Construction accelerates at Hines’ Bayside Toronto

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

Construction at the mixed-use Bayside Toronto development is about to accelerate once again, with Hines hosting the official groundbreaking for the T3 Bayside office and retail complex on July 23. It’s the latest addition to the 13-acre, master-planned Bayside Toronto site.

Intergulf plans five-building Coquitlam project

Residential, Commercial  •  urbanYVR

Intergulf Development has applied to the City of Coquitlam to rezone several properties it owns to construct a two-phase development including: condo towers of 40, 33, 27 and 30 storeys, respectively; a five-storey non-market rental building; and 27,000 square feet of commercial space.

Hotels sue Aviva over denial of COVID coverage

Commercial  •  Halifax ChronicleHerald  •  Financial Post

Canadian hotels have launched a class-action lawsuit after they were denied insurance coverage for business income lost. Lerners LLP alleged Aviva Insurance Company of Canada was in breach of contract after the federal and provincial governments declared states of emergency.

The People Space › People Space: New C&W CEO, execs at Harbour, Purpose, Sienna …

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Madison Group plans 52-storey mixed-use tower

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

Plans have been updated for the redevelopment of 90 Eglinton East, designed by Teeple Architects and Turner Fleischer Architects for Madison Group. The site currently houses a mid-rise office building. The current plan calls for a 52-storey, mixed-use development.

35-storey rental tower proposed in Scarborough

Residential  •  Urban Toronto

Yorkreal Holdings Inc., has proposed to redevelop one of multiple low-density properties in Scarborough’s Golden Mile district as a 35-storey residential rental tower as work on Toronto’s new Crosstown LRT continues on its doorstep.

Sponsored by Firm Capital Corporation Multi-residential mortgage financing solutions by Firm Capital

Firm Capital Corporation’s Multi-Residential Mortgage Program will provide bridge 1st & 2nd mortgages for acquisitions, lines of credit or capital improvements including conventional or high ratio secondary debt, plus construction financing for purpose-built rental projects.

800 student residences coming to UVic

Residential  •  Globe and Mail

The British Columbia government says it is on track to have nearly 800 student homes at the University of Victoria ready by 2022. Premier John Horgan says the homes will be provided at market rates, significantly relieving the tight student rental market.

York U’s Markham Centre Campus underway

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News

York University is moving forward with a plan to build the $275.5-million Markham Centre Campus (MCC) in Markham, Ont., the first publicly assisted university in York Region, with construction beginning in the next few days.

Ont. investors allege developers diverted millions

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

Retail investors from the Toronto area’s Sikh community are out as much as $9 million after purported land developers pitching housing projects allegedly diverted their investments for their own use, including making a down payment on a 2019 Lamborghini, court records show.

Amazon sues developer for alleged racketeering, fraud

Commercial  •  Bisnow

Amazon has filed a federal lawsuit against Denver-based Northstar Commercial Partners, one of its former development partners, alleging a fraud and kickback scheme that siphoned millions out of Northern Virginia data centre projects and into the defendants’ pockets.

Owner of Cheers sues lawsuit over denial of insurance

Commercial  •  Boston.com

Hampshire House, the owner of several Boston restaurants, including Cheers, is suing its insurance providers over denied business interruption claims it filed in response to coronavirus shutdowns as the company navigates estimated losses of millions of dollars, its attorneys say.

Calgary votes in favour of controversial tower

Residential, Commercial  •  CBC  •  Calgary Herald

A controversial development in Inglewood will likely go ahead, pending final approval in one month. Calgary city council voted 13-1 on Monday in favour of amending the land use designation to allow the 12-storey mixed-use Rndsqr Block to be built.

George Weston posts $255M loss as costs pile up

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail  •  Canada Newswire

George Weston Ltd. (WN-T) is reporting a $255-million loss in its latest quarter despite a 6.5 per cent increase in revenues. The retail, bakery and real estate business says it lost $1.66 per share for the period ended June 13.

Brookfield puts up $250M to stabilize Center Parcs

Commercial  •  Bisnow

Opportunity fund giant Brookfield has committed to invest up to $250 million Cdn to support its Center Parcs UK holiday village company, which was forced to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Link REIT acquires London office building for $583M

Commercial  •  Mingtiandi  •  IPE Real Assets  •  South China Morning Post

Link REIT has moved forward with its first acquisition in the Western Hemisphere, purchasing 25 Cabot Square in London for $583 million Cdn. Asia’s largest REIT is buying the 17-storey office building on Canary Wharf from a unit of Hines Global REIT.

CMHC eyeing ‘new tools’ as deferral cliff looms

Residential  •  Financial Post

With a six-month window for some borrowers to defer their loan payments closing fast, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says “new tools” may be needed to help homeowners get through the coronavirus crisis.

Toronto condo sales at lowest level since 2009

Residential  •  Bloomberg  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)  •  Toronto Star

Toronto’s condominium market showed significant slowdown in the second quarter, with sales dropping to their lowest levels since 2009, according to the Q2-2020 Condominium Market Survey released by Urbanation Inc. on Monday.

COVID-19 has developers rethinking apartment design

Residential  •  Daily Commercial News

Brian Carberry, managing editor for Apartment Guide, a leading rental resource in the U.S., recently published a research report outlining how COVID-19 could impact new apartment construction. Carberry shared some of the insight Apartment Guide’s research gleaned:

Vacation properties see spike in demand

Residential  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  CTV

Like many realtors working Canada’s recreational markets, David Jurek says he’s seeing properties move unusually quickly: “Some of the stuff that normally would sit, that wasn’t as choice of a property necessarily in the past is now selling very quickly.”