Hines building T3 Bayside, N. America’s tallest timber office

RENX  Commercial  •  Office  •  Toronto / GTA

Hines has begun construction on a 10-storey mass timber office building called T3 Bayside as part of its Bayside Toronto development. “We believe that this will be the tallest timber office building in North America,” said Avi Tesciuba.

Calgary council approves arena funding

Commercial  •  Calgary Herald  •  CBC

Calgary city councillors spent hours behind closed doors Monday before emerging to approve a draft proposal for a new arena and funding for three other major capital projects totalling more than $1.5 billion.

Sunray Group buys Toronto hotel for redevelopment

Commercial  •  CBC

A Toronto hotel currently housing some 500 homeless people and asylum seekers is being sold to a private developer. The potential sale from the current owners, Virk Hospitality, to the Sunray Group for $20.5 million, is set to close later this month.

Victoria industrial vacancy rates plummet: CBRE

Commercial  •  BC Business  •  RENX

Victoria doesn’t get as much attention as Vancouver for rising rents and low vacancies, but when it comes to industrial space, the provincial capital is experiencing a squeeze of its own, according to CBRE.

Niagara-Hamilton poised for role as ‘national trade corridor’

Commercial  •  Hamilton Spectator

The Niagara-Hamilton area is ripe for stepped-up economic development because of its potential as an expanded “National Trade Corridor,” says a new House of Commons standing committee interim report. The Hamilton Port Authority is pushing to increase its role.

The People Space › People Space: New prez at Macdonald, big hire for M&M…

Don Wilcox: Managing Editor

Facebook offered Conservative minister new data centre

Commercial  •  Global News  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)  •  Toronto Star

Facebook is said to have promised to open a data centre in Canada if the government ensured the company’s non-Canadian data was not covered by Canadian jurisdiction. After its attempts to deliver this scenario, the data centre was not built.

Modest CRE growth still the rule in Winnipeg

Commercial  •  Winnipeg Free Press

It’s open for debate as to whether Winnipeg got its fair share of the “influx of global capital” CBRE mentions its recent report since the Manitoba capital’s commercial real estate scene has always been frustratingly conservative.

Regina office rents flat or falling: Colliers

Commercial  •  Western Investor

Regina’s downtown office sector continues to suffer from the hangover of a struggling economy as vacancy rose by more than .5 per cent during the last six months of 2018, according to a new report from Colliers International.

The Saskatchewan Edge › Payless: Another bricks-and-mortar obituary

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

Canadian retailers brace for rocky year

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail (Subscription required)

Consumers are showing signs of scaling back their spending, prompting many retailers to brace for a rocky year. Canadian retail sales growth slowed in 2018, with some executives now warning that a harsher economy could make business more difficult.

Tim Hortons perks up trading floor with new offices

Commercial  •  Globe and Mail

It was an iconic space for an iconic brand. The former trading floor and offices of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) gave the building at 130 King St. W. in Toronto its name: Exchange Tower.

Edmonton turning old warehouse into new food hub

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Edmonton Journal

Plans to transform a 70-year-old warehouse in central Edmonton into a new hub for cultivating Edmonton’s food scene are getting served up some financial backing from city hall. The project, called The Public, would transform the Capital Place Art Building.

Vancouver brewery faces ‘mind-boggling’ rents

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Vancouver Sun

Sky-high real-estate prices aren’t just affecting residential renters in Vancouver.  Local beer legend Storm Brewing, one of the city’s longest running craft breweries, has joined the ranks of those looking for a new home in Vancouver.

Fed’s vow to keep rates in check a boon for REITS

Commercial  •  The Real Deal

It’s not just borrowers who are benefiting from the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold off on interest rate hikes so far this year. Real estate investment trusts have seen their shares soar thanks to the Fed’s shift in tone.

Chinese investments face mounting debt concerns

Commercial  •  The Real Deal

As half-finished real estate projects span throughout parts of rural China, investors are seeking to collect on their debt payments. Investors bought debt in areas outside major Chinese cities are growing worried amid a weakening economy and tighter regulations.

TREB calls for looser mortgage rules

Residential  •  Bloomberg  •  Globe Newswire

Toronto’s housing market posted its biggest monthly sales decline in a year last month, prompting the Toronto Real Estate Board to call for a review of new mortgage rules it says are keeping buyers on the sidelines.

Lower Mainland sales 42% below 10-year average

Residential  •  Global News  •  BC Business  •  Financial Post

According to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, residential home sales in February were down 32.8 per cent compared to February 2018 and more than 42 per cent below the region’s 10-year-average.

CMHC wants affordable housing for all by 2030

Residential  •  Global News

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. hopes to see every Canadian with an affordable home by 2030 and has offered up a plan full of experiments to make it happen.

Reinvent, rebalance and rethink emerging trends: ULI

Residential  •  Toronto Star

This year’s Urban Land Institute and PwC’s the Emerging Trends in Real Estate report focuses on three main themes; reinvent, rebalance and rethink, all centred around the uncertainty facing housing as fast-paced technological and social change transforms people’s lives.