Starlight on apt. buying spree; to reorganize global trust

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Apartments  •  Ontario, Metro Vancouver, Toronto / GTA, British Columbia

Starlight Investments has been on an apartment buying spree, and also announced it will seek investor approval to reorganize its Starlight Hybrid Global Assets Trust (SCHG.UN-NE) as a private investment trust. The apartment acquisitions involve 18 buildings from Victoria to Toronto.

Devimco breaks ground on $800M Longueuil TOD

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Retail, Apartments, Condominiums  •  Greater Montreal

Devimco Immobilier has broken ground on the first phase of a major transit-oriented redevelopment in Longueuil’s downtown core, at the Université-de-Sherbrooke métro station in Greater Montreal. The $800-milllion development is the largest in the history of Longueuil.

Darwin’s Lonsdale Square breaks ground in North Van.

Residential, Commercial  •  Western Investor  •  RENX

Darwin Properties began construction last week on Phase 1 of Lonsdale Square, a 6.6-acre North Vancouver development that will transform the upper area of Lonsdale Avenue. The mixed-used community will feature 800-plus new homes, including seniors housing and market rental housing.

Reserve proposes two Scarborough mixed-use towers

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Reserve Properties has proposed 26- and 29-storey mixed-use towers in the Woburn neighbourhood of Scarborough. The IBI Group-designed buildings would include  644 units in a mix of 146 studios, 258 one-bedrooms, 161 two-bedrooms, and 79 three-bedrooms in addition to a daycare centre.

Taggart, Glenview propose 27-storey Ottawa mixed-use

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Taggart Realty Management and Glenview Homes have proposed a 27-storey tower with a six-storey podium in downtown Ottawa. The plan calls for 295 apartments in a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units and about 1,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Tenblock proposes 29-storey rental/condo tower

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Tenblock has proposed a 29-storey rental and condo tower to replace the 1959 apartment building 145 St. George St., steps from the St George Subway Station. The architects—Alliance-designed project would include 341 residential units: 72 studios, 196 one-bedrooms, 50 two-bedrooms and 23 three-bedrooms.

Sponsored by Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Transit-oriented suburbs are a sweet spot for the post-pandemic office

The office real estate market has been subject to much discussion over the last year. As vaccine rates increase and COVID-19 cases subside, optimism is starting to take hold.

Reliance’s Jon Stovell on Van.’s bright future

Residential, Commercial  •  urbanYVR  •  RENX

VIDEO: Reliance Properties‘ president and CEO, Jon Stovell offered insights on where Vancouver is headed and the challenges it needs to overcome to reach our full potential and accommodate hundreds of thousands of new residents in the coming decades.

Ont. cold storage gathers investment steam

Commercial  •  REMI Network

Ontario cold storage facilities are flagged to deliver robust returns to investors due to the evolution of food retailing, demand for vaccines and other pharmaceuticals, and the thriving outlook for the warehouse/distribution and logistics sector in general.

Central Walk completes purchase of Victoria mall

Commercial  •  Saanich News  •  Victoria Times Colonist

Victoria’s Mayfair shopping centre has been purchased by international CRE company Central Walk. The deal closed June 1 and is the second transaction between Central Walk and Ivanhoé Cambridge, following the sale of Nanaimo’s Woodgrove Centre in September.

Are Canadian REITs next to take off?

Residential, Commercial  •  Financial Post

Canadian REITs lagged the broader equity market in 2020, falling 13 per cent compared to a six per cent increase for the S&P TSX Composite Index. However, REITs appear to be staging a smart comeback. Year-to-date, hotel REITs have surged 46 per cent.

B.C.’s biggest CRE managers begin recovery

Commercial  •  Business In Vancouver

B.C.’s top commercial property managers suffered in 2020 as the real estate they managed dropped below 2017 levels, after falling 5.2% to 5.5 million square feet. However, B.C.’s top property managers have increased their average management portfolios by 3.6% to 5.7 million square feet in 2021.

T.O.’s losing HQ2 bid still delivered benefits

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Toronto Global, the economic development agency that co-ordinated the unsuccessful HQ2 bid, says 100-plus international companies with more than 5,000 jobs have spent more than $1 billion in the region since that time. Amazon has grown its Toronto workforce to more than 1,600.

Flagship acquires two U.S. MHCs for $66.4M

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

Flagship Communities REIT (MHC-U-T) announced that it has waived conditions on the acquisition of two high-quality manufactured housing communities comprising 677 lots in St. Louis and Anderson, Ind., for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$66.4 million.

61% of workers to return to office by September: Wall St.

Commercial  •  Bloomberg

Wall Street is getting more optimistic about persuading workers to come back to the office. Employers in the financial-services industry expect 61% of staff to be back by the end of September, up from 50% in March, according to a survey.

U.S. millennials reshaping pandemic-era offices

Commercial  •  Commercial Observer  •  MarketWatch

A focus on wellness — including gyms and meditation rooms — has become par for the course, but U.S. millennials also care more about air quality and ventilation than many older workers in the wake of the pandemic. 

Bigger mortgages push Canadian debt to $1.7T

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Toronto Star  •  Financial Post

New mortgage borrowing rose 41 per cent year-over-year in Q1, according to consumer credit reporting firm Equifax Inc. The average limit on new mortgages — the amount for which borrowers were approved — jumped more than 20 per cent to $326,930.

Fonds, EDIFIA JV on 132-unit Quebec City rental

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

The Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ is teaming up with EDIFIA Groupe Immobilier on Le Cardinal Nord, a 132-unit residential rental project in Quebec City. The project in the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough is slated for completion in summer 2022.

Commissions and fees up 79% YOY in March

Residential  •  Toronto Storeys

Statistics Canada says real estate commissions and fees hit a record high in the latest GDP data, with seasonally adjusted commissions and fees reaching $19.14 billion in March, up 2.56 per cent month-over-month. It’s 79.7 per cent higher year-over-year, 77.47 per cent from March 2019.

Using property taxes to control housing prices a bad idea

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Business In Vancouver

OPINION: Growing concerns about housing affordability have some advocates urging municipal governments to increase residential property tax rates as a way to moderate ever-increasing home prices, which continue to rise even when transaction volumes moderate. That’s a bad idea.