VANDYK has big plans for T.O.’s Grand Central Mimico

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums, Office, Retail  •  International, Toronto / GTA

VANDYK Properties is master-planning a new transit-tailored community called Grand Central Mimico in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. The project is located in The Mimico Triangle area, recognized as a priority regeneration area by the City of Toronto.

Peter Altobelli is still going strong with Yardi

RENX  Commercial  •  Technology, Human Resources  •  National

Peter Altobelli was Yardi’s first employee in Canada in 1998. He’s since been joined by more than 400 others as the Canadian operation has become an integral part of the software solution provider’s impressive global growth.

Retail Insider’s top 20 most-read articles of 2020

Commercial  •  Retail Insider  •  Canada Newswire

In 2020, the Canadian retail industry changed significantly amid ‘non-essential’ store closures and shifting consumer sentiment. Retail is increasingly moving online while some retail brands struggle. We will be identifying the lasting impacts from 2020 for years to come.

21st-century vision sought for Winnipeg’s iconic HBC

Commercial  •  CBC

Like many Manitobans, Winnipeg Economic Development CEO Dayna Spiring has fond memories of The Bay at Christmas. Now, she has been left to figure out what comes next for the recently shuttered 650,000-square-foot building, deemed historically priceless yet economically worthless.

Note from our Publisher: 2020, a year like no other

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Human Resources  •  National

While 2020 has been a year like no other with the COVID-19 pandemic presenting unforeseen challenges, we at RENX have been very fortunate.

Court questions lockdown rules ‘wisdom and efficacy’

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star

A decision that ultimately dismissed Hudson’s Bay Co.’s bid to amend Ontario’s retail lockdown rules, an Ontario court says the “wisdom and efficacy” of measures allowing big box stores that sell groceries to remain fully open is “open to question.”

The Legal Corner › Letters of credit and tenant bankruptcy: good news for landlords

Darrell Gold: Partner, Robins Appleby LLP

Instacart looked like a saviour. Stores aren’t so sure

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Grocery delivery service Instacart, which has added or expanded arrangements with over 150 retailers in the U.S. and Canada this year, once seemed like the perfect partner for supermarkets breaking into e-commerce. However, some grocers are questioning the relationship.

Amazon delivers record 1.5B holiday 2020 packages

Commercial  •  Pymnts  •  PR Newswire  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Amazon is reporting a record-breaking holiday shopping season that saw more than 1.5 billion toys, electronics and household goods delivered amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon developed its own coronavirus testing protocol and financially backed small- and medium-sized businesses.

Growth to watch for 2020 Durham Region

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Urban Toronto has reached its last Growth to Watch For report of 2020! Covering over 1,000 projects trekking hundreds of kilometres across 13 cities of the GTA, our tour of development activity now wraps up in our final area, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby & Oshawa.

UrbanToronto’s vote on The Best Buildings of 2020

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

With 39 newly completed projects spread across the city to vote on Urban Toronto completed its seventh annual UrbanToronto Year-End Readers’ Poll, giving readers the chance to vote on their favorite new buildings completed over the last 12 months.

Podcasts from the real estate world: 2 of 3

Residential, Commercial  • 

Amy Price, BentallGreenOak: The U.S. perspective, CRE Podcast
Natalie Presot, Northam Realty Advisors: The journey from shyness to fearless, Highview Partners People Who Perform: Episode 31

Fredericton motel conversion to affordable housing

Residential  •  CBC

The John Howard Society is applying for federal money through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s rapid housing initiative that would allow it to buy City Motel in Fredericton and renovate it for use as housing units.

ViveRE completes acquisition of Saint John, N.B. rental

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX  •  RENX

ViveRE Communities Inc. has completed the previously announced acquisition of Village View No. 3 Limited Partnership, whose sole asset is a multi-family rental property located at 51 Noel Avenue, Saint John, New Brunswick.

Alternative lenders resume share buybacks, banks can’t

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Alternative mortgage lenders Equitable Group Inc. and Home Capital Group Inc. are ready to buy back stock again after a pandemic-related timeout, a sign of confidence, and one that comes as Canada’s biggest banks remain barred from their own share repurchases.

RentPath terminates acquisition agreement with CoStar

Commercial  •  PR Newswire  •  Bisnow

RentPath has terminated the agreement to be acquired by CoStar Group following the FTC’s decision to sue to block the transaction. It contends RentPath is a strong competitive alternative to CoStar, thus eliminating it would be a detriment to consumers.

Canadians positive about housing market: Nanos survey

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Bloomberg  •  PR Newswire

Canadians are the most confident in more than three years that real estate prices will continue to rise, according to a Nanos Bloomberg telephone poll. About half of respondents (49.2 per cent) see home prices climbing over the next six months.

Pandemic lifts real estate outside major Canadian cities

Residential  •  Globe and Mail  •  Financial Post  •  CBC

Before the pandemic, sales had been increasing in Ontario’s Niagara Region and areas well outside of the country’s most expensive markets of Toronto and Vancouver. After the COVID-19 health crisis started, that trend accelerated.

Small towns in B.C., Alberta face housing crunch

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Amy Makortoff is one of many struggling to find affordable homes during a housing crisis in the B.C. interior. Realtors, residents and politicians say COVID-19 worsened the situation as more Canadians look to work remotely, increasing competition and raising prices.

Mosaic Stadium has been transformed into ‘Iceville’

Commercial  •  CBC

Saskatchewan’s biggest football stadium now gets to call itself Saskatchewan’s biggest skating rink. More than 350,000 gallons of water have flooded the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders — on purpose. The Regina Exhibition Association Limited calls the refashioned stadium ‘Iceville.’