RioCan, Broccolini JV on Kirkland redevelopment

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Office, Retail, Homes  •  Toronto / GTA, Greater Montreal

RioCan REIT (REI-UN-T) and Broccolini Real Estate Group, which are both rapidly expanding their multifamily portfolios, have created a 50/50 joint venture for a 2.8 million square foot redevelopment of Centre Kirkland in the Montreal-area City of Kirkland.

RW Commercial proposes 66-storey mixed-use building

Residential, Commercial  •  blogTO  •  Daily Hive

The RW Commercial Properties Management has proposed a nine-storey podium reserved for office use, topped with a 57-storey tower containing some 645 residential units at 277 Wellington St. W. in Toronto’s Entertainment District. The development would include 1,500 square feet of retail space.

Mizrahi’s The One shooting to be Canada’s tallest

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Mizrahi Developments has applied for a height increase for The One which, if approved as submitted, would take the crown over both the SkyTower and Mirvish+Gehry, and make it a 94-storey, 1,109-foot-tall building, the tallest of any planned in Canada.

The People Space › People Space: Hirings at Slate, BOMA, Lasalle, Trez …

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Shopify maintains a ghostly presence in capital region

Commercial  •  Ottawa Citizen

Even now, 14 years after it launched a million electronic storefronts, it is difficult to know what to make of Shopify. The e-commerce specialist stormed to unaccustomed heights in 2020 when the market value of its shares tripled to more than $190 billion.

B.C. street-front retail property sale prices holding firm

Commercial  •  Western Investor

Sale prices are holding for Metro Vancouver street-front retail property, even though many storefronts have closed or face restrictions and some lease rates have fallen. Victoria and Kelowna, B.C.’s No. 2 and 3 metro regions, are seeing similar action, agents confirm.

B.C. firm’s ultraviolet lights can destroy airborne viruses

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

B.C.-based food manufacturer Nature’s Path has installed cutting-edge ultraviolet lighting and air-disinfection filters that promise to rid indoor air of the COVID-19 virus. Plants in Delta, BC., Blaine, Wash., and Sussex, Wis.,  have been equipped by Florida-based Healthe Inc.

Van.’s cheapest properties parking stalls, storage rooms

Residential, Commercial  •  Straight

The cheapest deals in Vancouver last year were downtown parking stalls and storage rooms. Parking stall No. 77 at 1200 Pacific Blvd. – all 153 square feet – sold for $45,000. A 200-square-foot storage room at the Vancouver House, a Westbank Corp. condo development, sold for $50,000.

How will Hamilton fulfil its density?: OPINION

Residential  •  Hamilton Spectator

The Province of Ontario projects Hamilton’s population will grow by 236,000 by 2051. That’s a big jump from our current population of about 540,000. So how much housing is needed to accommodate that level of growth?

EMERGE sees big growth through website acquisitions

Commercial  •  Retail Insider

Toronto-based EMERGE, an acquirer and operator of e-commerce assets, saw gross merchandise sales growth of 251 per cent from a year ago to $7.7 million. Revenue jumped by 196 per cent to $2.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $62,196, compared to negative $173,681 in Q3 2019.

Quebec-based retailer Bizou to close 30% of stores

Commercial  •  La Presse

By the end of January, 24 Bizou locations will be closing their doors for good. This represents nearly 30% of the retail chain’s stores, the vast majority of which are located in Quebec. Several locations are in the Maritimes and the GTA.

Caisse’s heavy hand shapes Mtl.’s transit future: OPINION

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec sees the extension of its Réseau express métropolitain as a way to earn rich returns for depositors, while its holdings in shopping centres and office buildings face uncertain post-pandemic prospects.

JLL sells Portland’s mixed-use Pittock Block for $326M

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

JLL Capital Markets announced it has closed the $326-million sale of the Pittock Block, a 302,262-square-foot, mixed-use asset in Portland’s central business district. The sale represents the highest priced single-asset sale in Oregon since 2015.

Amazon to spend $2B in homebuilding near key U.S. offices

Residential, Commercial  •  Yahoo Finance

Amazon.com said Wednesday it would spend $2 billion to create affordable homes in regions where three of its major U.S. employment hubs are located. It intends to create at least 20,000 affordable housing units in Puget Sound, Wash., Arlington, Va., and Nashville.

Pandemic spurs most bankruptcy filings since 2009

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  MarketWatch

More large U.S. companies filed for bankruptcy in 2020 than in any year since the global financial crisis, after the pandemic tipped swaths of the economy into distress. Energy, retail and consumer services companies led a total of 244 filings.

Asian movie theatres are thriving: Imax CEO

Commercial  •  Financial Post

While the North American box office continues to suffer, theatres on the other side of the Pacific are attracting customers in droves. In Japan, a record number saw movies in Imax Corp. theatres over the weekend, says CEO Rich Gelfond.

Lower Mainland property assessments up $50 billion

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver

Total residential assessments for the Lower Mainland increased by about $50 billion in value year-over-year, to $1.46 trillion in 2021 from $1.41 trillion in 2020, according to BC Assessment. Across the province, the value of residential real estate rose 4.2 per cent year-over-year, to $2.01 trillion.

Toronto embarks on short-term rental crackdown

Residential  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

For 2021, Toronto is ringing in its long-awaited enforcement of regulations on short-term rental sites. The city passed its bylaw to bring order to short-stay accommodations in 2018, spent a year in court and saw its planned implementation for 2020 delayed by COVID-19.

Toronto average home prices hit record $930,000

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Globe Newswire  •  Toronto Star

Toronto home prices reached a record in 2020, thanks to demand for larger homes and low interest rates. The average price for Toronto homes reached $930,000, up 13.5 per cent from 2019, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said.

Calgary sees highest December home sales since 2007

Residential  •  CBC

The Calgary Real Estate Board says the residential market had its best December since 2007 with 1,199 homes sold. The board says low interest rates and a 20 per cent inventory drop helped boost home sales to a 40.1 per cent year-over-year increase.