Marlin Spring enters office sector, JVs on Ottawa tower

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Apartments  •  Ottawa

Toronto developer and real estate investor Marlin Spring has moved into the office sector, buying majority interest in 81 Metcalfe St., a 12-storey office building in Ottawa’s Central Business District. Marlin Spring and Colonnade Bridgeport are now co-owners of the tower.

Reserve, Westdale partners again at T.O’s Line 5 condos

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums  •  Toronto / GTA

Reserve Properties and Westdale Properties have broken ground on the latest major development near Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue East in Toronto, the Line 5 condominiums. Construction of the 19-km Eglinton Crosstown LRT has made the area intensely appealing for development.

KingSett proposes two-tower complex with GO link

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

KingSett Capital has proposed a mixed-use development with towers of 33 and 31 storeys, which would be connected by a podium ranging in height from four to seven storeys and include retail space and a link to the new Bloor-Lansdowne GO station.

Artis partners on U.S. industrial, sells three properties

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail  •  Saskatchewan, International

Artis REIT has announced its first transactions under its new management team; a joint venture to build a 561,000 square foot industrial development in the Phoenix area, and the sale of three more non-core assets – shopping centre, office and industrial properties.

Epta Development plans 12-storey rental tower

Residential, Commercial  •  urbanYVR

Epta Development Corp. is planning a 12-storey rental tower with below-market units. The Vancouver development would include a six-storey podium, a total of 175 units (35 per cent of which will be offered at below-market rents), and street-level retail spaces.

Bousfields proposes infill project with 300 rentals

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Bousfields Inc., planning consultant to Ontario Holdings Ltd, proposes an infill project in Toronto’s Moss Park neighbourhood which could bring over 300 new rental dwellings and residential amenities to two existing apartment buildings at 191-201 Sherbourne St.

CPP, Greystar to JV on U.S. multifamily development

Residential  •  IPE Real Assets  •  Canada Newswire

CPP Investments and Greystar Real Estate Partners have formed a joint venture to develop multifamily real estate in the U.S. CPP Investments has allocated US$350 million of equity for a 90% stake and Greystar is investing US$39 million for the remaining 10%.

Ottawa’s AMPED becomes first zero-carbon ice rink

Commercial  •  Sustainable Biz Canada

The AMPED Sports Lab and Ice Complex, a privately operated arena and training complex in the south end of Ottawa, has become the first such facility to achieve the zero-carbon building performance standard.

BentallGreenOak sells D.C. office asset for $58.5M

Commercial  •  CP Executive  •  RENX

BentallGreenOak has finalized the $58.5-million US leasehold sale of a 157,050-square-foot office property in downtown Washington, D.C. Tritower Financial Group acquired the building and financed the purchase with a $41.3 million seller carryback loan, according to public records.

Property data must be under one roof: OPINION

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Data and technology are quickly becoming available for a tech-driven future, but for proptech to succeed and deliver safe and sustainable work environments, building data must be brought under one roof for building managers to generate and implement actionable insights.

Should we regulate delivery platforms?

Commercial  •  La Presse

OPINION: While more people are having meals delivered to their homes, the Ontario government has ruled the commissions charged to restaurants by platforms like Uber Eats or DoorDash are capped at 20 per cent. In Quebec, practices are not regulated.

Stakeholders explore COVID’s effect on construction

Residential, Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

COVID-19 dramatically transformed the Canadian construction landscape in 2020 with more disruption to come in the new year. Stakeholders were invited to assess COVID’s continuing impacts for 2021 through the lenses of leadership, health and safety, the economy and projects and innovation:

Canadians enter 2021 on wave of optimism

Residential  •  Financial Post

Canadian households reported a surge in confidence in the final weeks of 2020 that has brought sentiment back to pre-pandemic levels for the first time since the economy crashed last year, according to polling by Bloomberg News and Nanos Research Group.

Avison Young expands to Hungary

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Avison Young announced a strategic affiliation with real estate advisory and asset management group Limehouse, which will now operate its advisory services in Budapest, Hungary under the AY brand, while carrying-on its asset management activity in parallel as Limehouse Partners.

International investors expected to chase Aussie CRE

Commercial  •  Commercial Real Estate News

Architect Anya Moryoussef designs compact T.O. home

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

Young Toronto architect Anya Moryoussef was hired to rebuild a little house, just one storey high and 17 feet wide – and yet, in terms of space and light, she chose to go big. “I am interested in this idea of an infinite architecture.”

B.C. increases 2021 homeowner grant

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Vancouver Sun

A grant that helps B.C. homeowners offset a portion of their property tax is being raised to reflect an increase in the assessed value of their homes. The threshold for the 2021 homeowner grant has been set at $1.625 million, a $100,000 increase.

GTA luxury home sales set sales record: RE/MAX

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Luxury home sales over $3 million set a record in the midst of a pandemic in the GTA, with the number of freehold and condominium properties sold in 2020 topping peak 2017 levels, according to a RE/MAX of Ontario–Atlantic Canada report.

Toronto neighbourhoods with the most Airbnbs

Residential  •  blogTO

Short-term rentals are more densely packed in the downtown Toronto core, particularly in condo-heavy areas. The city centre from Roncesvalles to just east of the DVP and from the waterfront up to St. Clair are rife with short-term rentals.

Work from home trend will shape real estate in 2021

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Financial Post  •  La Presse

The novel coronavirus pandemic that caused upheaval in the work and home lives of Canadians in 2020 will continue to shape the real estate landscape in Toronto and many parts of Ontario in 2021, says John Andrew, a professor at Queen’s University in Kingston.