Niagara Ports development plan begins with Multimodal Hub

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Infrastructure  •  Ontario

A new Thorold Multimodal Hub offers over 500,000 square feet of warehousing and 200 acres of outdoor storage and material handling space that can be configured to suit diverse industrial operations. It’s the first major step in the Niagara Ports development strategy.

Equinor closes Calgary office in favour of St. John’s

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

The Canadian arm of Norwegian oil giant Equinor ASA (EQNR-N) has closed its downtown Calgary office and is moving staff to St. John’s, N.L., to better focus on offshore East Coast operations after selling its Alberta oil sands interests in 2017.

820 Church proposes triangular 32-storey hotel

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

820 Church GP has submitted a proposal for a 32-storey hotel at 820 Church St. in the Bloor-Yorkville area where a single-storey restaurant sits. The IBI Group-designed proposal is for a limited-service hotel with 168 rooms, limited food service, and on-site amenities.

Mondev proposes two 18-storey downtown Mtl. towers

Residential, Commercial  •  La Presse

Developer Mondev has proposed to build two 18-storey towers on Place Émilie-Gamelin, a project that would change the face of downtown Montreal. The buildings would include more than 500 housing units, as well as businesses on the lower floors.

Ottawa’s office vacancy rate rises to 8.7%: CBRE

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Ottawa’s CRE market continued to feel the impact of COVID-19 in the closing months of 2020 as the vacancy rate rose for the fourth consecutive quarter. The city-wide office vacancy rate rose from eight to 8.7 per cent in Q4, CBRE said.

Five predictions for Canadian retail in 2021

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

Despite the recent arrival of the vaccine for the COVID-19 pandemic, HRC Retail Advisory in a report expects the first half of 2021 to be a continuation of 2020’s acceleration toward digital and omni-channel, as most shoppers remain at home.

The Legal Corner › Silence can hurt you: More clarity on the contractual duty to act honestly

Darrell Gold: Partner, Robins Appleby LLP

Subterra, Turnkey combine to create STS Geothermal

Residential, Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

Subterra Renewables and Turnkey Site Solutions have joined forces to launch STS Geothermal, creating what they call Canada’s first full-service geothermal drilling and shoring service. The timing is right for companies positioning themselves within the green energy and sustainability sector.

Ski resorts in Western Canada hit by COVID-19

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Nearly 180 cases of COVID-19 have been tied to staff at three ski resorts in Western Canada as the industry works to stay afloat under tight health restrictions. The outbreaks have been blamed, in part, on crowded accommodations among staff.

Mtl. restaurant files class action against delivery fees

Commercial  •  CBC  •  CTV  •  Global News

Montreal restaurant Deli Boyz is launching a class-action lawsuit against food delivery companies for the alleged exorbitant and abusive commissions they are charging during the pandemic. The case  is targeting food delivery companies including Uber Eats, DoorDash and SkipTheDishes.

Downtown Yonge makeover finalized, heads to vote

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

The Yonge TOmorrow initiative was recommended for adoption by the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, clearing the way for a Toronto City Council vote on Feb. 2. The plan seeks to transform a section of Yonge into a highly pedestrianized road.

Vancouver most congested city in Canada for 2020

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Hive  •  KitchenerToday  •  Halifax ChronicleHerald

Vancouver has been ranked the most congested city in Canada during a year that saw normal traffic patterns upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ranking comes from the TomTom Traffic Index, a report out of the Netherlands.

Couche-Tard faces uphill battle in $20B bid for Carrefour

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

Canadian convenience store giant Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-A-T) is facing an uphill battle with its brazen play for French grocer Carrefour SA after drawing fire from the French government and raising questions about its strategy among surprised investors.

QuadReal invests $1B in Realstar’s U.K. assets

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  CRE Herald  •  RENX

CORRECTS STORY LINK: Realstar Group announced Vancouver-headquartered QuadReal Property Group has invested $1 billion to acquire a majority interest in eight of its U.K. assets. Four of these assets form part of Realstar’s UNCLE branded rental housing portfolio.

Dalfen continues expansion of Atlanta-area portfolio

Commercial  •  PR Newswire  •  RENX

Dalfen Industrial recently closed on the acquisition of Gwinnett Logistics Center in Dacula, Ga. – a suburb northeast of Atlanta. The industrial building totals 320,519 square feet and features all of the necessary requirements for mid- to large-sized distribution tenants.

Ivanhoé Cambridge, PAG launch $400M logistics venture

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Ivanhoé Cambridge and PAG Real Estate have launched a new venture focused on logistics assets in Japan. The venture aims at both developing and acquiring “for longer-term hold high-quality core logistics facilities” and will deploy as much as $400 million.

A record number of Montrealers leave the island

Residential  •  La Presse

The island of Montreal lost a record number of residents – 35,900 – in 2020, mainly to the benefit of its suburbs, according to the latest data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ).

B.C. speculation tax a failure, critics contend

Residential  •  Western Investor

Casey Edge, executive director of the Victoria Residential Builders’ Association, said despite B.C.’s two-year old speculation tax and vacancy tax, the average price of a single-detached home in the Victoria region last month was $992,202 up from $899,782 in December 2019.

Queen’s Park promises a second ban on evictions

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Ontario will soon head into its second moratorium on residential evictions, but details of how exactly enforcement will be stopped — and how long this ban will last — are still up in the air. The news was delivered on Tuesday.

Suspicions deepen over Saint John assessments

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC

Millions of dollars in record real estate sales in Saint John logged during the final three months of 2020 are adding to frustration with Service New Brunswick’s finding of almost no growth in the city’s tax base heading into 2021.