Shindico building new industrial in southeast Winnipeg

RENX  Commercial  •  Industrial  •  Winnipeg

Winnipeg’s newest industrial area, the Plessis Business Park in the southeast sector of the city, will soon have its first tenant. It’s being developed by Shindico Realty Inc., as part of the much larger St. Boniface Industrial Park.

Virus-proofing offices multibillion-dollar opportunity

Commercial  •  Toronto Star

Truework, an income verification startup, recently introduced software to help employers keep track of their workers’ health status. Gensler, an architecture and design firm, has a workplace floor-planning app that generates social-distancing layouts for desks and other office furniture.

SmartCentres, Greenwin propose four Barrie towers

Residential, Commercial  •  Urban Toronto

A prime slice of lakefront property in downtown Barrie is proposed to undergo a multi-phase transformation by SmartCentres REIT and Greenwin Corporation. The ambitious proposal adds a mix of uses and four rental towers to the edge of Kempenfelt Bay.

Devimco, Pattison to add digital screens in 22 buildings

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Condominiums, Office, Apartments  •  Greater Montreal

Montreal-based Devimco Immobilier is partnering with Pattison Outdoor Advertising to place digital information screens in 22 of the real estate owner/operator’s residential and office buildings. Pattison will place 68 screens into elevators in 20 of Devimco’s residential properties, and two new office towers.

Feds plan gradual return to offices

Commercial  •  Ottawa Business Journal  •  Ottawa Citizen

Canada’s roughly 250,000 federal public servants are being primed for an eventual return to their workplaces, though many are expected to continue working remotely for the foreseeable future. The preparations include the distribution of a 30-page guidebook.

Sponsored by MNP Property owner’s guide to Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance

Property owners can now apply for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses directly through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation website. The federal program opened for online applications on May 25, 2020.

Man. to become plant-based protein production hub

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press  •  CTV  •  Business Wire

With its financing in place, Merit Functional Foods is poised to enter a burgeoning market for plant-based protein additives with the only canola protein offering on the market. Its $150-million, 94,000-square-foot Winnipeg plant joins Roquette’s $400-million-plus Portage la Prairie plant.

Aurora Cannabis closing five facilities

Commercial  •  Toronto Star  •  Reuters  •  Canada Newswire

Aurora Cannabis (ACB-T) said on Tuesday it will lay off a big part of its workforce and plans to shut five facilities over the next two quarters, as the cash-crunched cannabis industry finds itself scrambling to cut costs amid COVID-19.

Tanger launches virtual shopper concierge service

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Today, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (SKT-N), a leader in the outlet industry, announced the launch of an innovation to the outlet shopping experience, a virtual shopping concierge service that gives shoppers the best of outlet shopping without leaving home.

Airbnb CEO says 2020 stock listing still on the table

Residential  •  Toronto Star

Airbnb Inc.’s recovery from the travel slump caused by COVID-19 has been so swift that the startup’s much-anticipated stock listing is still on the table for 2020, chief executive officer Brian Chesky said.

REIT/REOC COVID-19 business updates

Commercial  • 

Fronsac REIT, (FRO-UN-X), Globe Newswire

Skyline Investments Inc., (TASE: SKLN), Globe Newswire

REOC second-quarter financial results

Commercial  • 

Mainstreet Equity Corp., (MEQ-T), Canada Newswire

P3s need significant refresh: IBI Group president

Commercial  •  Daily Commercial News  •  Daily Commercial News  •  Globe and Mail (Sub. required)

After 15 years in Ontario, public-private partnerships (P3s) are in need of “a significant refresh,” according to David Thom, president of IBI Group, Inc., a co-designer of the P3 Eglinton Crosstown transit project in Toronto.

Strategic Storage acquires 800-unit Florida facility

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

Strategic Storage Trust IV, Inc., a public non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc., announced today its acquisition of a recently converted 800-unit self storage facility in Punta Gorda, Fla.

Demand for U.S. hotels expected to increase

Commercial  •  PR Newswire

The U.S. hotel industry has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak with many guests cancelling stays due to travel restrictions. However, occupancy rates have been rising steadily since April when they reached a low of 21 per cent.

COVID-19 has U.S. CRE tied in knots as lockdowns ease

Commercial  •  MarketWatch  •  Forbes

Remote work may mean salary changes: Experts

Commercial  •  CTV

When Mark Zuckerberg hosted a townhall in May with Facebook’s 48,000 employees, some were tuning in from new cities they had scrambled to move to due to COVID-19. Zuckerberg’s message: if you plan to stay, expect a change to your pay.

Multifamily rentals remain best bet for investors: Goodman

Residential  •  The Goodman Report

In the midst of a global pandemic, Goodman Commercial Inc. sold a West End concrete rental tower for $52 million as Metro Vancouver multifamily sales volume in the first quarter of 2020 increased 903 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Vacancy rates in Toronto, Vancouver on the rise

Residential  •  Financial Post

Toronto-based realtor Christine Zhu, whose clientele are almost exclusively Chinese nationals, is spending her days talking to landlords, negotiating for students who have gone back to China, and have no idea when they will return, leaving their leased apartments vacant.

Montreal to review land repossession procedures

Residential  •  Montreal Gazette

The administration of Mayor Valérie Plante says it’s touched by the plight of elderly owners who had their land taken without their knowledge three years ago and is promising to review the city’s procedures and the recourse available to citizens.