Toronto’s Bay St. Canada’s priciest office space: JLL

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  National

Toronto’s Bay Street has retained its position as Canada’s most expensive street for office tenants, according to real estate services firm JLL. Bay Street topped the list with an average rent of $77.96 per square foot.

WeWork, Ivanhoé’s $3B buying spree on hold

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  RENX  •  RENX

WeWork said in May it was setting up a joint venture with Ivanhoé Cambridge to invest up to $2.9B of equity in real estate assets. However, Ivanhoé’s chief investment officer said the venture is on pause while WeWork stabilizes itself.

Co-working mirrors hotels in offering more services

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

The past decade has seen a dramatic transformation in co-working space. Once the realm of independent providers, it’s now a way to house rotating teams of workers and shifting space demands.

Strategic Group gets creditor protection for Alta. assets

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Alberta, Calgary

UPDATED with interviews: Calgary-based real estate firm Strategic Group has obtained protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act for 56 of its Alberta properties. CEO Riaz Mamdani told RENX the extended downturn in the province’s economy is to blame.

Aragon’s Esquimalt Town Square project underway

Residential, Commercial  •  Western Investor

Aragon Properties has started a mixed-use project in suburban Greater Victoria that will blend two residential low-rise towers, offices and commercial space and a library in a complex known as the Esquimalt Town Square.

CRE leaders seek full disclosure of building data

Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

The first results of Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) Disclosure Challenge and its five voluntary participants show how far Canada’s commercial real estate industry must still go to significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Saskatoon retail continues market expansion

Barry Stuart: Managing Partner and Senior Sales Associate , ICR Commercial Real Estate

Hazeldean Mall to host Ottawa’s largest GoodLife

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

More than four years after Target vacated the Hazeldean Mall, the Kanata shopping centre has landed a high-profile tenant to fill part of the space left empty. GoodLife Fitness said Wednesday it plans to open a 50,000-square-foot “mega-club.”

Developments revive Edmonton’s warehouse district

Commercial  •  CBC

The Gather Co., which has a track record for developing successful, progressive spaces such as the Mercer Warehouse on 104th Street in Edmonton, recently took over the commercial property in the nearby Quest condominium building.

Edmonton LRT expansion lives on

Commercial  •  Edmonton Journal

Edmonton’s $2.67-billion Valley Line West LRT expansion will roll on after the proposal for a bus alternative along the same line was shot down during the first day of budget deliberations.

Landlords play waiting game in B.C.’s LNG boom

Residential, Commercial  •  Western Investor

Fourteen months ago, when LNG Canada, an international consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell, announced the final investment decision on the biggest private-sector resource project in Canadian history, it lit a fire under residential real estate investors.

Richmond owners want farmland out of ALR

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

Council has previously refused to allow three properties in East Richmond to be pulled out of B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), but the owners are giving it another go.

Bentley luggage retailer to close 88 stores

Commercial  •  La Presse

Bentley, which applied for creditor protection on Nov. 26, will close 88 stories after the holidays. The company will keep 163 stores in all, including 48 in Quebec.

Battle heats up between Catalyst and HBC

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

The battle between rivals Catalyst Capital Group Inc. and Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC-T) grew more heated on Wednesday, as the Ontario Securities Commission declined to block a hearing into complaints about the $1.1-billion privatization bid for the retailer.

AHIP completes $5.6M in renovations at U.S. hotels

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

American Hotel Income Properties REIT (HOT-UN-T) has recently completed approximately $4.5 million of renovations at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Cleveland Rockside (Independence, Ohio) and $1.1 million of renovations at the TownePlace Suites Chattanooga near Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Major hotel chains sued for enabling sex trafficking

Commercial  •  CBC  •  PR Newswire

Landmark U.S. legal action was filed on Monday accusing several major hotel groups of profiting from sex trafficking on behalf of 13 women who claimed they were sold for sex in hotel rooms.

Ontario syndicated mortgage changes delayed

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

A major anticipated change in the regulation of syndicated mortgage investments in Ontario is being delayed to July. The Ontario Securities Commission was expected to assume oversight in January for complex syndicated mortgage products from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority.

T.O. works to restrict density on iconic strip of Queen St. W.

Residential  •  Globe and Mail  •  CBC

Toronto is on the verge of unveiling a sweeping proposal to restrict density on a long stretch of Queen Street West, the key downtown strip that for decades has showcased the city’s most eclectic art, music and fashion.

Van. moving ever so slowly toward rental zones

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun  •  Western Investor

A powerful new residential rental zoning introduced to address B.C.’s housing crisis is mostly gathering dust more than a year after being introduced. New Westminster was the first to implement Residential Rental Tenure Zoning and was met with a lawsuit.

B.C. extends speculation tax exemptions for strata owners

Residential  •  Vancouver Province

Owners of multiple condos and apartments who can’t rent their units due to strata restrictions will get an extended exemption – until Dec. 31, 2021 – from the province’s speculation tax, under changes announced Tuesday.