Vancouver’s Cressey pivots from rentals for Format condos

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums  •  Metro Vancouver

Cressey Development Group is only launching one condo project this year, and everything about Format is aimed at millennial buyers — from the urban location, to the customized use of space, to the hip lobby meeting area, to the interior designer.

Urban exodus? It won’t last, Ottawa multires builders say

RENX  Residential  •  Condominiums, Apartments  •  Ottawa

Oh, what a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago at the Ottawa Real Estate Forum, the panel discussion regarding Ottawa’s multi-residential market focused around a continued supply imbalance. This year the COVID-19 pandemic cast a long shadow.

Suncor to move GTA offices to Calgary in 2021

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Suncor Energy (SU-T) is transitioning positions from its offices in Mississauga and Oakville to Calgary in 2021. About 700 are currently employed at the two Ontario offices and a number of positions in sales, marketing, finance and other businesses will be relocated.

Steele Business Park Wpg.’s latest industrial project

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

The industrial development renaissance in Winnipeg is continuing at a blistering pace with another 17-acre, 200,000-square-foot-plus development. Steele Business Park is being developed by Martin McGarry’s local private equity firm MMI Asset Management. McGarry is also president of Cushman & Wakefield/Stevenson.

Feds mete out $1B via Rapid Housing Initiative

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Over a fifth ($203.3 million) of the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative‘s $1-billion investment  to create up to 3,000 new permanent, affordable housing units will be allocated to Toronto, with Montréal next at $56.8 million, followed by Vancouver ($51.5 million) and Ottawa ($31.9 million).

Zayoun proposes multi-building project in W. Ottawa

Residential, Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Zayoun Group proposes to build a 175-unit condominium complex with ground-floor retail space as part of its plan to develop a 22-acre site in a new Stittsville subdivision. The proposal also calls for another 180 condo units in five separate buildings.

Sponsored by Lockourier Canada Lockourier Canada speeds parcel locker advancements

The world as we knew it has changed and motivated large shifts in how people manage every facet of their lives. Technology has changed the way they work and shop, and housing is at the epicentre of this upheaval. Online

Virtus REIT acquires first U.S.-based holding

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Woodbridge, Ont.-based Virtus Real Estate Investment Trust announced the acquisition of its first U.S. holding: a 71,760-square-foot, freestanding commercial building at 1899 Cinema Dr., Olean, N.Y. for $7,450,000 US. The building is currently occupied by BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Minto Apartment REIT CFO Julie Morin honoured

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  RENX

Julie Morin, the chief financial officer who played a key role in the creation of Minto Apartment REIT (MI-UN-T) – now valued at $2 billion – is the 2020 recipient of CFO of the Year, awarded by the Ottawa Board of Trade.

Gap’s new CEO confronts years of decline

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

In late March, Gap Inc. (GPS-N), the perennially struggling retailer, temporarily closed all its North American stores in response to the COVID-19 lockdown and lost 70 per cent of its revenue overnight. Four days later, Sonia Syngal took over as CEO.

Shopify to partner with TikTok to woo merchants

Commercial  •  Reuters

Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify (SHOP-T) said on Tuesday it will partner with TikTok to help its one million-plus merchants more easily advertise their products on the video-sharing app, as it looks to grow its customer base.

RBI to modernize drive-thrus as profit slumps

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

Coffee-and-doughnuts chain Tim Hortons is continuing to drag down earnings for parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR-T), which said it would modernize drive-thrus at more than 10,000 Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes outlets in North America.

Shoppers Drug Mart huge pandemic winner

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Shoppers Drug Mart is one of the winners in the pandemic-induced economic downturn. Parent company Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L-T), saw profits rise in Q1 2020 despite the added costs of safety measures, with Shoppers’ same-store sales rising more than 10 per cent.

Sobeys next in line to hike supplier fees

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Analysts said Monday Stellarton, N.S., based grocer Sobeys Inc. (EMP-A-T) will likely follow its Canadian competitors in raising supplier fees, a move they warn could lead to less competition and, relatedly, higher food costs and fewer brands on store shelves.

Dunkin’ shares hit all-time high after buyout talks

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  Reuters

The Dunkin’ doughnuts and coffee chain (DNKN-Q) has confirmed it’s held talks to be taken private by private equity firm Inspire Brands, sending its shares rocketing to an all-time high Monday.

Brookfield closes $1.78B European core-plus fund

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) today announced the closing of its first European core-plus real estate fund, Brookfield European Real Estate Partnership, with total equity commitments of $1.78 billion Cdn. Investors include public and private pension plans, and insurance companies.

New players try to gain foothold in Canadian market

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

New real estate players such as Properly Inc., Redfin and Justo are trying to grab a piece of Canada’s booming real estate market, taking on traditional brokerages. However, gaining a foothold has proved tough in the past.

Real estate cracks fail to rattle Canada’s big banks

Residential  •  Bloomberg

Parts of Canada’s housing market are showing strain, but one group isn’t buying into dire warnings about the end of a decades-long boom: the bankers writing most of the mortgages.

Construction of Chartwell’s Ajax care home set to begin

Residential  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH-UN-T) announced today it has received all necessary approvals to commence construction of a new 224-bed long-term care home in Ajax, Ont. The completion of the $65.2-million development is expected in the spring of 2023.

COVID-19 has minimal impacts on homeowner sentiment

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) today released the third installment of Rapidly Evolving Expectations in the Housing Industry, which suggests that consumers’ attitudes on homeownership during the pandemic have changed very little since MPC first polled Canadians three months ago.