Investment Vision: Olin lays out Canada’s top performers

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Apartments, Investment  •  National, Metro Vancouver, Toronto / GTA, Calgary, Greater Montreal

Vision Capital Corporation co-founder and CEO Jeff Olin embraces periods of volatility in public markets and that’s exactly what investors have been dealing with. Olin believes an active investment approach can differentiate investors from competitors during such times.

Rester closes ELAD Canada purchase for up to $528M

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Industrial, Office, Retail, Apartments  •  National, Toronto / GTA, International

Rester Management has completed its acquisition of ELAD Canada for a price that could reach $528 million, including future payments and earnouts included in the sale agreement. On close, $342 million was paid by Rester to previous owner Israeli-based ELAD Group.

Kevlar’s 364-unit Noria Apartments rising in Montreal

Residential  •  Canada Newswire

Kevlar Group‘s Noria Apartments project in the Saint-Laurent borough will ultimately offer 364 units spread over two phases and four buildings. The first phase, which includes two buildings totalling 185 units, is under construction and will be delivered in 2022.

CMHC study highlights Ontario’s rental shortage

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

Nearly one in six Toronto homes has a basement apartment or secondary unit, according to new research, highlighting the shortage of rental properties and the housing crunch in many parts of Ontario, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s analysis.

Indian tech firm opening Canadian HQ in Calgary

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald

Calgary’s budding tech sector continues to grow, with another multinational information technology firm preparing to bring up to 1,000 jobs to the city. Bangalore-based Mphasis Ltd., a provider of IT outsourcing services, is setting up a Canadian headquarters in the city.

True North sells Mississauga office property for $11.9M

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

True North Commercial REIT (TNT-UN-T has completed the sale of a 40,000-square-foot office property at 5900 Explorer Drive, Mississauga, for $11.9 million, excluding transaction costs. The REIT intends to use the net proceeds for general trust purposes and future acquisitions.

Design, Policy and Canadian Cities › 11 years later: Have Toronto’s mid-rise guidelines stood the test of time?

Naama Blonder: Architect, Urban Designer, Urban Planner | B.Arch, OAA, RPP, MCIP

RIV Capital sells N.B. property to Canopy for $4M

Commercial  •  PR Newswire  •  Ottawa Business Journal

RIV Capital Inc. (RIV-T) announced it has closed an agreement with The Tweed Tree Lot Inc., a subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation, to sell a property located in Fredericton for a cash payment of $4 million.

Brookfield Properties acquires U.S. developer Newland

Residential, Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Brookfield Properties has acquired Newland, one of the largest private developers of master-planned communities in the U.S., in addition to its five per cent general partner’s equity interest in 15 (of the 20) active master-planned communities.

Invesque sells 50% of its SymCare-operated assets

Residential, Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Invesque Inc. (IVQ-DB-U-T)  has agreed to sell to SymCare, and/or transition to a new tenant, approximately 50% of its existing 16 assets operated by SymCare. Invesque and SymCare have also entered into an amended and restated 15-year absolute net master lease.

Desjardins acquires Mtl.-based investment firm

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  Financial Post

Desjardins Group announced the acquisition of investment firm Hexavest’s assets. Hexavest is a Montreal-based investment firm with approximately 50 clients, mostly made up of institutional investors in Canada, the U.S., Australia and Asia. It boasts $5 billion in assets under management.

SmartCentres’ president/CEO takes medical leave

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire  •  RENX

SmartCentres REIT (SRU-UN-T) announced president/CEO Peter Forde has taken a temporary medical leave of absence. During Forde’s medical leave, Mitchell Goldhar, SmartCentres’ executive chairman, will assume Forde’s responsibilities with the assistance of the rest of SmartCentres’ executive team.

Indigo gets revenue boost from online shoppers

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

Online sales continue to bolster Indigo Books & Music Inc.’s (IDG-T) business despite continued mandatory shutdowns of some of its stores – contributing to an 11 per cent revenue increase in the fourth quarter, while its sales for the full year declined.

Best Buy raises full-year comparable sales forecast

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

Best Buy Co Inc. (BBY-N) raised its annual sales forecast on Thursday, saying the latest round of stimulus cheques had kept consumers buying home electronics, while acknowledging that a reopening economy threatens to slow growth later in the year.

Adaptation of CRE in a post-pandemic world

Commercial  •  Mondaq

From a practical perspective, it is clear that in a post-pandemic world, preserving flexibility for other permitted uses of office buildings is critical, but there are many legal issues landowners, developers, tenants and lenders must navigate to achieve flexibility.

Blackstone, Starwood boost Extended Stay bid

Commercial  •  Market Screener  •  Globe Newswire  •  Bloomberg

Blackstone Group Inc. (BX-N) and Starwood Capital Group have increased their offer to buy  Extended Stay America Inc., to $20.50 per paired share. The JV in March agreed to buy the hotel chain for $19.50 per paired share, valuing it at $6 billion.

Vancouver parkade finds new life as day care

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

EasyPark, a City of Vancouver-affiliated agency managing 130 parking lots with 10,000-plus spaces, decided using some of its property for something besides parking would be a smart move, financially and socially. As a result, two new child-care centres will soon open.

Ont.’s temporary pause on evictions expires

Residential  •  Ottawa Citizen

Ontario’s temporary pause on residential evictions expires along with the province’s stay-at-home order on Wednesday. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirmed Tuesday the emergency order had not been renewed.

Ottawa committee approves vacant home tax

Residential  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  CBC

Ottawa’s finance and economic development committee gave the thumbs-up Tuesday to a proposed additional one per cent tax on vacant residential properties in an effort to boost the city’s rental housing supply.

B.C. residential building permits fall 24% in April

Residential  •  Business In Vancouver

More than $7.7 billion in residential permits were issued nationally in April, down 6.7% from a record high of more than $8 billion in March. Monthly declines in B.C. (-23.7%) and Quebec (-14.9%) contributed most to that change, according to new data from Statistics Canada.