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Oxford’s Blake Hutcheson named OMERS president, CIO
Oxford’s Blake Hutcheson named OMERS president, CIO
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is shaking up its management structure in a move that puts Blake Hutcheson into the new role of president and chief pensions officer. Hutcheson, who has been chief executive of the pension plan’s real estate company Oxford Properties Group, will now take on an expanded operational role at the fund.
Globe and Mail (Subscription required)
Crown, Crestpoint acquire Toronto Dundas-Edward Centre
Crown Realty Partners and Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd. have acquired an entire city block with their $167-million purchase of the Toronto Dundas-Edward Centre from NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (NWHP REIT) (NWH-UN-T).
Fundamentals solid, expect CRE bull run to continue: CBRE
Nine years into a bull run for the Canadian commercial real estate industry, underlying fundamentals remain so strong the end of the market cycle still doesn’t appear to be in sight. That’s the sentiment expressed in CBRE Canada’s new “Canada Market Outlook 2018” report and reiterated by executive vice-president and executive managing director Paul Morassutti during the company’s annual Canadian CRE outlook presentation.
Property Biz Canada – Edmonton Journal – Global News
RioCan Living launches as REIT’s residential developer
RioCan REIT (REI.UN) has taken the next step in its program to redevelop dozens of its retail properties across Canada, announcing Monday its new residential brand, RioCan Living. RioCan Living will drive the trust’s efforts to turn selected existing retail shopping centres into mixed-use communities.
Kevric breaks ground on Toronto’s 99 Atlantic
A Feb. 28 groundbreaking ceremony marked the launch of Toronto’s 99 Atlantic, the second part of a Kevric Real Estate Corporation project that began with the redevelopment of the now fully leased 40 Hanna. “On this land we’re beginning the construction of a new 145,000-square-foot office building that also includes retail,” Kevric president Richard Hylands said at the groundbreaking.
Cinespace to transform PortsToronto marine terminal
Toronto Mayor John Tory and Cinespace Film Studios announced the signing of a multi-year lease with PortsToronto to occupy and develop Marine Terminal 51 and the Cruise Ship Terminal into film and TV production facilities. Marine Terminal 51 will become a new hub for Cinespace’s downtown productions, relocating studio capacity from their former Eastern Avenue site.
Airdrie’s development land poised to fuel Calgary’s growth
The City of Airdrie, just six kilometres north of Calgary’s city limits, is poised to reap the benefits of a growing demand for residential and industrial land in the region. Indeed, Airdrie is perfectly positioned to build on the booming growth experienced by its southern neighbour, the Balzac area of Rocky View County, which sits between Airdrie and Calgary’s northern city boundary
NAI Terramont announces merger, expansion of CRE services
NAI Commercial Montreal and Terramont Real Estate Services Inc., two of Montreal’s top commercial real estate firms, have joined forces and are now operating as NAI Terramont Commercial. With the merger, the official NAI Global office in Montreal enters the top five firms serving the office, industrial, retail, tenant and investor market in Canada’s second biggest city, announced president Paul-Eric Poitras.
Grocery stores stealing restaurant’s best ideas
Low-margin grocery industry is out to eat the restaurant industry’s lunch — and dinner. So-called ‘grocerants’ — grocery stores with sit-down dining areas and a lineup of ready-to-eat or take-out meals — are becoming more ubiquitous as large retailers such as Loblaw Cos. follow in the footsteps of boutique supermarkets such as Whole Foods, Longo’s and Ottawa-based Farm Boy.
Winners, HomeSense continue to defy Amazon
TJX Companies Inc. (TJX-N), owner of Winners and HomeSense, continues to defy the Amazon (AMZN-Q) odds — it doesn’t sell its goods online or reveal its current lineup of goods on a website, but its performance is consistently strong. The off-price retailer’s shares jumped seven per cent Wednesday after it posted another strong year of sales growth in Canada, up five per cent in the period ended Feb. 3.
Amazon’s ‘HQ2’ decision-makers are watching us
Amazon officials are quietly visiting HQ2 candidate cities including Toronto, sizing up their headquarters hosting potential. Mayor John Tory recently told reporters that Amazon’s research on the only Canadian contender in the 20-city battle is limited to a “very, very narrow circle of people” mostly at the Toronto Global inter-governmental agency co-ordinating the regional bid.
Brookfield raises $653M for U.S. multi-family fund
Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) has raised $653 million for its latest U.S. multi-family fund, managed jointly with its U.S. housing platform Fairfield Residential Company, according to one of its investors. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation is committing $75 million to Brookfield Fairfield US Multifamily Value Add Fund III, it was revealed in a board meeting report.
CPPIB takes stake in Washington, D.C. office development
JBG Smith and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board have formed a joint venture for 1900 N St. N.W., with CPPIB paying approximately $101 million for a 45 per cent interest in the 271,000-square-foot office building under construction in Washington, D.C. The investment values the office asset at approximately $225 million.
Prologis sees opportunity in global logisitics market disruption
The CEO of Prologis Inc. says even the company known as “Amazon’s landlord” has plenty of disrupters to deal with in an ever-shifting demand climate for commercial real estate. But Hamid Moghadam, along with other panelists at a recent conference in San Diego, pointed to multiple growth opportunities for investors and developers willing to make the necessary adjustments.
Industrial properties going to pot
Marijuana growers are pushing up the price of industrial properties in some areas as more states legalize cannabis consumption for recreational and medical use. Rents on warehouses used by marijuana farmers also are higher than average warehouse leases in the same area.
Market Trends and Research
Winnipeg demand for CRE space creates challenge
From True North Square to the city’s southwest quadrant and the industrial real estate market, 2018 will prove to be an exciting year for Winnipeg. That comes from the annual Canadian market outlook report produced by CBRE Group — the largest real estate investment firm in the world.
Winnipeg Free Press – Subscription required
Kanata office vacancy rate to hit 10-year low: CBRE
A new report by CBRE is forecasting the office vacancy rate in Kanata will dip into the single digits for the first time since the financial crisis of 2008. The report painted a largely positive picture for the nation’s capital, which the brokerage firm said is experiencing a significant increase in “city-building projects”.
CRE executives discuss softening Canadian CRE market
Sandy McIntyre, executive vice-chairman of Sentry Investments, a wealth management firm with assets under management of $185.9 billion, pulled out a hockey analogy this week at a Toronto real estate conference to describe the state of the commercial property market. McIntyre said he’s watching the yield curve very closely to figure out what type of “players” to put out in a real estate market many believe has peaked in Canada.
REOC Financial Reports
Parkit Enterprise releases 2017 annual results
Real Estate Investment Trusts
How is Dream Office’s rebuild going?
Dream Office REIT (D-UN-T) has been in a major rebuild since the beginning of 2017. The rebuild has been necessary because the company was suffering from an over-investment in oil-rich parts of the country, which suffered when oil prices tanked. Prior to deciding to rebuild, 53% of Dream Office’s IFRS value was in Toronto, with other cities holding the rest.
Drimmer acquires True North Commercial units
Daniel Drimmer announced Thursday D.D. Acquisitions Partnership has acquired beneficial ownership of 78,500 trust units of True North Commercial REIT (TNT-UN-T) pursuant to a public offering of 6,325,000 units at a price of $6.37 per unit for gross proceeds of $40,290,250. The acquiror is an Ontario general partnership, the principal business of which is to make investments with its Toronto head office controlled by Drimmer.
PIRET urges unitholders to approve Blackstone acquisition
Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust (AAR-UN-T) Wednesday announced it has mailed the management information circular and related materials for the special March 23 meeting of the unitholders to approve the plan of arrangement pursuant to which an affiliate of Blackstone Property Partners, the Core+ real estate investment unit, will acquire all of the issued and outstanding trust units for $8.10 per unit in cash.
Canada Newswire – Property Biz Canada
Should you buy into Boardwalk’s empire?
Boardwalk REIT (BEI-UN-T), which slashed its monthly payout just three months ago, believes it is now making a comeback. Many investors are on board with its new-found optimism, but it’s hard to see much upside in this turnaround story. The REIT’s challenges are clear: Boardwalk owns and manages residential rental properties primarily in oil-sensitive Western Canada, where occupancy levels have fallen sharply.
Globe and Mail (Subscription required)
Retail
HBC’s Dutch stores too pricey for many consumers
Hudson’s Bay stores in the Netherlands have high brand awareness, but aren’t performing as well as they could be, according to a Dutch retail report. “People are open to it, they have a positive attitude towards it, but people who shop there don’t become passionate about the brand,” said Sewdath Ritoe, chief executive officer of Retail Intelligence Lab, based in Amsterdam.
New Development
Smiths Falls residents aim to polish up downtown core
When Smiths Falls, Ont., suffered a downturn after losing a number of significant employers, it had a trickle down effect on local businesses. Now, with cannabis company Canopy Growth creating hundreds of new jobs and more people moving to the community, some people say it’s time to make the downtown core what it once was — and perhaps, even more.
Canadian Tire eyes new Dundas location at University Plaza
Canadian Tire wants to convert the existing University Plaza Metro grocery store into its new Dundas retail location. The iconic national company applied to the city for site plan approval to permit the conversion on Feb. 7, noting it does not own the property at 119 Osler Dr. but has permission of the owner, RioCan.
Scaled-down addition plans unveiled for Chateau Laurier
Larco Investments has unveiled a new and substantially scaled-down design concept for its planned glass and steel addition to Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier after learning just how much the city and the rest of Canada care about the nation’s iconic heritage structure. Larco, the property owner and project manager for its client Fairmont Chateau Laurier, is seeking approval for an eight-storey building with 171 suites, meeting rooms and an interior courtyard.
New anchor, $2M upgrade scheduled for Victoria mall
The Bay Centre is starting a $2-million upgrading to spruce up the downtown shopping centre, but is not naming its new anchor tenant yet. The anchor will be taking up 20,000 square feet in a two-level space at the corner of Douglas and View streets, Darlene Hollstein, the Bay Centre’s general manager, said.
Sports Venues
Infrastructure Bank could help fund Calgary arena
The new national infrastructure bank might be a way to finance a new arena in Calgary. Former Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier made that tantalizing possibility public, saying it’s conceivable the new arena might be considered eligible for support from the new $35-billion infrastructure bank. Bronconnier is one of 10 board members of the bank, which will be used to leverage private funding.
Resorts
Ski resort driving Valemount’s economic overhaul
Interest in the small B.C. town of Valemount has been fluctuating for the last six years, but with the approved Valemount Glacier Destinations Ltd. ski resort set for a 2020 opening and property assessments rising, locals are bracing for an influx of residents. According to the latest BC Assessment numbers, residential property value rose by nearly 30 per cent in Valemount between 2016 and 2017, the largest increase in many years.
Infrastructure
CN Rail CEO resigns as board seeks to ‘energize’ company
Canadian National Railway Co. announced the abrupt departure of Chief executive officer Luc Jobin, less than two years after he took over, as the longtime standard for railroad efficiency struggled to keep pace with a surge in demand. Chief Marketing Officer Jean-Jacques Ruest, a 22-year veteran of the company, was appointed interim CEO effective immediately.
International
How Trump’s Hudson Tunnel snit threatens the U.S. economy
Economic risks keeping Americans up at night include the hastily rewritten tax code and the possibility of a global trade war set off by U.S. tariffs. Consider another cause for insomnia: President Donald Trump’s opposition to a new rail tunnel linking New York and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.
Technology
StayVancouverHotels.com aims to open doors
With Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG-Q) and Expedia Inc. (EXPE-Q) dominating the online travel-agency business, the launch of any new hotel-booking site is a bold move. So StayVancouverHotels.com likely raised eyebrows when the Vancouver Hotel Destination Association (VHDA) launched the site in January with an aim of marketing downtown Vancouver hotel rooms.
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