Lennard compiles 9 Toronto properties, sells to Revera

RENX  Commercial  •  Seniors Housing, Land  •  Toronto / GTA

Compiling nine neighbouring Toronto properties to sell to seniors housing provider Revera took Lennard Commercial Realty six months of legwork, but it’s indicative of a rising trend in some of Canada’s largest urban centres.

Nexus REIT adds tenants, to expand Richmond property

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Metro Vancouver

Nexus REIT (NXR-UN-X) has signed two new tenants at substantially increased rents, and plans to renovate and expand its Richmond, B.C., property. 1771 and 1751 Savage Rd. had been occupied by several tenants in a sports mall, and an industrial tenant.

Commercial rent delays could turn into abatements

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Owners of commercial real estate in Canada are delaying rent collection and may be forced to consider rent cuts as tenants ranging from restaurants to retail stores deal with prolonged business shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Major residential landlords signal flexibility

Residential  •  CBC

Some of Canada’s biggest residential landlords – including Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAR-UN-T), Northview Apartment REIT (NVU-UN-T) and Boardwalk REIT (BEI-UN-T) – say they’re committed to working with tenants who have lost jobs because of COVID-19.

B of C expected to buy $200B of debt

Commercial  •  Reuters

The Bank of Canada is likely to buy about $200 billion of government debt after announcing its first quantitative easing program, which would nearly triple the amount of assets on the central bank’s balance sheet, bond strategists estimate.

Caisse sets aside $4B to finance Quebec businesses

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec says it’s ready to pump up to $4 billion into Quebec businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Caisse will offer loans, lines of credit, and buying preferred and common equity.

Most Quebec stores to close on Sundays

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  La Presse

With a sudden upswing in positive COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, Premier François Legault has announced nearly all stores — including grocery stores — will close on Sundays for the month of April, to give workers under intense pressure a break.

Thermal well helps keep The Well warm, cool

Commercial, Real Estate  •  Daily Commercial News

A 50-foot wide hole excavated 150 feet into bedrock below a six-level underground parkade in downtown Toronto will serve as a “thermal well” filled with 8.5 million litres of Lake Ontario water to heat and cool downtown buildings.

COVID-19 swaying more to online shopping

Commercial  •  La Presse

The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted online shopping habits, and more are likely to turn to the web to shop if the crisis continues, according to the Center facilitating research and innovation in organizations (CEFRIO).

What happens to cinemas in a streaming world?

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

A vast new pool and spa complex has created a new life for the former Cineplex Odeon First Markham Place. It’s part of a trend to finding innovative new uses for former movie theatres becoming redundant in a streaming world.

REOC fourth-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Fiera Capital Corporation, (FSZ-T), Canada Newswire

Firm Capital Property Trust, (FCD-UN-X), Globe Newswire

Trez Capital Senior Mortgage Investment Corp., (TZS-T), Canada Newswire

REIT/REOC COVID-19 business updates

Commercial  • 

Bridgemarq Real Estate Services Inc., (BRE-T), Canada Newswire, Canada Newswire

Crombie REIT, (CRR-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Inovalis REIT, (INO-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Morguard Corporation, (MRC-T), Canada Newswire

RE/MAX Québec, Canada Newswire

Iconic Manhattan skyscraper lands $510M refi

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Silverstein Properties and UBS Realty Investors have received $510 million in refinancing for 120 Broadway, a 1.9 million-square-foot landmark property also known as the Equitable Building in downtown Manhattan. Wells Fargo Bank provided the floating-rate loan, while Cushman & Wakefield facilitated the transaction.

U.S. industrial a diamond in the tough

Commercial  •  Forbes

Leasing industrial real estate has been an enlightening journey since the economic downfall of 2008. The late 2000s were a difficult time for Americans, but little did we know everything was about to change. Simultaneously, e-commerce was on the rise.

Colony Capital CEO predicts April CRE collapse

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

VIDEO: Real estate billionaire Tom Barrack, Colony Capital‘s (CLNY-N) chairman, founder and chief executive officer, talks about the state of the commercial mortgage market and if the Federal Reserve is doing enough to help it.

Uncertain times for U.S. office market: Yardi

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

February was the last month of the record-long economic recovery before U.S. office workers were asked to work from home, which will likely have long-term implications for the national office market, Yardi Matrix reports in this month’s National Office Report.

U.S. multifamily REITs will be able to adjust

Residential  •  IPE Real Assets

Moody’s says U.S. multifamily REITs will be able to adjust to a sliding economy in the wake of the coronavirus. The research firm says apartment REITs generally have strong credit metrics and the liquidity to navigate a stressed operating landscape.

Airbnb to pay out $250 million to hosts

Residential  •  Reuters  •  Toronto Star

U.S. home rental firm Airbnb said on Monday it was allocating $250 million to help offset losses by hosts around the world whose guests have canceled bookings in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

How can hotels prepare for optimized recovery?

Commercial  •  CP Executive

In Seattle — one of the first U.S. cities affected by the COVID-19 — hotels that should be 70 to 80 per cent occupied at this time of year are now more than 50 per cent empty, according to Kidder Mathews senior vice-president John Gordon.

Opinion: How will cities come back?

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

How will large cities change in the next generation? That’s hard to think about in the depths of a new crisis. However, even before the coronavirus hit, the politics of housing development included plenty of fearfulness, tribalism and bad information.