Opportunities and challenges for smaller cap REITs: Part II

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Industrial, Investment, Retail  •  National

Access to capital and liquidity are key considerations for REITs of all sizes, but perhaps moreso for smaller trusts. The issue was one of several discussed by a panel of smaller cap REIT CEOs and analysts during RealREIT in September.

Google’s next downtown Toronto tower rising

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  Toronto Storeys  •  RENX

Just east of the financial core in downtown Toronto, Carttera Private Equities is bringing a new 18-storey office tower to 65 King E. The IBI Group- and WZMH Architects-designed tower will provide 400,000 square feet of new office space for Google.

Feds, Quebec invest nearly $3.7B in affordable housing

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

The governments of Canada and Quebec today formalized the Canada-Quebec Housing Agreement that will result in a combined investment of close to $3.7 billion over 10 years to improve the housing conditions of many Quebec households in need.

QuadReal acquires 50% of $4B CA Ventures student housing

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  International

QuadReal Property Group will expand its partnership to acquire a 50% interest in CA Ventures’ US$4-billion student living platform. Chicago-based CA Ventures owns and operates 60 student housing properties, comprising more than 35,000 beds, in college communities across the United States.

Founders Advantage to buy Dominion Lending Centres

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Founders Advantage Capital Corp. (FCF-X) announced it has entered into an acquisition agreement with KayMaur Holdings and certain minority holders to acquire all of the limited partnership units of Dominion Lending Centres Limited Partnership it does not otherwise own.

Businesses will be able to apply for rent relief

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post

Canada’s new rent-relief program for small businesses is expected to allow entrepreneurs to apply for aid, rather than their landlords, sources said, while Toronto Mayor John Tory said governments intend to make the program retroactive to Oct. 1.

Sponsored by Janterra Real Estate Advisors Inc. Canadian multi-res market survives Covid round-1: Where is the pandemic panic and what is next?

Heading into 2020, asset viability and investor confidence within the multi-res market was riding high. Six months in how has this market been impacted by the global pandemic? Not as expected, so where is this market heading?

QuadReal simplifies purchasing with Yardi Marketplace

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Soon after Yardi Marketplace became available in Canada, QuadReal Property Group became the first client in the country to adopt the end-to-end solution for purchasing maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies.

Winnipeg’s office, industrial doing well: CBRE

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  London Free Press

Predicting how Winnipeg’s office and industrial sectors would respond to COVID-19 was no simple task. In April, CBRE vice-president and managing director Ryan Behie likened the situation to trudging down a football field. “We’re on the one-yard line,” he said.

Winnipeg site for 113K-sq.-ft Amazon delivery centre

Commercial  •  CTV  •  Global News  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The provincial government and Amazon have announced a new delivery station is coming to Manitoba. Amazon plans to open the 113,000-square-foot warehouse station in Winnipeg’s Inkster Industrial Park, just northeast of the airport. The site is set to open in 2021.

Bonnis proposes office tower atop heritage building

Commercial  •  urbanYVR  •  RENX

Bonnis Properties has proposed a 24-storey office tower atop a heritage building on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. The Leckie Block, which dates back to 1899, would see an additional 125,000 square feet of new office space and would retain ground-floor retail.

Cineplex stock plunges to record low

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Cineplex Inc. (CGX-T) plunged as much as 29 per cent to a record low on Monday, following the decline of cinema stocks after Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer delayed the release of James Bond movie ‘No Time to Die’ until April due to the pandemic.

PIMCO assumes oversight of Allianz Real Estate

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

PIMCO announced it has assumed the leadership and oversight of Allianz Real Estate – a leading global commercial real estate investment business. This partnership, among the world’s largest and most diversified CRE platforms, will manage more than $100 billion in assets.

Blackstone sweetens deal for $1.22B in Spanish assets

Commercial  •  Reuters

Blackstone, attempting to sell $1.22 billion in Spanish properties, said it would reimburse buyers up to one/10th of the sale price if their property dropped more than a 10th in value in the three months after a deal is sealed.

Microsoft plans $1B data centre venture in Greece

Commercial  •  CP 24  •  Data Center Knowledge

Microsoft has announced plans to build three data centres in greater Athens, providing a badly needed investment of up to $1 billion to the Greek economy which has been hammered by the pandemic.

IKEA eyes return to growth in 2020-’21

Commercial  •  Reuters

Retail sales at IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture group, shrank four per cent in the year to the end of August as demand recovered quickly from a slump caused by COVID-19, brand owner and franchisor Inter IKEA said on Tuesday.

Mondev to freeze rent prices for the coming year

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Following the announcement by the City of Montreal not to increase taxes for the year 2021, real estate developer Mondev announced it will not increase the price of rents of all its residential tenants for the next year.

The hottest Montreal-area neighbourhoods

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette  •  Canada Newswire

If Montreal’s real estate market was on fire before, the pandemic has only fanned the flames. Yet in a reversal of the sales trends we saw last year, the hottest activity is now at the perimeter of the city.

Van. Chinese agents feel brunt of foreign buyers tax

Residential  •  Burnaby Now

The foreign buyers tax has negatively impacted ethnic Chinese real estate agents in Burnaby and other parts of Metro Vancouver in terms of percentage of property sales and overall dollar value, according to a recent study by Roomvu.

Invidiata joins eXp Realty’s global network

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

eXp Realty, one of the fastest-growing, global residential real estate companies, announced TGTA-based Christopher Invidiata and his team are joining as a broker partner. Invidiata and its 21 agents will join the 35,000 real estate agents in the global eXp Realty network.