Granite to spend $368M for 10 industrial properties

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Toronto / GTA, International

Granite REIT (GRT-UN-T) says it has plans to acquire six industrial properties and four industrial development sites in Canada and the United States in coming weeks for a total purchase price of $368.3 million.

InnerSpace allows occupiers to analyze, maximize use of space

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  National

Patented technology from InnerSpace Technology Inc. is helping corporate real estate teams better assess how their space is being used.

QScale head proposes $5B Mtl. data centre complex

Commercial  •  La Presse

Martin Bouchard, founder of the 4Degrés data centres and president and co-founder at QScale, wants to build at least three high-intensity data processing complexes with recovery of thermal waste. The estimated cost of the Saint-Bruno project would be around $5 billion.

Primont’s Hillmont site to include four towers

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Primont Homes‘ SXSW Condos development is gearing up to bring four towers to the Islington Avenue and Steeles area. The new BDP Quadrangle-designed 30- and 22-storey towers will join the first pair of 19- and 22-storey condominium towers to the north.

Lion Electric building battery complex at Mirabel

Commercial, Real Estate  •  Canada Newswire  •  Les Affaires  •  La Presse

The Lion Electric Company (LEV-T), a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty urban vehicles, announced the company’s $185-million battery manufacturing plant and innovation centre will be located at the YMX International Aerocity of Mirabel, Que.

$350M wheat straw facility to open in Regina

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Regina Leader-Post  •  Canada Newswire

Kelowna-based developer Red Leaf Pulp Limited plans to build a $350-million facility in Regina to process wheat straw. Red Leaf says it will start building Canada’s first wheat-based pulp mill in early 2022.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Surprisingly little correlation between interest rates and cap rates

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

Montreal seeks to redevelop two heritage buildings

Residential, Commercial  •  La Presse

Montreal wants to convert two vacant heritage buildings, the Misericordia Hospital and the Deaf-Mute Institute, to accommodate families, students, homeless people and offices. The former would house a new 17-storey office and condo tower, as well as student housing.

Vancouver city manager proposes permit reforms

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

After years of complaints from builders, businesses and homeowners about Vancouver’s complicated and time-consuming permits process, city manager Paul Mochrie is proposing the first of many planned sweeping reforms, including a pause on new standards for zero-emissions residential buildings.

Porter threatened to leave T.O.’s island airport

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Porter Airlines Inc. warned it was losing millions of dollars and threatened to leave Toronto’s island airport in a dispute with the owner of the terminal more than a year before the pandemic sent the air travel industry into crisis.

HBC reducing downtown Calgary store to 3 retail floors

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

The iconic downtown Calgary Hudson’s Bay store is reducing its retail footprint by consolidating its operations over three levels. The seven-storey building is owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company and RioCan in a joint venture.

REOC first-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

Emergia Inc., (EMER-CN), Globe Newswire
NexPoint Hospitality Trust, (NHT-U-X), Canada Newswire

CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic on CRE’s future

Commercial  •  D Magazine

Bob Sulentic, president and CEO of CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate firm, says the industry’s consolidation is one of the most surprising changes he’s witnessed since beginning his career with Trammell Crow Co. in 1984.

Avison Young opens first office on African continent

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Avison Young today announced the addition of Empact Corporate Real Estate Services (Empact CRES), a full-service commercial real estate services firm in South Africa. It will provide customized real estate solutions throughout South Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa.

Investors pour $10B into life sciences in 2021

Commercial  •  propmodo  •  RENX  •  RENX

The future of the office sector remains largely uncertain at this point, but there’s one segment that continues to see huge gains. Investors have spent more than $10 billion on life sciences buildings this year, according to Real Capital Analytics data.

Brookfield acquires five Chinese malls for $1.4B

Commercial  •  Mingtiandi

Brookfield Asset Management has made China’s biggest retail real estate acquisition since the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic by purchasing a set of five mainland malls from joint ventures invested by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for $1.4 billion US.

Ont. home insurance surges 64% in the past decade

Residential  •  Toronto Storeys

The average cost of home insurance in Canada grown at more than three times the rate of inflation over the past decade, resulting in premiums in Ontario rising by 64% over the same period, according to a new analysis from RATESDOTCA.

Mtl.-area single-family home prices surge 34% in May

Residential  •  Pique Newsmagazine  •  Les Affaires  •  Globe Newswire

Montreal-area home prices surged 34 per cent year-over-year in May, the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers reports. The median price of a single-family home rose to $496,000 from $370,000 year-over-year; condos averaged $365,000, up 30 per cent from $280,000 in May 2020.

Toronto housing market cools down in May

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Toronto Star  •  Financial Post

Toronto’s housing market slowed in May, the second straight month of declining sales. There were 11,951 home resales in the Toronto region, above the 10-year average for May but 12.5 per cent lower than April, says the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

Calgary sets record for May home sales

Residential  •  CTV  •  CBC

The Calgary Real Estate Board says sellers are looking to cash in on an active housing market, as prices continue to close in on their previous peak in 2014. The CREB reported 2,989 sales in May, a record for the month.