Economy on track for ‘very strong’ bounce in late 2021

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Apartments, Condominiums  •  National

“We are not out of the woods yet”. But the end of the pandemic might be in sight, the CRE industry has more data about potential lingering fallouts, and when the recovery begins it’s likely to be strong and fast.

Dream Impact buys two T.O. properties for $31.8M

Commercial  •  Business Wire  •  RENX

Dream Impact Trust (MPCT-UN-T) has closed on two downtown Toronto properties comprising 55,000 square feet for a total purchase price of $31.8 million. Once completed, the properties will be best-in-class, stabilized boutique office buildings in one of Canada’s most desirable neighbourhoods.

T.O. office vacancy rate to surpass 12% in 2021: CBRE

Commercial  •  Daily Hive  •  Financial Post

With thousands working from home, the downtown Toronto office vacancy rate is expected to keep growing. According to CBRE’s 2021 Real Estate Market Outlook, downtown Toronto office vacancy will rise to 12.4% this year — a noticeable increase from 2020’s 7.2% and 2019’s 2.2%.

It’s a renters’ market for office sector

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Ottawa Business Journal

Empty offices left behind by newly minted remote workers and other upheaval caused by the pandemic have begun to show up on the rental market and it’s presenting some prospective tenants with opportunities they couldn’t have imagined prior to COVID-19.

Barrie approves SmartCentres/Greenwin towers

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T), under its SmartLiving banner, and Greenwin Corp., have been granted approval for their rezoning of the planned 7.8-acre Barrie Lakeshore Developments project. The complex includes towers of 25, 35, 38, and 41 storeys with purpose-built rental units, hotel suites and retail.

Real Estate Wealth Insights › The limitations of cap rates in real estate transactions

Cliff Fraser: Chief Business Development Officer, Equiton Capital

Construction industry fears a skilled-trades shortage

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Like so many other sectors, the trades are not immune from the wave of baby boomers set to retire in the coming decade, adding urgency to the recruitment of younger and underrepresented people, those in construction say.

Homebuilders face surging demand, shrinking supplies

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

A new intensity of consumer desire for single-family homes has put the low-rise home development industry in something of a double bind: it’s being flooded with buyers at a time when developers are especially ill-equipped to meet increased demand.

Holt Renfrew unveils overhauled Mink Mile flagship

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

Toronto-based luxury retailer Holt Renfrew recently unveiled completed renovations to its 190,000-square-foot flagship store at 50 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. Holt Renfrew is spending more than $400 million’ multi-year investment to upgrade its fleet of stores.

Mitrex turns building cladding into solar energy producer

BIZ  Energy, Commercial  •  Investment, Technology  •  Ontario

Every building in Toronto could operate as its own powerplant if the founders of Mitrex, a solar-cladding business, get their way. The solar-integrated products are designed to provide a unique way for developers to create renewable energy and cut costs.

REIT fourth-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Dream Office REIT, (D-UN-T), Business Wire
ERES REIT, (ERE-UN-X), Globe Newswire
Slate Grocery REIT, (SRT-U-T), Business Wire

REOC fourth-quarter financial results

Residential, Commercial  • 

Dream Unlimited Corp., (DRM-T), Business Wire
Sienna Senior Living Inc., (SIA-T), Globe Newswire

Lowe’s quarterly sales hold above $20 billion

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  Toronto Star

Lowe’s Cos Inc. (LOW-N) rode a sustained boom in demand from people sprucing up their homes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, exceeding analyst estimates with quarterly sales of $20.31 billion.

Home Depot casts doubt on further room for improvement

Commercial  •  Reuters  •  Canada Newswire

Home Depot Inc. (HD-N) on Tuesday warned that it could not predict if its pandemic-induced sales dream run from last year will continue into 2021, even as its quarterly results handily beat analysts’ estimates.

CF, ReturnBear help retailers by easing return process

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Cadillac Fairview has partnered with ReturnBear to offer the ability to return items from multiple retailers at once, either at a single drop-off location at a CF shopping centre or shipped together in a single box to a ReturnBear centre.

SoftBank on verge of $500M settlement with WeWork founder

Commercial  •  Bisnow

SoftBank Group and former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, who left the company in 2019 in the wake of an IPO effort that fizzled, are in advanced talks to settle their legal quarrel. Neumann would receive a $500 million payout from SoftBank.

Ottawa snags federal land for infill development

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

The City of Ottawa has lined up the missing piece in Gladstone Village – a major infill development near the future Corso Italia Station – after negotiating steep discounts on 6.3 acres of federal land.

Montréal one of North America’s most resilient cities

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Despite COVID-19 and the border closure, Greater Montréal continues to attract foreign investors, international organizations, entrepreneurs, as well as foreign workers and international students. Montréal International supported foreign investment worth $2.233 billion in the region in 2020.

Bank of Canada monitoring housing market

Residential  •  Toronto Star  •  Financial Post

Governor Tiff Macklem says the Bank of Canada is seeing signs  people may be purchasing homes because they believe prices may go up. Macklem says rising prices are still a long way from the heated market of five years ago.

Vancouver’s presale condo market recovered in 2020

Residential  •  Vancouver Sun

Urban Analytics‘ Michael Ferreira said even though 2020’s new, multifamily or presale condo sales in were the third-lowest since 2011, “it’s pretty remarkable that we finished with as many sales as we did (as the market was) basically paralyzed in Q2.”