Sonder turns vacant office, multires into apt. hotels

RENX  Commercial  •  Office, Hotels and Resorts  •  Metro Vancouver, Toronto / GTA, Greater Montreal

Apartment-hotel company Sonder is being approached by a growing number of landlords in Canada’s three biggest cities seeking to lease vacant office and multiresidential spaces, says Martin Picard, Sonder’s co-founder and vice-president of real estate.

Summit to sell three Ottawa properties for $49.2M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Summit Industrial Income REIT (SMU.UN-T) announced it has agreed to sell three properties totaling 283,495 square feet located in Ottawa for $49.2 million, above the Dec. 31, 2020 IFRS value. The properties were considered non-core assets.

Starlight buys two U.S. multires properties for $202.7M

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Starlight U.S. Multi-Family (No. 2) Core Plus Fund has acquired two class-A, institutional-quality properties in Denver and Orlando comprising 675 multifamily residential suites for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$202.7 million.

Brookfield Asset Mgmt. ups offer for BPY to US$6.5B

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Apartments  •  National, International

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) has increased its offer and has an agreement with management of Brookfield Property Partners (BPY-UN-T) to take its subsidiary private. The new offer of US$18.17 would mean a $6.5B payout for shares it doesn’t already control.

Granite acquires Atlanta industrial facility for $86M

Commercial  •  CP Executive  •  Business Wire  •  RENX

Granite REIT (GRT-UN-T) announced it has acquired 3090 State Highway 42, a million-square-foot, 40-foot clear height modern warehouse distribution facility on 85.6 acres near Atlanta for $85.9 million. The state-of-the-art facility was completed in 2020 and is 75% leased to Radial.

Tricon announces closing of U.S. multifamily $1.33B JV

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Tricon Residential (TCN-T) announced the closing of its joint venture with two leading global institutional investors to invest in Tricon’s portfolio of 23 U.S. multifamily apartments, reflecting a total portfolio value of $1.331 billion US.

BentallGreenOak closes deal for Metropolitan RE Equity

Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  RENX

BentallGreenOak (BGO) announced it has closed on the acquisition of Metropolitan Real Estate Equity Management, LLC from global investment firm The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG-Q). The deal combines BGO’s Core, Core Plus, Value Add and Debt strategies with Metropolitan’s strategies.

IRES terminating CAPREIT management agreement

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

CAPREIT (CAR-UN-T) announced IRES Fund Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of CAPREIT, provided 12 months’ notice of termination of its management agreement with Irish Residential Properties REIT plc, which will become effective March 31, 2022.

Calgary, province pledge $50M to spur tech sector

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald  •  Calgary Herald

Calgary Economic Development (CED) and Alberta Innovates are devoting about $50 million to accelerate Alberta’s technology train. The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, administered by CED, strives to see 1,000 startup tech companies established in the city over the next decade.

Ericsson opening lab in Ottawa to test new 5G tech

Commercial  •  Reuters

Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson is opening a lab in Ottawa to work with customers and partners on new 5G radio access networks (RAN) technologies. The technologies would include Open RAN, which enables networks not tied to a vendor.

Real World of Real Estate › Podcast: Retail leasing for landlords

Gerald Tostowaryk:

Imperial acquires Alta. industrial building for $9.3M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Edmonton-based Imperial Equities Inc. has acquired the Wajax Building in Red Deer, Alta., for $9.3 million. The 34,811-square-foot industrial building is situated on a 4.72-acre site within the Queens Business Park, a 640-acre industrial development area located along Highway 11A.

Properties around, under T.O.’s Brass Rail Tavern for sale

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Toronto Star

The Cooper family recently began shopping around three properties under and beside Brass Rail Tavern in downtown Toronto. The family is not selling the actual Yonge Street strip club, but plan to wind up operations as the site is redeveloped.

CN sells Algoma Central Railway, other properties

Commercial  •  SooToday  •  Globe Newswire

CN (CNR-T) has reached an agreement to sell the Algoma Central Railway to transportation and supply chain services company Watco as part of a larger move by CN to sell off its non-core lines and assets on the Soo Subdivision.

Lululemon warns COVID-19 resurgence could close stores

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  CTV

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU-Q) on Tuesday warned of more store closures and risks to demand from a potential resurgence in COVID-19 cases, even as it forecast first-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates.

TD highlights commitment to a sustainable future

RENX  Commercial, Sustainable Biz, Finance  •  Investment  •  National

TD Bank Group (TD-T) bolstered its sustainability efforts in 2020, with its annual environmental, social and governance report (ESG) underlining a variety of business, philanthropy and employee investments, including plans to link senior executive compensation with its ESG performance.

Charisma buys L’Expert Immobilier, creates 600-broker agency

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Charisma Realties Inc. announced it has acquired L’Expert Immobilier PM Inc., a 100% Quebec-owned and -operated agency with close to 400 brokers. The acquisition creates Quebec’s largest privately owned real estate brokerage team, with a combined total of nearly 600 brokers.

Investors in newly built condos came out ahead in pandemic

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Rents plunged and condo sales took a powder for most of 2020. Investors whose newly constructed units came up for occupancy last year, however, still saw handsome appreciation in their property values, according to a report from Urbanation and CIBC Economics.

Pandemic cools property purchases by foreign buyers

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver

The numbers and the anecdotal evidence are clear: while Metro Vancouver’s housing market has been on a surprising tear during the COVID-19 pandemic, the market for foreign buyers looking to enter the Lower Mainland has not followed suit.

Suburbs, Fraser Valley lure Vancouver residents

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver  •  Business In Vancouver

Les Steinke is one of many Vancouverites moving to the suburbs and beyond, drawn by the promise of more room, friendlier prices and the prospect of fewer lengthy daily commutes post-pandemic, according to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB).