$5B Lakeview Village names Sasaki lead architect

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Homes, Retail  •  Toronto / GTA

There’s a long way to go before Lakeview Village will resemble the vision behind it. But, the next step has been taken; Sasaki will be the lead master-plan architect for the $5-billion Mississauga development along Lake Ontario.

First Galleria Mall building plans submitted

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Since the 2016 masterplan proposal was submitted to the City of Toronto by Freed Developments and ELAD Canada to redevelop Galleria Mall at Dupont and Dufferin Streets, work has been progressing behind the scenes.

Tsawwassen town centre master plan unveiled

Residential, Commercial  •  Delta Optimist

Century Group’s new master plan proposed for Tsawwassen’s town centre aims to transform the site to a walkable scale, mixed-use urban village where people can shop, live and gather. The proposal is for 700 new condo units in eight low-to-medium-rise buildings.

B.C. is in a ‘policy-induced’ housing recession

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Homes  •  British Columbia, Metro Vancouver

B.C. is in a “policy induced” housing recession, but the chances of a broader economic recession are low, says Central 1 Credit Union’s chief economist. Helmut Pastrick spoke at the Vancouver Real Estate Forum, forecasting B.C.’s property and economic outlook.

Red hot Canadian market defies expectations

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Canada’s commercial real estate market is defying expectations, as investors buy skyscrapers in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal to capitalize on surging demand by tenants for prime urban space.

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AWS Thinkbox opens Winnipeg office

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Winnipeg Free Press

Amazon Web Services has opened a new office in Winnipeg’s The Forks. The 13,000-square-foot space in the Johnston Terminal building will be the new home of AWS Thinkbox, a cloud computing company providing services for entertainment, architecture and engineering industries.

North Van fast-tracks Shipyards Brewery District

Commercial  •  North Shore News

They’re all but tapping the kegs in North Vancouver. Council voted unanimously to fast-track some rule changes that will make it easier for a host of new breweries to open up lounges in a “brewery district” in Lower Lonsdale.

How do you stop developers from cancelling condos?

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star

They put down 10s of thousands of dollars on a pre-construction condo and they wait — sometimes years. But, what happens if the builder delivers a refund rather than a home because it decides to kill the project?

Ottawa hospitality industry targets ‘pseudo hotels’

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

As the head of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, Steve Ball sees plenty of room for growth in a local hospitality industry that enjoyed its best year ever in 2017 and followed that up with another solid season in 2018.

Slate’s Junction House rising in Toronto

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  RENX

Junction House, a 150-unit, nine-storey midrise coming to Dundas St.W., is rising in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood. Slate Asset Management‘s development offers one to three bedrooms, as well as two-level condos and a series of laneway-adjacent townhouses at street level.

Archdiocese partners with Discovery Homes on project

Residential  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface is jumping into the property-development business. The diocese is partnering with Discovery Homes in Leola Village, a 40-unit condo development on the site of the former French parish Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption in Winnipeg.

Ontario’s $32.5B highway highlights private asset boom

Commercial  •  Financial Post

In the exclusive world of private assets, putting a price tag on an investment can be a risky proposition. In 1999, Ontario accepted $3.1 billion from the private sector in return for granting a 99-year lease of its new toll road, the 407.

Maple Leaf Foods building $310M Indiana plant

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Canada Newswire

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI-T) has announced plans to build a US$310-million plant-based protein food processing facility in Shelbyville, Ind. The company says the new plant will help expand its plant-based protein business.

Canada’s risky housing market trades places with U.S.: IMF

Residential  •  Huffington Post

Canada’s housing market has grown riskier over the past two years, with risk levels similar to those seen during the financial crisis a decade ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report released last  week.

Vancouver’s five priciest penthouse listings

Residential  •  Vancouver Province

The most expensive penthouse in Vancouver remains 1011 W Cordova Street at $29.998 million. The property at the top of the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel features four bedrooms, five bathrooms. 6,652 square feet inside, and over 2,900 additional square feet of outdoor terraces.

Buyers can ‘cherry-pick’ in Calgary’s sluggish market

Residential  •  CBC  •  Calgary Herald

Spring is typically the busiest time of the year in the housing market, but so far that’s not the case in Calgary. “You could say it’s slow to start,” said Doug Hayden, a realtor at eXp Realty.

Realtors urge Ontario to end ‘bully’ offers

Residential  •  CBC

Realtors say Ontario should ban “bully” offers they say give some homebuyers an unfair advantage. Ontario Real Estate Association president Karen Cox says the government should tackle the issue in its review of the act governing realtors in the province.

Credit counsellors warn of Toronto renoviction surge

Residential  •  CBC

Scott Terrio, a manager at insolvency trustee Hoyes Michalos, is warning of a surge in so-called renovictions — landlords ousting tenants so they can upgrade and re-rent their apartments at jacked-up prices.

Hutterite colony trying to buy shrinking Manitoba town

Residential  •  CBC

A Hutterite colony is considering buying a shrinking rural town and moving in. The tiny population left in Mather, Man., have learned the neighbouring Willow Creek Colony wants to purchase the community — including houses and a post office.