Mastercard to open $510M Vancouver R&D centre

Commercial  •  Daily Hive  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  IT World Canada

The federal government has enticed Mastercard Inc. (MA-N) to open a $510-million technology research and development centre in Vancouver with $49 million in incentives through its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).

Vancouver among rising data centre markets: C&W

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Vancouver is among the most likely up-and-coming markets according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Data Center Market Comparison. The final overall rankings of 12 criteria put Northern Virginia in first place, followed by Silicon Valley, Dallas, Chicago and New York/New Jersey.

Canam Group bought by Quebec investors

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News  •  La Presse

The assets of Quebec-based construction company Canam Group have been bought by three Quebec partners. Placements CMI, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Fonds de solidarite FTQ announced the purchase agreement which will total more than $840 million.

Manulife acquires EQ8 apt. buildings in Montreal

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Greater Montreal

Manulife Investment Management announced Thursday morning it has acquired Phases 3 and 4 of the new EQ8 LaSalle purpose-built apartment development in Montreal’s borough of LaSalle for $105 million. The two newly-constructed multifamily buildings stand at 16 storeys apiece and comprise 300 units.

KingSett proposes three-building condo complex

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

KingSett Capital has proposed a Giannone Petricone Associates-designed condominium complex at 1306 The Queensway in Toronto that would consist of two towers and a mid-rise building framing a central courtyard, along with a new public space.

$4.6B TTC shopping list includes expansion

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Toronto Star  •  Globe and Mail

A report released Wednesday by TTC staff calls for the expenditure of an additional $4.6 billion, including $500 million for the city’s one-third share of the Bloor-Yonge station expansion and $3.1 billion for repair, maintenance and upgrading capacity of subway infrastructure.

The Legal Corner › ‘Going All In’ – The risk of buying a new home before selling your current home

Darrell Gold: Partner, Robins Appleby LLP

Bay Adelaide North Tower expands Enwave partnership

Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

Brookfield Properties and Enwave Energy Corporation are teaming up to make the new Bay Adelaide North Tower one of Toronto’s most thermally sustainable buildings. It will be part Enwave’s Deep Lake Water Cooling system and incorporate an innovative heating system.

Mississauga needs to sweat the details

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

This week’s announcement of a “Square One District” for central Mississauga makes big promises. If you believe developer Oxford Properties Group, it’s a place where “business, life and leisure can come together as one.”

Winnipeg parkade makes way for housing, market

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Excavators are taking their first big bites of concrete as Winnipeg’s Civic Centre parkade starts to come down. The 2.4-acre site will eventually house a public market, art gallery and exhibition spaces and over 100 suites of mixed-income apartment rentals.

Challenges ahead for Mtl. eco-neighbourhood: Expert

Residential, Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

Expectations for the future eco-neighbourhood on Montreal’s former Blue Bonnets raceway are sky-high. Some 5,000 to 6,000 brand-new units. Plenty of parks, playgrounds, community gardens, recreational facilities, community services and local stores. Bike paths, pedestrian walkways and convenient access to public transit.

Vancouver’s luxury builders should be nervous: Opinion

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

Vancouver builders are watching closely as thousands of New York City condos in glistening “super-skinny” towers, rapidly erected to serve a flood of demand from global millionaires, are largely empty as that city core’s real-estate bubble is bursting.

Equium Group honoured for property management

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

For the second consecutive year, Calgary-based Equium Group has won a Consumer Choice Award as the top service provider for property management in Southern Alberta. Equium Group is a fully integrated organization specializing in condominium, commercial and residential services.

Apparel retailer Bench to shutter all Canadian stores

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Bench’s Canadian partner says it plans to close all of the clothing brand’s stores in this country. Freemark Apparel Brands Group, which has a “strategic partnership” with the streetwear brand, currently operates 24 Bench locations across Canada, according to Bench’s website.

WeWork offloads Teem, stake in The Wing

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  Financial Post (Sub. required)

Shared workplace operator WeWork said on Wednesday it sold cloud and analytics services provider Teem to digital workplace solutions provider iOFFICE, as it offloads non-core businesses after a botched initial public offering last year.

PSP, Aviva Investors acquire Patrizia’s Galleri K building

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

The Galleri K mixed-use building in Copenhagen sold by Patrizia was acquired by Aviva Investors and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments). As previously reported, Patrizia sold the repositioned 264,000-square-foot building to an unnamed buyer for an undisclosed sum.

Ontario homeowners call for end to Tarion monopoly

Residential  •  CBC

Homeowners who have fought for years for restitution after discovering defects in their newly built homes are demanding the provincial government reconsider its efforts to reform the Tarion home warranty program and instead open it up to private insurers.

Vancouver remains world’s second-least affordable market

Residential  •  CTV  •  Daily Hive  •  Daily Hive

For the second year in a row, Vancouver has ranked as the second-most unaffordable housing market in the world. That’s according to the 16th annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, which looks at middle-income housing affordability.

REALnorth sells 18 B.C. lots to FSJ Residential

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

REALnorth Opportunities Fund announced that one of its subsidiaries has agreed to sell up to 18 single-family serviced lots in its Garrison Landing subdivision in northwestern Fort St. John, B.C., to FSJ Residential Development Limited Partnership.

Big-city rental construction boom won’t be enough

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  RENX

To bring the rental vacancy rate close to three per cent, Toronto’s rental housing stock must grow by 26,800 units per year. With under 5,000 rental units constructed last year, one does not expect the gap to close any time soon.