Manulife buys industrial land, building in Ottawa

RENX  Commercial  •  Land, Industrial  •  Ottawa

Manulife Investment Management has acquired a 10-acre industrial parcel of land and a 108,500-square-foot building in an Ottawa industrial park on behalf of its Canadian Pooled Real Estate Fund.

‘Bigger and stronger’: Nicola Wealth acquiring Blackwood

RENX  Commercial  •  Investment  •  Metro Vancouver, Toronto / GTA

Private investment counsel firm Nicola Wealth will acquire real estate investment and asset management company Blackwood Partners on Jan. 1. Financial terms of the deal, for which an agreement was signed on Nov. 11, weren’t disclosed.

Hollyburn puts 10-building Van. portfolio up for sale

Residential  •  Western Investor

Hollyburn Properties Ltd. put a 10-building Vancouver concrete tower portfolio with 411 rentals in prime Vancouver neighbourhoods up for sale in October through a bid process. The portfolio represents about a third of Hollyburn’s multifamily buildings in the city.

Artis sells B.C. mall for $34.3M, Minn. site for $7.2M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Artis REIT (AX-UN-T) has completed the sale of Delta Shoppers Mall, a 74,669-square-foot retail property in Delta, B.C., for $34.3 million and Minneapolis-area land for $7.2 million, in addition to the previously announced sale of Toronto’s Concorde Corporate Centre for $114 million.

Industrial REITs are pandemic investment darlings

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Until about three years ago, industrial real estate was the “neglected, poor stepchild” of the real estate sector. “It was relatively low-growth, dull and boring,” says Dean Orrico, president and chief investment officer at Middlefield Capital Corp. in Toronto.

Sponsored by Vaughan Metropolitan Centre City-building continues in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre

While the COVID-19 pandemic persists, city-building continues in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. Vaughan’s emerging downtown core continues to attract significant investment opportunities – in fact, a recent submission was received to develop two additional residential towers in the VMC.

HBC’s unpaid rent puts landlords in a difficult position

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Victoria Times Colonist  •  Canada Newswire

Landlords are facing a tricky situation with their HBC leases, as the fallout of any eviction of the retailer over unpaid rent could have a ripple effect on the rest of the mall and exacerbate already tough retail conditions.

Cash-strapped gov’ts should sell infrastructure: CPP

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

CPP Investments CEO Mark Machin says cash-strapped governments around the world should put airports, toll roads, utilities and other infrastructure up for sale to ease their financial pains. “We’d be delighted to compete for it,” Machin said.

New Vancouver public library included in 32-storey tower

Residential, Commercial  •  urbanYVR

A 12,000-square-feet Vancouver Public Library branch is included in plans for a 32-storey tower near the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain. 1112151 BC Ltd. has enlisted J+S Architect to design a 293-unit condominium tower with  ground-floor retail and a second-floor public library.

KingSett proposes mid-rise mixed-use redevelopment

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

KingSett Capital has filed documents with the City of Toronto supporting a redevelopment proposal on Queen Street West in Parkdale. According to the filing, in addition to bringing dwelling units, the new building would include community hub space and retail.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Value is in the eye of the CRE beholder: A cap rate primer

Kelly Macsymic: Business Manager, Stuart Commercial Inc., Sales Associate, ICR Commercial Real Estate

Podcasts from the real estate world

Residential, Commercial  • 

Brad Cutsey, InterRent REIT: Investor relations, CRE Podcast
Michael Hungerford, Hungerford Properties: Pioneering development strategies, CRE Library: Episode 42
Mark Rothschild, Canaccord Genuity: Analyzing the REITs, CRE Podcast

Toronto, Ottawa retain top spots in CBRE tech report

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

A high concentration of talent helped keep Ottawa firmly entrenched in the No. 2 spot in CBRE’s annual rankings of Canadian tech centres released Tuesday ​– the fourth year in a row the capital has finished second to Toronto in the survey.

IKEA Canada sees huge boost in home office supplies

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Canada Newswire

IKEA Canada has seen a huge boost in Canadian sales of home office supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic, including 631,800 desks during the fiscal year ending Aug. 31.

Real Estate & E-Commerce Split Corp. completes IPO

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Middlefield Group announced Real Estate & E-Commerce Split Corp. has completed its IPO of 1,613,887 class-A shares and 1,613,887 preferred shares for total gross proceeds of $40 million. The class-A and preferred shares are listed on the TSX under RS and RS.PR.A, respectively.

Bezos would make millions off Airbnb IPO

Residential  •  Business Insider

Jeff Bezos may soon see a multimillion-dollar payday thanks to Airbnb’s initial public offering. Airbnb publicly revealed the documents for its IPO on Monday, providing a glimpse into its financials. The home-sharing startup hopes to raise $3 billion with its IPO,

T.O. short-term rental listings continue to plunge

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

In October, the number of available listings on Airbnb and Vrbo in Toronto was down 38 per cent year-over-year, according to AirDNA. The number of listings booked for at least one night last month was down 63 per cent from August 2019.

Building affordable housing requires partnership: BILD

Residential  •  Toronto Star

The City of Toronto is currently developing its long-anticipated inclusionary zoning policy. Unfortunately, the requirements in Toronto’s draft policy framework are so onerous they will act as a disincentive and may, in fact, worsen the housing supply situation.

Almega proposes 270-unit two-building rental complex

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Developer Almega has proposed a mix of 270 market and affordable rental units in six- and 14-storey buildings designed by Chamberlain Architect at 824 Sheppard Avenue West, about a kilometre east of Sheppard West subway station.

Lamb strikes a deal with Hamilton bowling enthusiast

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Toronto condo king Brad Lamb never expected to be running a bowling alley in Hamilton, but then he never met a guy like Lionel Lewis before. Lamb bought Skyway Lanes in the east end of Hamilton in 2019.