The GTA’s Top-10 CRE transactions in 2020

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Apartments, Condominiums, Hotels and Resorts, Land  •  Toronto / GTA

Owing to the economic lockdown to contain COVID-19 in the Greater Toronto Area last spring, it’s not surprising the GTA’s Top-10 commercial real estate transactions of 2020 occurred in the first two, and last three, months of the year.

Brantford’s Vicano rides wave of big industrial projects

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Ontario

Vicano Construction and its development arm are riding a wave of industrial expansion in Southwestern Ontario, building a 518,705 distribution centre in Brantford. Vicano has also closed on 85 acres of land in Brant County, and has another 30 acres under contract.

Toronto apartment vacancy rates set record

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

Apartment vacancy rates in Toronto spiked to a record 5.7 per cent last year as demand weakened during the pandemic and sent rental prices tumbling. One factor that slowed demand for apartments and condo rentals were border restrictions, which slowed immigration.

Merchant House acquires 61-unit residential building

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Merchant House Capital Inc., a Victoria-based real estate investment and development company, has announced its acquisition of Kinnaird Place, a 61-unit strata-owned residential building located at 65 First Street, in New Westminster’s downtown community.

Ontario to expand big-box-retail blitz amid violations

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

An enforcement blitz that uncovered numerous violations of COVID-19 prevention protocols across big-box retailers in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas will broaden to include the rest of the province in the weeks ahead, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said,

Quebec threatens more construction sector restrictions

Residential, Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette

Quebec’s labour minister Friday threatened to impose more restrictions on the construction and manufacturing sectors for allegedly flouting health orders. The new measures require the two industries to limit operations to essential activities and to reduce the number of workers.

The Legal Corner › Extension of the moratorium on commercial tenancy evictions: Ontario. Reg. 763/20

Darrell Gold: Partner, Robins Appleby LLP

Couche-Tard to explore partnership with Carrefour

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  Reuters  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Laval’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-A-T) and European retailer Carrefour SA have decided to work on partnership opportunities after takeover talks failed, the two companies said in a joint statement on Saturday.

Calgary’s office vacancy rates at record levels

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Calgary’s Business  •  RENX

Vacancies in Calgary’s downtown office towers have risen to record levels and there’s no landlord relief in sight with almost one in three offices sitting empty and sublets accounting for a quarter of available spaces on the market, says CBRE.

Smart city tech needs good governance

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star

How can people be assured technologies deployed in and around smart cities will do more good than harm? With the dramatic acceleration of pandemic-related service digitization, that question has taken on more saliency. (Part of Toronto Star’s Smart Cities series).

Walmart exec leaving to build ‘a city of the future’

Residential, Commercial  •  Recode

Marc Lore, who sold startup Jet.com to Walmart for $3 billion and oversaw the transformation of its e-commerce business, is leaving in favour of a multi-decade project to build “a city of the future” supported by “a reformed version of capitalism.”

Inland port project moving forward in Terrace, B.C.

Commercial  •  CBC

City council in Terrace, B.C., has cleared the way for an inland port development to move forward near the downtown core. Local construction company Progressive Ventures wants to build the project on 44 acres of land formerly occupied by a sawmill.

Brookfield breaks ground on Calif. industrial property

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Brookfield Properties is expanding its portfolio of industrial properties in Southern California with the groundbreaking of the 192,000-square-foot class-A Slover Elm Commerce Center in Fontana. The company expects to complete the speculative development in the fall of 2021.

Brookfield remains world’s largest real estate company

Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

Topping the list of the world’s 15 biggest real estate companies is Toronto-headquartered Brookfield Asset Management, which has $324 billion US worth of assets under management, revenue of $69.1 billion and a market cap of $51.3 billion.

Colliers predicts 50% surge in global investment in 2021

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Colliers International Group‘s (CIGI-T) new Global Capital Markets 2021 Investor Outlook reveals investors are largely optimistic about a market rebound in 2021. Colliers’ research anticipates a 50 per cent surge in investment activity in the second half of 2021.

NYC property values decline five per cent

Residential, Commercial  •  Bloomberg

New York City property values are set to decline 5.2% from the current fiscal year, the biggest decline since the early 1990s, highlighting the toll the pandemic has taken on the city’s commercial and residential property values.

Dedicated pandemic hospital to open in Vaughan

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

A dedicated pandemic hospital will be opening just north of Toronto in a matter of weeks. The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital will be devoted to treating COVID-19 patients when it opens its doors in early February.

Long-term-care home design change crucial: Expert

Residential  •  Toronto Star

A “total rethink” of the design and function of long-term-care facilities and nursing homes in Ontario is urgently needed to fight the spread of diseases like COVID-19, says Toronto-based DesignFarm’s Irka Dyczok.

Private mortgage insurers gaining market share

Residential  •  Financial Post

Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Co., owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Canadian financier Stephen Smith, says it gained market share following changes Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. made to its underwriting policies for insured mortgages last summer.

The average rent in Canadian cities for January

Residential  •  Daily Hive

As we near the halfway point of the first month of 2021, according to PadMapper’s latest report, the gap between rents in the country’s two most expensive markets – Vancouver and Toronto – is just over $100 at $1,950 and $1,830, respectively.