Oxford to invest $985M in 4 U.S. life sciences assets

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  International

Oxford Properties Group has acquired four life sciences properties plus developable land in Boston and San Francisco for $350 million Cdn. It also plans to develop an additional $635 million worth of medical laboratory space at the Bay Area property.

T.O. office vacancy rate highest since financial crisis

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Office vacancy rates climbed across the country, with downtown Toronto’s jumping to 7.2 per cent in Q4, as tenants tried to get rid of space and did not renew leases amid months of remote work, according to CBRE’s latest report.

Ont. vows ‘inspection blitz’ of crowded big-box stores

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Toronto Star  •  Toronto Star

The Ontario government is planning an “inspection blitz” over concerns of crowding at big-box stores that have been allowed to remain open to sell groceries. However, industry groups say the province needs to overhaul its approach to retail stores.

Reid’s strategy for CRE success: Partnerships, smaller cities

RENX  Residential  •  Apartments  •  Ontario

Reid’s Heritage Properties was spun off of Reid’s Heritage Homes in 2013 by Scott Reid to focus on building purpose-built rental apartments. It’s been working with a variety of development partners in the income-producing property sector ever since.

Couche-Tard in talks to buy Carrefour for about $20B

Commercial  •  Financial Post  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Reuters

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (ATD-A-T), the Laval-headquartered owner of Circle K convenience stores, is exploring a takeover of French grocer Carrefour SA in a roughly US$20 billion deal that would create a trans-Atlantic retail giant.

First Capital REIT slashes monthly payout in half

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

Retail landlord First Capital REIT (FCR-UN-T) cut its monthly distribution in half as economic shutdowns escalate across Canada, marking the second major retail REIT to slash its payout over the past month. RioCan REIT earlier cut its distribution by one-third.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Avoiding roadblocks in commercial real estate transactions

Kelly Macsymic: Business Manager, Stuart Commercial Inc., Sales Associate, ICR Commercial Real Estate

Most Ontario construction projects can continue

Residential, Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Ontario construction projects involving office towers without any residential or retail component, strip malls, and residential construction jobs which hadn’t already started by Tuesday will all have to temporarily shut down operations due to new lockdown restrictions.

29-storey infill rental tower proposed for Etobicoke

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

A revised zoning by-law amendment application for a 29-storey infill rental tower at 1 Richview Rd. in Central Etobicoke was submitted on behalf of Betovan Construction. The initial version of the project two years ago was for a 21-storey, 235-unit building.

B.C. hotel occupancy plunges below 30 per cent

Commercial  •  Western Investor

BC Hotel Association president/CEO Ingrid Jarrett said her $3.2-billion industry, which pre-pandemic employed approximately 60,000 to oversee 80,000 hotel rooms, has been ravaged, with occupancy of less than 30 per cent at the end of 2020. “That is a 60% drop from 2019,” she said.

Nicola Wealth reins in Stallion, grows Canadian presence

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Nicola Wealth, one of Canada’s fastest-growing private investment counsel firms, will be partnering with Stallion Financial as part of their strategy to grow their team of financial advisors and expand into new Canadian markets. The deal was finalized on Jan 1.

Podcasts from the real estate world

Residential, Commercial  • 

Michael Turner, Oxford Properties Group: The value in people, CRE Podcast
Geoff Smith, EllisDon: Building SkyDome, CRE Library: Episode 45
Anthio Yuen, GWL Realty Advisors: Big picture thinking, Highview Partners People Who Perform: Episode 32

Up to 300 Canadian Starbucks to be shuttered by March

Commercial  •  CityNews

Starbucks says its plan to close up to 300 coffee shops across Canada will be complete by the end of March. The Seattle-based chain announced the acceleration of its five-year “transformation strategy” last year in response to changes in consumer habits.

QuadReal invests $1B in Realstar’s U.K. assets

Residential, Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

Realstar Group announced Vancouver-headquartered QuadReal Property Group has invested $1 billion to acquire a majority interest in eight of its U.K. assets (seven in London, one in Manchester). Four of these assets form part of Realstar’s UNCLE branded rental housing portfolio.

Airbnb cancels Wash. reservations during inauguration

Residential  •  The Hill  •  USA Today

Airbnb announced Wednesday it will cancel all Washington, D.C., metro area reservations during the week of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration amid concerns of potentially violent demonstrations. The decision was made after discussions with local leaders and law enforcement officials.

Major surge in U.S. ‘million-dollar cities’

Residential  •  PR Newswire  •  Mansion Global

The number of “million-dollar cities” spiked sharply last year,  according to Zillow. There are 45 more U.S. cities with a typical home value of at least $1 million than there were a year ago – the largest increase in at least a decade.

Vancouver explores ways to increase rental housing

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

Supplying a growing region with affordable and secure rentals will be the topic of a virtual panel discussion by Simon Fraser University and the City of Vancouver called Towards a More Equitable Housing System: Is Vancouver a City for Renters?

A feeling it’s ‘safe’ to buy again buoys T.O. condo market

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

Tiny condo units in downtown Toronto are beginning to sell again as investors bet on units with discounted prices. “As soon as there was talk of a vaccine, there was interest,” says Harvey Kalles Real Estate’s Andre Kutyan.

Montreal Ritz-Carlton penthouse sells for record $11M

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette  •  Business Wire

A Ritz-Carlton penthouse condominium nicknamed “the Rockstar” has sold for $11 million, making it the highest recorded condominium sale in Quebec history. The penthouse is part of the Ritz-Carlton Residences Montreal complex that includes 19 units, six of them penthouse apartments.

2021 will remain a seller’s market: Experts

Residential  •  Toronto Sun

With move-up and move-over buyers continuing to drive activity in many regions across Canada and an ongoing housing supply shortage likely to continue, Re/Max Canada expects average residential prices to rise four to six per cent this year.