Executive Group turns focus from hotels to multires

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums, Homes  •  Metro Vancouver

Executive Group of Companies began with a hotel almost 40 years ago. Today, the Vancouver company has diversified with hotels, restaurants, warehouses, office, retail, multiresidential — and even a water slide park. Its new focus is in the purpose-built rental space.

Ottawa’s hotel industry still faces ‘big hurdles’: CBRE

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  Calgary Herald

Hotel revenues in Canada’s major cities are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by next year, says CBRE – but that rosy outlook is cold comfort to local industry officials who say Ottawa’s hospitality sector is still lagging other major centres.

Increase Mtl. construction rather than taxes: IDU

Residential, Commercial  •  La Presse

Jean-Marc Fournier, CEO of the Urban Development Institute of Quebec (IDU), says Montreal should encourage new construction in order to generate new property income to balance its budget rather than institute a major increase in taxes to taxpayers.

Developers sought for Port Alberni ex-mill property

Residential, Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

Port Alberni has put a call out for developers interested in transforming its waterfront Somass sawmill site into mixed-use. The city bought the 43-acre property, with five parcels including the mill site, from Western Forest Products for $5.3 million last year.

Guelph approves Starlight’s six-storey mixed-use

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Guelph Today

Guelph city council unanimously approved the rezoning of 111-193 Silvercreek Pkwy. N., where Starlight Group Property Holdings is looking to build a six-storey apartment building with 160 units, along with commercial space on the ground floor.

Bazis proposes 41-storey mixed-use in Deer Park

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Developer Bazis has submitted a proposal for a 41-storey, Rosario Varacalli-designed, mixed-use development at 1366 Yonge St. in Toronto’s Deer Park neighbourhood. The proposed building would provide 489 dwelling units – with 48% containing two or three bedrooms – and 1.076 square feet of retail.

Sponsored by Trez Capital The demand for residential despite interest rate hikes

Trez Capital’s John D. Hutchinson discusses how despite recent interest rate increases, there continues to be tremendous opportunities in key regions across North America for real estate development.

Cancelled Kamloops hotel gets new life as student dorm

Residential  •  Western Investor

A hotel planned for Northwestern B.C. is finding new life as student housing at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops after a contract to supply hotel units was cancelled and NRB Modular Solutions was looking for a home for the modules.

ProEV president talks about new facility, EV adoption

Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

Promark Electronics Inc. (ProEV) has begun production at its new 60,000-square-foot manufacturing and engineering site in Montreal, where it builds high-voltage harnesses, chargers and other components for medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles.

Empire CEO slams accusations of ‘greedflation’

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

Empire Company Ltd. (EMP-A-T) CEO Michael Medline expressed frustration Thursday over accusations of “greedflation” in the industry, referring to claims that grocers are profiting off inflation as “reckless and incendiary attacks” that ignore factors driving improvements in the bottom line.

The Industrial Real Estate Show › Podcast: Break into industrial real estate investing

Chad Griffiths: Partner, NAI Commercial

Real estate podcasts

Residential, Commercial  • 

Amy Carroll, Trademark Properties: Is commercial real estate a dinosaur?, Tenant Experience Network
Steven Paynter, Gensler: Office buildings having an existential crisis, Down to Business
Wayne Hand, BCIT School of Construction: Mass timber building, The Construction Record

GIC, Oak Street to acquire STORE Capital for $14B

Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  Commercial Observer  •  Commercial Property Executive

GIC and Oak Street have a definitive agreement to acquire Scottsdale, Ariz.-based STORE Capital (STOR-N) – an internally managed net-lease REIT that invests in single-tenant operational real estate – in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $14 billion.

Manulife US REIT inks lease agreement with Flex

Commercial  •  REITSWEEK

Manulife US REIT has signed a management and licensing agreement for Flex by JLL to take up 15,407 square feet of office space at 500 Plaza Drive in Secaucus, N.J. The space represents 3.3% of the building’s net lettable area (NLA).

Hong Kong office vacancy rate doubles

Commercial  •  Business Times

THE amount of vacant top-tier office space has more than doubled in Hong Kong over the last three years as companies downsize operations, according to CBRE. Empty Grade A office space spiked from 4.2 million sq ft to 9.6 million sq ft.

Charles III’s highs and lows in the real estate world

Residential, Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

King Charles III’s forays into real estate have been something of a roller-coaster ride. He has been criticized for views about architecture that saw a major museum project altered and changed the design of one of London’s largest residential schemes.

Housing affordability the worst it’s been in 32 years

Residential  •  Globe and Mail  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

House prices across Canada may be tumbling, but affordability hasn’t been this bad since the final months of 1990, according to the Bank of Canada’s housing affordability index, a measure of the share of disposable income gobbled up by housing-related expenses.

Housing starts fall three per cent in August: CMHC

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire

Canadian housing starts fell three per cent month-over-month in August – from 275,158 to 267,443 units – as a decline in multi-unit urban starts offset a slight increase in single-detached, data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) showed on Friday.

Housing market can drop 30%: Mortgage executive

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Alex Haditaghi, founder of Radius Financial, warns that the Canadian real estate market will experience a significant correction of up to 30%, risking $1.7 trillion worth of equity, unless the Canadian government reacts immediately and responds with urgent policy changes.

Burnaby third-most expensive city to rent: Rentals.ca

Residential  •  Burnaby Now

According to Rentals.ca’s September report, averages for Burnaby one and two-bedroom rentals averaged more than $2,000 per month in August — $2,146 and $2,553, respectively. Burnaby sits as the third-most expensive city to rent in behind Vancouver and Toronto.