Toronto residential tower boom shows no signs of slowing

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments, Condominiums  •  Toronto / GTA

Toronto had 125 cranes working on multiresidential towers in March, according to the RLB Crane Index, dwarfing other North American cities. “The urban density story for our city has clearly not stalled during the pandemic,” said Terry Olynyk of Multiplex.

Mortgage fund leads Forgestone’s growth

RENX  Commercial  •  Investment  •  National, Toronto / GTA

Forgestone Capital was created eight years ago and has grown into a full-service real estate investment firm with $6 billion of assets under management and another $1 billion in development projects.

Reliance proposes 46-storey, 478-unit Van. rental

Residential  •  Daily Hive  •  RENX

Reliance Properties has proposed to redevelop a downtown Vancouver parkade into a 100 per cent rental housing tower. The 46-storey tower would include 478 rental homes, including over 100 affordable units dedicated to workforce housing for essential workers earning between $39,200 and $78,500.

Life sciences real estate: The next sound investment in Vancouver

Tony Quattrin: Vice Chairman of Capital Markets, CBRE

Zonda acquires listings platform BuzzBuzzHome

Residential  •  Business Wire  •  RENX

Zonda announced the acquisition of BuzzBuzzHome, a Toronto-based online real estate listings portal serving the new residential construction market. The acquisition of BuzzBuzzHome follows the recent acquisition of Vancouver-based Urban Analytics earlier this month, which expanded Zonda’s data capabilities.

The tower that once topped Toronto shines again

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Toronto’s Royal Bank Building, crowned the tallest in the Commonwealth in 1915 and an indicator of the shift from Montreal to Toronto as Canada’s financial centre, has been brought back to life by ERA Architects.

‘Air tax’ relief coming for B.C. businesses

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

The B.C. government will provide relief to businesses hit by the speculation and vacancy tax. Some small Vancouver businesses were facing the tax because the unbuilt development potential above their heads had been reclassified from commercial to residential space.

B.C. boosts business grants to $125 million

Commercial  •  Western Investor

British Columba is adding $75 million in new money to the Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grant and extending it to hotels, motels and short-term accommodations. It remains in place for about 14,000 restaurants, bars, breweries, wineries, gyms and fitness facilities.

Manulife CEO embraces slow return to office

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Manulife Financial Corp. chief executive officer Roy Gori isn’t in a hurry to bring the insurer’s employees back to the office, and when he does, they’ll still have plenty of flexibility to work from home.

Save-On Foods opens two new Winnipeg stores

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Two new full-service grocery stores opened their doors in Winnipeg this week. Save-On-Foods opened new franchise locations at Kildonan Place shopping centre and at the Pembina Crossing strip mall, their first new Winnipeg storefronts in nearly five years.

Tim Hortons parent beats revenue estimates

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Canada Newswire  •  Toronto Star

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR-T) beat quarterly revenue estimates on Friday, as a reopening U.S. economy and government stimulus cheques boosted spending at the company’s Burger King chain. Total revenue rose to $1.26 billion in Q1 up from $1.23 billion year-over-year.

Top 10 largest construction project starts

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News  •  Daily Commercial News

The accompanying table records the 10 largest construction project starts in Canada in March 2021. Also included is the latest trend graph on starts. This looks at 12-month moving totals of the civil and non-residential building categories in Canada.

Brookfield targets $22B for its largest global fund

Commercial  •  IPE Real Assets

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) is hoping to raise $22 billion Cdn for what would be its largest-ever global opportunistic real estate fund Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners (BSREP) IV, according to sources.

L.L.Bean announces four more Canadian stores

Commercial  •  Retail Insider  •  Toronto Star

U.S.-based outdoor specialty retailer L.L.Bean has announced four more Canadian stores that will open in 2021. Each of the four stores will be firsts for the Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax markets and indicates confidence in brick-and-mortar retail in Canada.

Dallas chain plans to open 100 restaurants in Canada

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

Dallas-based fast-casual restaurant chain Wingstop has announced it will enter the Canadian market with plans for about 100 locations over the next decade. The company will launch in the Toronto area in 2022, prior to expanding Wingstop nationally.

Amazon first-quarter sales beat expectations

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Amazon.com Inc beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter revenue on Thursday, as the e-commerce giant continued to benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic-driven online shopping boom, sending its shares up four per cent in extended trading.

Exodus of Van. developers should be red flag for Calgary

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

OPINION: Bucci Developments has been part of the renaissance of urban living in Calgary’s city centre for the past 25 years, building 1,200-plus homes. However, for the first time in 25 years, Bucci has no new projects in the works for Calgary.

Bubble? What housing bubble?

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Ten years ago, The Economist magazine concluded Canadian real estate was grossly overvalued. Nine years ago, Merrill Lynch declared Canadian housing was afflicted by “overvaluation, speculation and oversupply.” And a year ago, the CMHC warned prices could fall 18 per cent.

Airbnb sees promise in rural Canada

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Under the COVID-19 cloud of gloom, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky noticed bright spots in corners of Canada he’d visit during youth hockey tournaments — locations that seldom attract the swarms of visitors seen in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

Ottawa council OKs short-term rental rules

Residential  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Citizen  •  CTV

Ottawa city council has approved a new permit system that will allow some short-term vacation rentals to operate legally, but tweaked the bylaw to prevent large groups such as sports teams from piling into one residence.