to buy one of the largest redevelopment sites in Los Angeles: the former rocket-engine manufacturing site of Aerojet Rocketdyne. Edmonton-based Triple Five Group Ltd., a diversified development and finance organization with extensive experience in major mixed-use development projects, plans to acquire the 47-acre site at 6633 Canoga Ave. in Warner Center from Rocketdyne’s former parent company, United Technologies Corp. 

CoStar Group

Edmonton partners with Brookfield to spur development

After 36 years of failing to spark significant housing development along its northeastern light-rail line, the City of Edmonton is now partnering with private developer Brookfield Residential to see condo towers overlook the tracks. “The city negotiated a cost-sharing agreement where Brookfield will do the construction of the improvements and the city will reimburse them for the city portions of it,” says Erik Backstrom, a senior planner with the City of Edmonton.

Globe and Mail

Brookfield gets Calpers, TIAA financing for GGP deal

Brookfield Property Partners (BPY.UN-T) has lined up a slate of heavyweight backers to help finance its planned takeover of GGP Inc. (GGP-N) . The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, a CBRE Group Inc. unit, Future Fund and TIAA affiliate TH Real Estate have agreed to invest in select GGP malls, according to sources. The properties weren’t identified.

Globe and Mail – Property Biz Canada

Brookfield among firms weighing offer for LaSalle

LaSalle Hotel Properties‘ (LHO-N), the target of a $3.6-billion US takeover offer from Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (PEB-N) , has attracted interest from other potential buyers, according to sources. Brookfield Property Partners (BPY-UN-T), Blackstone Group LP (BX-N), Starwood Capital Group, Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. and Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. are among interested parties who have signed or are in discussions to sign nondisclosure agreements for access to due diligence.

Bloomberg – CoStar Group

Featured Column

Saskatoon retail market remains stable

ICR’s latest retail report has just been released, which reveals that despite a small increase in available space in 2017, we now show three consecutive quarters of stable vacancy in Saskatoon. It’s interesting, however, to note the vacancy numbers vary from 1.5 per cent to 18 per cent within the 12 districts we report on.

Read more

Market Trends and Research

Bank of Canada holds key interest rate at 1.25 per cent

The Bank of Canada is poised to raise interest rates, just not today. Governor Stephen Poloz and his deputies on the Governing Council ended a couple of weeks of deliberations today with a decision to leave the benchmark unchanged at 1.25 per cent for a second consecutive policy meeting. However, policy makers are close to pulling the trigger, either in May or  in July.

Montreal Gazette

U.S. industrial vacancies reaching record lows

Ten-X Commercial, the nation’s leading online and only end-to-end transaction platform for commercial real estate, has released its latest U.S. Industrial Market Outlook, including the top five “Buy” and “Sell” markets for industrial real estate assets. The report found changes in technology, supply chains and consumer habits continue to drive leasing demand for industrial properties, propelling vacancies to their lowest levels on record.

PR Newswire

Real Estate Companies

Starwood Capital closes fund at $7.55B

Starwood Capital Group, a leading global private investment firm, announced the closing of its 11th opportunistic real estate fund, Starwood Global Opportunity Fund XI (SOF XI). With capital commitments totalling $7,555,500,000 SOF XI is the firm’s largest fund in its history. Together with existing commitments to Starwood Energy Partners and Starwood Property Trust, the nation’s largest CRE mortgage REIT – the firm’s assets under management are more than $55 billion.

PR Newswire

Real Property Management Results expands to Edmonton

Real Property Management (RPM) welcomed Louis Lim to its network of franchisees as Real Property Management Results opens in Edmonton.  Lim brings more than a decade of experience working in the hospitality and service industry which has developed his drive for customer satisfaction. His firsthand experience as a rental property owner and investor showed him there was an opportunity to offer value-focused service that maximizes investments.   

Globe Newswire

Horizon North acquires Shelter Modular

Horizon North Logistics Inc. (HNL-T) announced it has successfully completed the previously announced acquisition of Shelter Modular Inc. for $4.75 million. The acquisition of Shelter Modular provides Horizon North with immediate manufacturing capacity to meet increasing demand in the Modular Solutions division, and provides exposure to future opportunities to grow the modular business.

Canada Newswire

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Kimco sells interests in 21 shopping centres

Kimco Realty Corp (KIM-N), an owner of 492 open-air shopping centres whose share price has been slammed by e-commerce, recently sold almost two dozen properties to private investors at valuations it said were better than public prices. The REIT disposed of its interests in 21 shopping centres for $210.2 million at prices the company said were in line with its expectations of a 7.5 to eight per cent cap rate.

Reuters

Legal Corner

Ex-premier claims victory in Galway development spat

Danny Williams is claiming he’s the winner in his fight with the City of St. John’s over conditions attached to his huge Galway development in the city’s southwest end, but the mayor denies it’s a total victory. The former premier filed an application with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in November. The civil suit argued the city had “exceeded its authority” in withholding additional building permits.

CBC – The Telegram

Surrey developer sentenced for tax evasion

A Surrey real estate developer will pay fines, spend time under house arrest and complete community service as part of a conditional sentence for evading almost a half million dollars in taxes. The Canada Revenue Agency said in a statement Monday Rajinder Singh Mann received a sentence of two years less a day for evading $462,092 worth of GST and HST.

CBC

Retail

Lululemon names new CFO as search continues for CEO

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU-Q) has appointed Patrick Guido as chief financial officer as its search continues for a new chief executive. The Vancouver-based clothing company says Guido, who most recently worked as treasurer and vice-president of corporate development at VF Corp., will report to chief operating officer Stuart Haselden. Lululemon has been without a CEO since early February.

Financial Post

Cannabis industry news

Municipal Guide to Cannabis Legalization unveiled

As the date for cannabis legalization approaches, Canadian municipalities are taking a big step forward in their preparation to keep Canadians safe and well-served. Following months of collaboration with a municipal technical advisory group and legal experts and in partnership with provincial-territorial municipal associations from across Canada, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has launched the Municipal Guide to Cannabis Legalization.

Municipalinfonet.com

New Development

River Heights Place adds shopping spaces to south Cochrane

Cochrane has been recognized as the fastest-growing community in Canada, and its neighbourhoods on the south side of the Bow River among the fastest-growing residential areas in Alberta. Last week, Cochrane Mayor Jeff Genung helped Ocgrow Group of Companies president Harish Consul launch construction of the $18-million River Heights Place, a 35,000-square foot retail project designed by BRZ Partnership Architecture.

Calgary Herald

Human Resources

Famed Georgia developer John A. Williams dead at 75

John A. Williams, a seminal Georgia developer and minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons, died suddenly Monday at 75. Over the course of his career, Williams directed and coordinated the development, construction, and management of more than $15 billion in real estate developments across the nation, with the majority in property such as hotels, condominiums and offices.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution – CoStar Group – PR Newswire

Other

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