Office property, dev. land for sale in Ottawa tech hub

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Land  •  Ottawa

A two-property office/flex space portfolio which includes significant future development potential is for sale in the west-end Ottawa tech node of Kanata North. 415 Legget Dr., and 2700 Solandt Dr. comprise a two-storey building of 194,662 square feet and 18 acres of property.

Canada’s office sublet market – turning the corner?

Bill Argeropoulos: Bill Argeropoulos, Principal & Practice Leader, Research (Canada)

PROREIT acquires five industrial properties for $42.5M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

PRO Real Estate Investment Trust (PRV-UN-T) has entered into a binding purchase agreement for a 100% interest in five single-tenant light industrial buildings in Atlantic Canada totaling 430,000 square feet of gross leasable area for an aggregate purchase price of $42.5 million.

Wesbild proposes $230M Victoria redevelopment

Residential, Commercial  •  Victoria Times Colonist

Vancouver-based Wesbild Holdings has proposed a four-year, $230-million redevelopment of Victoria’s University Heights shopping centre. The project includes 597 rental units, a B.C. Transit hub and more than 121,000 square feet of new commercial space, featuring a grocery store, pharmacy and restaurant.

COVID issues increase REM bill to $6.9B

Commercial  •  La Presse  •  La Presse  •  Global News

The total bill for the Metropolitan Express Network has risen from $6.5 to $6.9 billion because of COVID-19 and certain adjustments made necessary after discussions with municipalities. Discussions are continuing between CPDQ and the manufacturer NouvLR.

Calgary’s Green Line LRT to be built all at once

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Calgary Herald  •  CTV

The board overseeing construction of Calgary’s Green Line LRT says it will build the portion that runs from the southeast to downtown all at once. The previous plan called for the first phase to be divided into three segments.

Adversarial contract model ‘not the right way:’ Metrolinx

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

Metrolinx president and CEO Phil Verster and Infrastructure Ontario president and CEO Michael Lindsay say they are going to focus on contract delivery, risk transfer and early contractor involvement as they deliver major transit projects across the province.

Remote, in-office or hybrid?

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Ottawa Business Journal

According to a recent study conducted by Colliers Canada (CIGI-T), 57 per cent of employers intend to implement a hybrid model, but 66 per cent of them remain undecided on how to execute it.

T.O.’s CIBC SQUARE ready to welcome office workers

Commercial  •  blogTO  •  RENX

CIBC SQUARE is in the unique position of opening fresh, after the pandemic sufficiently subsides enough for government officials to declare it safe to do so — and JV partners Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines haven’t squandered the opportunity.

B.C. CRE index jumps 15 per cent: BCREA

Commercial  •  Western Investor  •  Business In Vancouver

The Commercial Leading Indicator, an index from the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) that tracks economic measures that affect commercial real estate, rose from 144 to 150 in Q1 2021, representing the third consecutive increase as the economy recovered from the COVID-19-induced recession.

Top-10 rec., retail, wholesale, warehouse projects

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

The accompanying tables show the Top-10 major upcoming recreational and retail, wholesale, warehouse construction projects in Canada. They are all in the planning stage and are mainly new projects, but may also involve additions and/or alterations.

Real estate podcasts

Residential, Commercial  • 

Michael Mintz, MD Squared Property Group: Building tenant relationships to improve engagement, Tenant Experience Network. Season 2, Episode 8
Todd Barclay, Restaurant Brands Canada: Restaurants’ lost year of business, Down to Business, Episode 104
Michael Williams, First National Financial: Finance in Quebec, CRE Podcast

‘Turning point’ for U.S. office in 2022: NAIOP

Commercial  •  CP Executive

The U.S. economy is in the midst of a healthy rebound from the COVID-19-induced recession and this economic growth has translated into gains in employment in office-using industries. NAIOP’s forecast centres on the assumption the rebound in real GDP will persist.

Biden targets popular RE tax break

Residential, Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

President Joe Biden is pushing to close a real estate tax break. Biden has proposed narrowing a provision that allows real estate investors to avoid capital gains taxes when they sell property when they use the gains to buy more.

Facebook is committed to its physical offices

Commercial  •  Commercial Observer

After a shocking work-from-home phenomenon made the world question its office space needs, John Tenanes, vice-president of global facilities and real estate, says Facebook has no plans to pull back on an expanding global footprint.

RE/MAX Holding to buy RE/MAX INTEGRA N.A. regions

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. announced RE/MAX, LLC has entered into an agreement to acquire the North America regions of RE/MAX INTEGRA. The acquisition will bring nearly 19,000 agents and more than 1,100 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices under the RE/MAX, LLC umbrella.

Real estate boom feeding family legal disputes

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

In the world of B.C. estate law, emotions are rising along with elderly relatives’ property values. Estate litigation lawyers are working overtime and solicitors writing wills are warning homeowners to take measures to lessen the chance of future disputes among relatives.

Fear of missing out fuels new condo sales

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

New condo sales are rebounding in many of the country’s major cities, as houses increasingly become more unaffordable and buyers race to purchase any kind of property for fear of missing out on the booming real estate market.

Single-family home in Victoria core surpasses $1 million

Residential  •  Victoria Times Colonist  •  MYCAMPBELLRIVERNOW  •  Saanich News

For the first time, the monthly benchmark value for a single-family house in the core area of Victoria has topped $1 million. The benchmark price for a single-family house in the core reached $1.036 million in May, up from $885,900 year-over-year.

Ottawa house prices up 35 per cent YOY

Residential  •  CTV  •  Ottawa Business Journal

The Ottawa Real Estate Board reports a 71 per cent year-over-year increase in homes sold in May, with 46 per cent of homes selling for more than $700,000. The average sale price for a residential-class property was $741,206 in May, up 35 per cent year-over-year.