Dealing with April apartment rents during a pandemic

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  National

April rents are coming due, and there are concerns from tenants and landlords about non-payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “These are scary times, but you don’t have to be scared . . .” SVN Rock CEO Derek Lobo told over 2,000 webinar viewers.

Sale of 6 seniors residences nixed due to pandemic

RENX  Residential  •  Seniors Housing  •  Ontario, Saskatchewan

An agreement to sell six Canadian retirement residences to a Singapore-based company has been scuttled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Singapore Press Holdings Limited will not proceed with the $233-million purchase of the residences in Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Property shares a haven no more in Canada

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Real estate is the second worst-performing group in the S&P/TSX Composite Index since the market peak of Feb. 20, dropping 43 per cent. Only energy stocks have been bigger losers.

Melcor to reduce staff, salaries and dividends

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Industrial, Homes  •  International, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan

Melcor Developments (MRD-T) and Melcor REIT (MR-UN-T) are reducing investor payouts, executive and staff salaries and laying off about 25 per cent of their employees in response to the “unprecedented economic challenges” presented by COVID-19 and a drop in oil prices.

Sienna Living CEO empowering frontline workers

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Lois Cormack, then 15 years old, pedalled her bicycle down a dirt road from her family’s farm near Cannington, Ont., to begin her first job at a local retirement home. That day would launch a lifelong career in senior care.

RBC sued by N.Y. REIT over margin calls

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Royal Bank of Canada is using the coronavirus pandemic to seize a large portfolio of assets at rock-bottom prices, a subsidiary of New York REIT AG Mortgage Investment Trust claims in a suit filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan.

The Legal Corner › COVID-19: Practical lease considerations, what you need to know

Darrell Gold: Partner, Robins Appleby LLP

Retail tenants seek rent relief

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Toronto Star  •  Edmonton Journal

With malls closing and shops deserted because of provincial shutdowns, retail tenants are scrambling for relief from their landlords. Some say they will refuse to pay the rent and others are asking for a waiver or a deferral.

Shippers face an upended market amid pandemic

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star

Shippers are in uncharted territory as the COVID-19 pandemic upends delivery patterns, with surging consumer demand mitigating a drop in corporate orders amid border closures and travel controls.

Grocery deliveries delayed as demand surges

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  La Presse

Grocers and third-party services are seeing an influx in demand for delivery, resulting in longer-than-normal wait times as health and government authorities urge people to practice social distancing amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

B.C. construction should brace for shutdown: Reliance

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver  •  Western Investor

B.C.’s private construction industry should brace for a complete shutdown, following the lead of Quebec, which closed all non-essential construction sites at midnight March 24. “It is the inevitable next step,” said Reliance Properties president/CEO Jon Stovell.

REIT COVID-19 business updates

Commercial  • 

Boardwalk REIT, (BEI-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Killam Apartment REIT, (KMP-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Body temperature camera to help protect facilities

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Platinum CCTV recently announced the development of a unique body temperature sensing security camera designed to help protect against pathogenic community spread by rapidly pre-screening individuals before they enter a facility.

NexPoint’s Hospitality Trust acquisition fails to close

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Canada Newswire

NexPoint Hospitality Trust‘s (NHT-U-X) previously announced acquisition of Condor Hospitality Trust for a total consideration of US$318M did not close on March 23. The parties remain in discussions regarding closing terms.

$2T U.S. stimulus package has limited upside for real estate

Residential  •  The Real Deal  •  The Guardian

The largest stimulus package in U.S. history contained few clear wins for the real estate industry, or even for renters, who are set to receive $1,200 cheques, experts such as Craig L. Price, a transactional attorney with Belkin Burden Goldman, said.

$815M Manhattan office tower deal collapses

Commercial  •  MarketWatch

Real-estate giant SL Green Realty Corp.’s agreement to sell the former New York Daily News headquarters for $815 million has collapsed after New York property investor Jacob Chetrit’s financing pulled out, according to sources.

Some Toronto condos to ban Airbnbs amid crisis

Residential  •  Toronto Star

After years of struggling or failing to stop their buildings from being used as de facto hotels for short-term rental operators, some Toronto condos are finally banning Airbnbs because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

CMHC expands insured mortgage purchase program

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  Winnipeg Free Press

As a result of additional authorities granted by the Minister of Finance, the Government of Canada stands ready to purchase up to $150 billion of insured mortgage pools through CMHC, an increase of $100 billion from the $50 billion announced on March 16.

Mortgage rates on the rise again

Residential  •  Financial Post

Canadian mortgage rates are increasing again, as economic and profitability concerns associated with the coronavirus crisis and lower oil prices outweigh aggressive monetary stimulus from the Bank of Canada.

B.C. offers $500 a month for renters

Residential  •  Global News  •  CTV  •  CBC

The B.C. government is offering renters up to $500 a month for the next three months to ensure British Columbians affected by the novel coronavirus crisis can keep paying for their home.