Molson Coors plans new Montreal brewery

Molson Coors plans new Montreal brewery

Molson Coors (TPX.B-T) plans to spend up to $500 million to build a new Montreal brewery instead of modernizing its 231-year-old facility. The brewer’s decision follows a two-year study. The location of the new brewery hasn’t been announced. Molson Coors Canada CEO Fred Landtmeters says building the new brewery will be more efficient than updating the existing operations. 

Windsor Star – CBC – Montreal Gazette

Office vacancy rate hits record low in Toronto

As tech companies pour into downtown, the office vacancy rate has hit an all-time low of under four per cent, continuing Toronto’s run as the tightest office market in North America. “It’s incredible, particularly when you consider that, since 2014, we’ve built about five million square feet of space,” said CBRE Canada executive director Paul Morassutti.

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Kingridge Square JV a first for Fortress

Kingridge Square, which started as a planned high-rise apartment development, has morphed into Fortress Real Developments Inc.’s first foray into the commercial condominium market. Fortress and Kingridge Developments are partners at the site in Oakville, Ont. The 4.95-acre property includes four buildings with unit sizes ranging from approximately 1,000 to 1,600 square feet.

Property Biz Canada

Vancouver’s Western Wealth Capital hot on Sun Belt

While Metro Vancouver is home for Janet LePage, the region doesn’t have the right ingredients for Western Wealth Capital’s (WWC) property investment formula. “Vancouver is a really funny city, in that . . . the economic fundamentals don’t follow traditional (property) investing,” LePage, WWC’s co-founder and CEO, told RENX in an interview.

Property Biz Canada

Industrial real estate finally feeling the love

Bananas are the Holy Grail of online delivery, nearly almost impossible to perfectly ship to someone’s doorstep after being ordered. That’s why everybody in the fast-growing world of logistics, which has created an unprecedented demand for industrial space across North America, is watching how online giant Amazon.com‘s (AMZN-Q) US$13.7-billion purchase of upscale grocer Whole Foods Market (WFM-Q) plays out.  

Financial Post – Reuters

Medical building sector offers ‘great opportunity’

In early 2017, a medical office building on Toronto’s popular Bloor Street West sold for $11.5 million. The four-storey structure has the zoning and redevelopment potential to be torn down and rebuilt as a 14-storey condo building. But to do so would actually drop its value to $8 million. “It doesn’t matter if the economy goes up and down, health care will always be constant,” says Colliers’ Huy Lam.

Globe and Mail

Ex-RBC executive named infrastructure bank chair

The Canada Infrastructure Bank is beginning to take shape, with the federal Liberals naming former Royal Bank chief financial officer Janice Fukakusa as the first chair of the board. Just over two weeks ago, Parliament approved the creation of the new $35-billion institution, which Ottawa wants up and running before the end of the year.

Globe and Mail – Reuters – CBC

Edmonton seeking to reduce downtown office vacancies

Edmonton is looking at taking steps to help reduce an 18 per cent downtown office vacancy rate that might not return to a balanced level until at least 2030. Vacancies have grown for more than two years and could reach 30 per cent by 2020, partly because the towers going up near Rogers Place will create far more space than downtown typically absorbs.

Edmonton Journal – Global News

Google’s AI masterminds move into Edmonton

One of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies is setting up headquarters in Edmonton, signalling a boon for the city’s science and technology sector. DeepMind Ltd, Google’s high-profile AI research firm, announced last week it will open its first lab outside the United Kingdom in the capital region.

CBC – Edmonton Journal – CBC – Globe and Mail

Home Capital creates new executive role to focus on strategy

Home Capital Group (HCG-T) says it has created a new executive role focused on strategic opportunities, as it strives to reverse its fortunes. The Toronto-based alternative lender says Greg Parker will helm the newly established position of executive vice-president of strategy, focusing on identifying and evaluating options to further develop the company’s business and strengthen prospects for long-term growth. 

Financial Post – Financial Post – Canada Newswire

Brampton searching for new vision

Larry Beasley has made his mark on the urban landscapes of Vancouver, Abu Dhabi, Dallas and Moscow. But his next challenge is to usher in one of Canada’s most important suburbs into the future. Beasley’s next stop is Brampton, Ont. Brampton’s chief administrative officer Harry Schlange has tasked Beasley to make the city “future-ready.”

Toronto Star

Sears Canada U.S. shareholders explore deals

Two groups of major U.S. shareholders in Sears Canada (SCC-T) have hired legal counsel to explore possible deals with the struggling retailer as it undergoes a court-supervised restructuring. ESL Partners LP and entities affiliated with its principal shareholder, Edward S. Lampert, announced Monday it is working with Fairholme Capital Management on potential proposals to make to Sears Canada.

Winnipeg Free Press – Financial Post – Financial Post – CBC

Canadian factories keep 250 Lush stores humming

The outside of Lush Handmade Cosmetics’ factory in Toronto is quiet and unadorned. But inside the plant, production of balms, bath bombs and other bathing products is frenetic. Glitter and the sweet cosmetic smell of Lush stores abound.

Globe and Mail

Thirty top cities for global RE investors

And the best city in the world to invest in real estate is . . . Los Angeles. The City of Angels beat out London as the new hot spot for global real estate investors in the third annual Schroders Global Cities 30 Index.  Schroders is a London-based investment bank. Toronto, at No. 18, was the only Canadian city to make the list.

Forbes

Hong Kong office rents at top of the world

Cushman & Wakefield revealed office rents in Greater Central have reached a new record high in Q2 and have the room to rise further in the second half of this year, with the growth supported by continued demand by PRC companies in Hong Kong. More retailers opted for pop-up stores instead of brick-and-mortar expansion amid the uncertain market prospects.

Marketwired

Market Trends and Research

London tower inferno case study in systemic failure

Polyethylene-insulated aluminum panels speculated to be a major factor in the spread of London’s Grenfell Tower inferno could never be deployed under Ontario’s building and fire codes, says RESCON director of building science and innovation Paul De Berardis. According to various media reports, more than 120 buildings were found with combustible cladding and residents are being evacuated during removal. 

Daily Commercial News

Real Estate Companies

FM Global new tenant at SmartREIT’s KPMG Tower

SmartREIT  (SRU.UN-T) and Mitchell Goldhar announced they have signed a 13-year (plus two five-year extensions) lease transaction with FM Global in the KPMG Tower at SmartCentres Place in Vaughan. FM Global is one of the world’s largest commercial and industrial property insurers. The 360,000-square-foot KMPG Tower is connected underground to the new subway station. 

Marketwired – Property Biz Canada – Property Biz Canada

REOC Financial Reports

Latest financial reports:

* Parkit Enterprise Inc. , (PKT-X), Marketwired 

Real Estate Investment Trusts

European Commercial buys Brussels office property

European Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (ERE.UN-X) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire an approximately 169,000-square-foot office property in the central business district of Brussels, Belgium for approximately $60 million Cdn from an arm’s length party. The Brussels property is 100 per cent leased to the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, a government agency with an investment grade credit rating.

Marketwired

The number that signals when you should sell your REITs

Investors are rightly worried about the future returns for income-oriented equity sectors as the Bank of Canada prepares to raise interest rates. For REIT investors, thankfully, there appears to be a magic number that will warn of underperformance. The effects of central-bank policy on government of Canada bond yields will be vital for income investors.  

Globe and Mail (Subscription required) – Financial Post

Which REITs are safest if RE bubble bursts?

RioCan (REI.UN-T), Canada’s largest REIT,  is anchored well to maintain its distribution. With 300 retail properties across Canada, it owns and manages the country’s largest portfolio of shopping centres. Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN-T) also fits well in a conservative investment strategy to protect capital during an economic downturn and continue to earn stable monthly income. 

Motley Fool – Motley Fool – Motley Fool

Retail

The Source giving stores a more modern look

The Source is staging a transformation to turn its stores into electronics playgrounds in an effort to boost sales as the consumer technology industry faces pressure on multiple fronts, including big-box retailers and the ease of online shopping. The company is doing away with walls of boxed products in favour of bright lights, wider aisles and even wood accents.

Financial Post

Abercrombie shares drop after calling off talks to sell

Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF-N) says it’s no longer looking to sell the company and shares are down 11 per cent before the opening bell. Abercrombie said in May it was it in talks with several parties about a potential deal, but Monday said it has ended all such negotiations.

Gobe and Mail

Bay Street fretting over HBC’s Richard Baker

If there were a Hall of Fame for real estate investors, Richard Baker would be a shoo-in. Ironically, Baker’s proven skills in property deals are making investors and lenders very nervous about what the Hudson’s Bay Co. governor may do next. HBC (HBC-T) consistently pops up as a potential suitor for U.S. department stores such as Sears and Macy’s. 

Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Liquor Stores to appoint new president/CEO

Liquor Stores N.A. Ltd. (LIQ-T), North America’s largest publicly traded liquor retailer, announced it intends to appoint Kenneth G. Barbet as president and chief executive officer of the company effective in early August, with Stephen Bebis, current president and CEO, ending his tenure with the company effective immediately. Peter Lynch will act as interim president and CEO.

Marketwired – Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Renovation and Restoration

Toronto’s Broadview Hotel soft opening set for July 27

The Broadview Hotel, a partnership between Streetcar Developments and Dream Unlimited (DRM-T), will officially open its doors on July 27 for a soft opening. Behind the iconic 126-year old façade lie 58 guestrooms, a lively lobby Café + Bar, The Civic a ground floor restaurant opening late summer, a striking Rooftop lounge, and 4,000-plus square feet of event space. 

Canada Newswire

Technology

With autonomy, CRE could go mobile

The coming years could see the next great land rush across the U.S. and many other countries worldwide, but it might not even involve land. Instead, the next trend for savvy investors could be fleets of autonomous vehicles. A previous article posited the idea the retail industry may be about to experience its greatest disruption since the rise of online shopping.

Tech Crunch

Other

	RENX has surpassed 10,000 Twitter followers
	Recent follower Structure Monitoring Technology Ltd., provides building enclosure analysis & monitoring solutions for building restoration, design, construction and more.
	Follow RENXca, the most comprehensive news feed on Twitter for Canadian real estate professionals.