Core’s Avanew to invest $250M in single-family rentals

RENX  Residential  •  Homes, Investment  •  Ontario, Toronto / GTA

Core Development Group’s wholly owned Avanew subsidiary is looking to become a leader in the early-stage Canadian single-family rental (SFR) sector with a $250 million investment over the next three years.

Vancouver mayor focused on clearing rental ‘backlog’

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

While Reliance Properties pitches a downtown apartment tower, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart wants faster decisions on such proposals — whether that means approval or rejection: “The objective is to understand the backlog, and then do everything we can to clear it.”

Vancouver suburban condo projects selling out in hours

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver

Local buyers, including a hefty portion of investors, have sparked a pre-sale condominium sales boom in the Metro Vancouver suburbs, with a string of new projects still under construction selling out hundreds of units within hours.

Walmart building Atlantic Canada distribution centre

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Retail  •  Atlantic Canada

Walmart Canada (WMT-N) has announced it is building its first Atlantic Canada distribution centre, a state-of-the-art, 221,000-square-foot facility in Moncton, N.B. It will sit on 19 acres of land at 125 Frenette Ave., and is to open in the fall of 2022.

Calgary’s Sierra Place to become affordable housing

Residential, Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

Artis REIT‘s 10-storey Sierra Place will soon become the first downtown Calgary office tower converted into a residential building by HomeSpace with the help of new city funds — and a test case for similar developments.

Design, Policy and Canadian Cities › Shadows vs. housing: This debate should be a no-contest

Naama Blonder: Architect, Urban Designer, Urban Planner | B.Arch, OAA, RPP, MCIP

Shopify says shift toward e-commerce is permanent

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  CBC  •  Financial Post

Shopify Inc. (SHOP-T) CEO Tobi Lutke and president Harley Finkelstein said early patterns emerging in lockdown-free countries like New Zealand and Australia show consumers have embraced e-commerce even post-restrictions — and they expect North America to see the same.

Infrastructure Bank unlikely to spend half its $35B budget

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Corporate Knights

The Canada Infrastructure Bank is unlikely to spend even half its $35-billion budget over its 11-year mandate despite government pledges to get the cash flowing to new green projects, warns Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux in a new report.

TAS proposes 12-storey mixed-use in Leslieville

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

TAS Design Build recently submitted a zoning by-law amendment application for a 12-storey mixed-use building of purpose-built rental housing and community-oriented commercial space at 880 Eastern Ave. in Leslieville. The SvN Architects + Planners-designed building would include 157 apartments including 16 three-bedrooms.

Ottawa needs to own its future: Ex-T.O. planning chief

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen

Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s former chief planner, believes Ottawa’s population hitting one million signals the moment in which it should be bold in its land-use planning, a timely observation since the city is getting closer to having a new official plan.

Former Dallas official Van.’s new chief urban planner

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Hive

After just over a month in the interim leadership role, Vancouver City Council has formally appointed Theresa O’Donnell as the municipal government’s new director of planning and general manager of Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability.

REIT first-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

Allied Properties REIT, (AP-UN-T), Globe Newswire
Morguard North American Residential REIT, (MRG-UN-T), Canada Newswire
Morguard REIT, (MRT-UN-T), Canada Newswire

Amazon to overtake Walmart as U.S.’ largest retailer

Commercial  •  Business Insider

A study from Edge by Ascential calculated that Amazon’s gross market value will reach $631.6 billion by 2025, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14%, and is set to eclipse Walmart as the largest retailer in the United States.

Realty Income, VEREIT merger to create $50B enterprise

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Realty Income Corp. (O-N) and VEREIT, Inc. (VER-N) today announced a definitive merger agreement by which Realty Income will acquire VEREIT in an all-stock transaction, creating a combined company with an enterprise value of approximately $50 billion.

McDonald’s handily beats sales estimates

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

McDonald’s Corp. (MCD-N) on Thursday beat Wall Street estimates for comparable sales and said it returned to pre-pandemic levels of growth, driven by eased COVID-19 restrictions in some markets and U.S. customers, flush with stimulus cash, craving new chicken meals.

U.S. hotel rates on the rise as travel ticks up

Commercial  •  CNBC

U.S. nightly hotel rates, while still somewhat lower than a year ago, are slowly rising to match or — in some popular destinations — surpass pre-pandemic prices, according to travel booking technology company Koddi.

In Van., T.O., up to 20% own more than one home

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Canadian Housing Statistics Program data shows one in five Vancouver owners own more than one property, with similar levels in Toronto. The report suggests homeowners who own more than one home is growing and is concentrated in Vancouver and Toronto.

Building large long-term care homes ‘strongly discouraged’

Residential  •  REMI Network

“Reflecting on the COVID-19 Themes from Long Term Care,” published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, experts indicate designing smaller, more homelike spaces would minimize the spread of viruses while promoting better health and quality of life.

Redfin launches in Ottawa

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Redfin, the tech-powered real estate brokerage, today announced its launch in Ottawa. On www.redfin.ca and Redfin’s mobile apps, customers can now search all the agent-listed homes for sale and see sale prices of homes in the greater Ottawa area.

Minto providing $51.4M in financing for Ottawa project

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Minto Apartment REIT (MI-UN-T) today announced an agreement to provide up to $51.4 million in financing to a subsidiary of Minto Properties Inc. to develop a residential site in Ottawa. Beechwood comprises approximately one acre of land fronting Beechwood Avenue.