Highfield expands 1,100-acre Balzac industrial park

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Calgary

Highfield Investment Group is taking advantage of the continued unprecedented demand for industrial real estate space in the Calgary area by expanding its footprint in Balzac. The company has spearheaded the incredible growth of the High Plains Industrial Park.

Downtown Toronto’s Gehry project takes next steps

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Retail, Condominiums  •  Toronto / GTA

Three developers have refined the plans for their two-tower mixed-use project in downtown Toronto designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry and his team. The 74-storey east tower and 84-storey west tower are to be built on King Street West.

After rough year, H&R REIT considers splitting up

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  RENX

Toronto-based H&R REIT (HR-UN-T) is considering spinning out some divisions as standalone companies. Its market performance has suffered more than many of its peers’, with its units currently trading at a 30 to 35 per cent discount to their net asset value.

Triple Group of Companies CEO dead at 69

Commercial  •  Wealth Professional  •  Canada Newswire

Toronto-based Triple Group of Companies announced the sudden death of chairman and CEO Andreas (Andy) Apostolopoulos at 69. During his lifetime, he amassed a fortune of around $4 billion, thanks to his adept redevelopment of properties in empty business areas and communities.

Office conversions offer ray of hope in Calgary

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  RENX

Renovating vacant office buildings to give them new purpose is one way to inject life back into Calgary’s struggling downtown. However, it’s no simple task. Asheet Ruparell is attempting to turn a 40-year-old office building into a boutique hotel.

True North Mortgage relocates Calgary HQ

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

True North Mortgage announced the successful relocation of its headquarters to Bow Valley Square II, at 205-5th Ave SW in Calgary. True North Mortgage now occupies the entire 36th floor, more than doubling the usable space of its prior location.

The People Space › People Space: JLL adds trio, new faces at AY, WPT…

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Three-storey industrial planned for White Spot site

Commercial  •  urbanYVR

Vancouver-based Shato Holdings is planning to replace a Vancouver White Spot restaurant with the three-storey, 134,421-square-foot Sunset Industrial Centre. The new industrial building will be designed by TKAD Architecture + design and will include underground, surface and above-ground parking.

Stratford glass factory project suspended ‘indefinitely’

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Residents of Stratford are claiming victory after Xinyi Glass Canada Ltd. said it was suspending its plans for a $400-million glass factory project in the theatre city “indefinitely to avoid further financial loss and unfounded attacks on its reputation.”

Emblem unveils 14-storey Hamilton condo tower

Residential  •  Insauga  •  Urban Toronto

Toronto-based Emblem Developments will be accepting sales in late February for 1 Jarvis, its 14-storey Hamilton tower with 377 mixed condo units, ranging from one- to three-bedrooms and prices starting in the mid-$300,000s, which is well below the current market.

Marwest Apartment REIT proposes qualifying transaction

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Marwest Apartment REIT (MAR-P-X) announced it has entered into an agreement relating to a proposed qualifying transaction involving the acquisition of two limited partnerships owning an aggregate of two multifamily residential properties comprising a total of 251 suites in Winnipeg.

REIT fourth-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

Dream Impact Trust, (MPCT-UN-T), Business Wire
Dream Industrial REIT, (DIR-UN-T), Business Wire
H&R REIT, (HR-UN-T), Canada Newswire
Morguard North American Residential REIT, (MRG-UN-T), Canada Newswire

NorthWest JVs on interest in Australian healthcare trust

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (NWH-UN-T) has entered into joint venture option agreements to acquire approximate 16 per cent of the units in Australian Unity Healthcare Property Trust a $2.3-billion unlisted trust comprising 62 high-quality hospital, medical centres and other healthcare assets.

Oxford, Related top out $3.8B Manhattan skyscraper

Commercial  •  CP Executive  •  RENX

Oxford Properties Group, Related Cos., and Mitsui Fudosan America, the developers behind New York City’s fourth-largest office tower, have laid the final beam on the 58-storey 50 Hudson Yards in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards district, as office users eye a return.

Brookfield’s playbook has employees returning to office

Commercial  •  Financial Post

Brookfield (BAM-A-T) says three-quarters of its employees at Brookfield Place, its U.S. headquarters at the foot of Manhattan, have been back in the office since late November — and it has a playbook that it says other businesses can follow.

New York City CRE sales reach $11B in H2: REBNY

Commercial  •  CP Executive

Total commercial real estate deal volume in New  York City ticked up five per cent from the first half to the second half of 2020, while the number of sales increased 11 percent, according to the Real Estate Board of New York.

Vacant home tax has T.O. condo investors looking to sell

Residential  •  blogTO

More than two-thirds of Toronto condo investors are considering selling according to TRREB’s Market Year in Review and Outlook 2021, in part due to a prospective vacancy tax, as well as further restrictions on Airbnbs.

TRREB, Teranet, AMP Systems launch Multi-List Platform

Residential  •  Globe Newswire

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), real estate data experts Teranet Inc. and technology specialists AMP Systems LLC (a sister company of Stratus Data Systems) are joining forces to launch a next-generation Multi-List Platform and Blockchain solution.

Canadians tapping HELOCs to fund home renos

Residential  •  Globe and Mail  •  Montreal Gazette

With many people now  working from home, the lockdown has led to a boom in home improvement projects. That has galvanized borrowing, with home owners taking on debt through the likes of a home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).

No-payment mortgage scheme floated in Vancouver

Residential  •  Western Investor  •  Canada Newswire

Vancouver’s Fraction Technologies Inc. is aiming to revamp the residential mortgage landscape in North America, but the high down payment required would make it unworkable for most home buyers, said Mortgage Alliance mortgage broker and consultant  Peter Kinch.