LAUFT offers new twist for on-demand, flexible workspace

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Ontario, Toronto / GTA

Graham Wong ran an advertising agency before moving into consulting, and often had time between client meetings but no place to work. That led him to found LAUFT, opening its first location at Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket in December 2018.

Van. approves Pinnacle’s 55-storey mixed-use tower

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Daily Hive

Vancouver’s skyline will get a new twist, after council approved Pinnacle International’s 55-storey tower that features a distinctive curving design. The development will include commercial space at ground level, with 152 units of social housing and 303 market condos above.

Algonquins, Taggart propose massive Ottawa suburb

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

The Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart Investments are pursuing the creation of a new suburb near Ottawa’s eastern border, but they need to convince city planners and politicians to include the massive tract of land inside an expanded urban boundary.

Quebec firm proposes three Ottawa mixed-use towers

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Vacant land near Ottawa’s future Trim Road LRT station could become the site of three mixed-use towers soaring more than 30 storeys under a Quebec-based number company’s proposal. The development would include about 524 residential units and 6,000 square feet of commercial space.

Calgary’s downtown office vacancy rate 28.7%: CBRE

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Edmonton Journal

According to CBRE, downtown office vacancy rose from 27 per cent in Q2 to 28.7 per cent in Q3, a record high. “We are just finishing off our sixth year of high vacancy rates in Calgary,” CBRE executive Greg Kwong said.

Ontario restaurants, bars face soaring insurance costs

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  CityNews

Ontario restaurants and bars are facing soaring insurance costs and possible closings as Canadian insurers begin to hike premiums and cancel policies. Toronto Mayor John Tory urged insurance companies to stop “gouging” restaurants, bars and music venues.

Costco’s second Canadian Business Centre opens

Commercial  •  Canadian Grocer

Costco has opened its second Canadian Business Centre in Saint-Hubert, Que. Costco’s newest Business Centre is 132,000 square feet and offers more than 3,200 items targeted at offices, restaurants, convenience stores and grocery stores including bulk food items and commercial kitchen ware.

Podcasts from the real estate world

Commercial  • 

Redefining smart buildings post-COVID with Casey Witkowicz (RYCOM), REALtalk: Episode 11

$65 billion in AUM with Ivanhoé Cambridge CEO Nathalie Palladitcheff, CRE Library: Episode 39

Transforming apartments with Kevin Green of Greenwin, Canadian Real Estate Forums

Jonathan Hughes appointed COO at NORR

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Brian Gerstmar, president and chief executive officer of NORR, today announced the appointment of Jonathan Hughes, OAA, AAPEL, LEED AP, as chief operating officer of the global architecture and engineering firm.

Ottawa OKs fee cuts for property rezoning

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

A city committee has OK’d changes that would make it easier and less expensive to have business properties rezoned. Under the new rules, a number of requests that had been defined as “major” would now be classified as “minor.”

Goldhar invests over $3M in SmartCentres REIT

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Between Sept. 22-25, executive chair of the board Mitchell Goldhar acquired a total of 153,300 units SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T). Meanwhile, David Court invested roughly $100,000 in units of CT REIT (CRT-UN-T). Court sits on Canadian Tire Corporation’s board of directors (CTC-A-T).

Nearly 20,000 Amazon employees test positive

Commercial  •  CBC

Amazon said Thursday nearly 20,000 of its workers have tested positive or been presumed positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the online retail behemoth said that the infection rate was well below that seen in the general U.S. population.

Walmart sells British chain Asda for $8.8B

Commercial  •  Reuters

The British billionaire Issa brothers and private equity group TDR Capital have agreed to buy the British supermarket chain Asda from Walmart (WMT-N) for an enterprise value of $8.8 billion and plan to roll out more smaller stores.

CPP Investments commits $300M to BPEA, Virtusa

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

CPP Investments has made an equity commitment of US$300 million alongside Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) in respect of the proposed acquisition of Virtusa Corporation (Virtusa), a global provider of digital strategy. CPP Investments will hold approximately 24% in the business.

WeWork launches new business platform

Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

WeWork is betting its future on business services and software. The office real estate company launched its platform Business Solutions in partnership with VensureHR Thursday, aiming to provide resources including payroll assistance to the more than 612,000 members WeWork has globally.

How real estate professionals pay ‘zero tax’

Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

“It’s not uncommon for real estate professionals to pay zero tax if they have highly leveraged investments,” CPA E. Martin Davidoff told Yahoo Finance. In certain circles, “ZT,” or zero tax is a goal for filers, he said.

Not everyone deserves to own a home: Siddall

Residential  •  Financial Post

“There must be a limit to the demand we help to create,” CMHC CEO Evan Siddall wrote in prepared testimony to the House of Commons finance committee recently. “Home ownership is like blood pressure. You can have too much of it.”

Van. families choosing ‘agrihoods’ to lay down roots

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Farmer John Boks just harvested crookneck squash, honey select corn and carrots that were planted by one of the residents at the emerging community of Creekside Mills, an “agrihood” in Cultus Lake, about 100 kilometres from Vancouver in B.C.’s Fraser Valley.

TRREB backs Ontario’s approval of personal corporations

Residential  •  Globe Newswire  •  Government of Ontario News  •  Toronto Storeys

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) is applauding the provincial government’s announcement that those who trade in real estate in Ontario can now structure their businesses as Personal Real Estate Corporations (PRECs).

T.O. apartment prices rise 78% in 5 years

Residential  •  Daily Hive

According to a recent report by Zoocasa, using data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), Toronto saw a 78% increase in apartment prices, with the average price now $592,900. In Fraser Valley, B.C., the prices increased by a staggering 104% to $437,300.