Montoni buys 6M sq. ft. of Bromont Science Park land

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Land, Technology

Montoni Group will pay $18 million to acquire six million square feet of industrial land in the Bromont Science Park in the Eastern Townships city of Bromont, about 80 kms east of Montreal.

Morguard proposes six towers at SkyTrain station

Residential  •  Daily Hive

Mississauga-based developer Morguard Corporation has submitted a development application to the City of Coquitlam to redevelop 552 Clarke Rd. — the eight-acre strip mall immediately east of the SkyTrain station — into six towers with heights ranging from 29 storeys to 53 storeys.

Vancouver rental building developments get a facelift

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

As a changing landscape and government incentives propel a surge in rental-housing developments, Vancouver-based developers including Rize Alliance are determined to give them a makeover. “We want to shift the perception of what rental housing can be,” says Steven Cox.

PROREIT buys Halifax, Moncton, Winnipeg industrial

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial

PROREIT (PRV-UN-T)  is continuing the frenetic expansion of its industrial portfolio during 2021 with the pending acquisition of 16 additional properties for a total of $163.2 million. Fifteen of the properties are in Atlantic Canada and the other is in Winnipeg.

Housing market at high degree of vulnerability: CMHC

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire  •  Global News

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the country’s housing sector has moved from a moderate to high degree of vulnerability due to price acceleration and overvaluations across the country.

Robots are replacing humans in warehouses

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Workers have long feared robots would take their jobs, but the tables have turned as logistics and delivery companies automate their businesses to tackle labour shortages.

Sponsored by Trez Capital Trez Capital expands equity investments and partnerships program

Trez Capital is one of Canada’s largest non-bank lenders supporting borrowers with custom real estate financings and investors with reliable income. Founded in 1997, with the vision to help build a successful future for developers and investors alike. Through strategic

Cannabis companies face more facility closures

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  RENX

Job losses and facility closings will persist in the Canadian cannabis industry for the next few quarters as long as companies struggle to cultivate and retain their customer base, industry analysts believe.

B.C. industrial investment shatters records: AY

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

Avison Young reported investment in industrial land in B.C. during the first half of 2021 “blew past all previous industrial investment records and was responsible for an astonishing 40 per cent of total dollar volume in the province” with 73 deals worth $1.1 billion.

Winnipeg’s office vacancies don’t tell whole story: CBRE

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The downtown office vacancy rate in Winnipeg reached 14.6 per cent in Q3 2021, a new high approaching the national 15.5 per cent average. “The big drop comes from a reduction of 120,000 square-feet by a national insurance company,” says CBRE vice-president Paul Kornelsen.

Tower retrofits looming large, conference delegates told

Residential  •  Construct Connect

The residential tower retrofit sector is no longer an industry on the horizon, merely anticipated or hoped for, delegates attending the recent two-day Passive House Canada Tower Retrofit Symposium 2021 were told. It’s here already and it’s picking up stream.

Calgary’s Green Line spending approaches $675 million

Commercial  •  CBC

Spending on Calgary’s Green Line is approaching $675 million as preparation for the project continues. The Green Line board heard an update on the project Friday. The $5.5 billion light rail transit line is set to be the most expensive infrastructure investment in the city’s history.

Blackstone to sell Cosmopolitan in L.V. for $5.65B

Commercial  •  Wall Street Journal  •  Bloomberg  •  Business Wire

Blackstone Inc. (BX-N) has reached an agreement to sell the Cosmopolitan casino and hotel on the Las Vegas Strip for $5.65 billion, the company said Monday, telling  investors the sale is the company’s most profitable of a single asset ever.

Brookfield Properties opens eight-acre Manhattan West

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Brookfield Properties announced the opening of Manhattan West, New York City’s newest dynamic mixed-use destination spanning eight acres of premier dining, hospitality, entertainment, luxury residences, modern office space and experiential retail.

Fund managers committed to investing in China

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

To their credit, every Canadian institution with significant investments in China appears to have avoided the car crash that is real estate developer Evergrande Group. That’s reassuring, but at the same time, it’s faint praise.

RBC’s BlueBay buyer of Evergrande debt: Morningstar

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Royal Bank of Canada’s BlueBay Asset Management has joined BlackRock in accumulating credit exposure to ailing developer China Evergrande in recent months, according to Morningstar, while HSBC and TCW funds have closed positions.

Ivanhoé anxious to redevelop Mtl. res building

Residential  •  La Presse

Two years after being announced in 2019, Ivanhoé Cambridge is waiting to transform a former street yard into an energy-efficient multi-purpose building at 987 rue de la Commune, on the southwestern edge of Old -Montreal. Demain Montréal will consist of 250 housing units.

Projet Montréal wants to put big landlords in line

Residential  •  LaPresse  •  CBC

A future Plante administration would make owners of Montreal buildings with eight or more units accountable for the rents they charge, the condition of their building and any planned work planned. The regulation would require certification every five years.

Windsor neighbourhood most expensive for home insurance

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

A new report from RATESDOTCA found Ontarians residing in suburban neighbourhoods such as Lasalle in Windsor, are paying more than double the home insurance premium in comparison to affluent GTA neighbourhoods such as Woodbridge.

GTA new house prices, condo sales set records

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe Newswire

Newly constructed single-family homes in the GTA hit a new benchmark high price of $1.52 million last month — 30 per cent more than a year earlier — as supply hit near historic lows in the Toronto region, according to BILD.