Summer is a hectic time, with a rush of both family and business commitments requiring our attention. It’s easy to miss big news … so as is our tradition at RENX, here's our synopsis of our most-read, and most important, articles from the summer months.

2024 was a summer like no other in recent memory, with the Bank of Canada beginning a new cycle of interest-rate reductions, a paucity of major transactions in all the CRE sectors, and even uncertainty in the multifamily and condo sectors as the economy, costs and permitting issues continue to impact development. This despite rising demand for new housing across the country.

We’ve tried to include articles from a wide range of commercial real estate sectors and geographies in our summer review. We also note they are not presented in any particular order, though we have tried to group them roughly by sectors or locales.

And, a reminder / invitation: If you have a major transaction, development or other commercial real estate-related news to share with RENX readers, send us a note to let us know. In the meantime, welcome back!

Fengate makes $1.8B investment in eStruxture data centres:

Fengate Asset Management is making a “ground-breaking” $1.8-billion investment into eStruxture Data Centers to provide the company with capacity to expand its nationwide network. “The record-breaking investment is the single biggest to ever be made in the Canadian data centre sector . . .”

Altus to sell property tax service to Ryan, LLC for $700M:

Altus Group announced a definitive agreement to sell its global property tax business to international tax services and software provider Ryan, LLC for approximately $700 million as the firm continues to transform to a pure-play commercial real estate software, data and analytics platform.

Chartwell announces acquisitions of over $700M of Canadian seniors residences: 

Chartwell Retirement Residences just announced its latest acquisitions: 384 suites in three retirement communities on British Columbia's Vancouver Island for $226.9 million. That adds to a long list of portfolio acquisitions in 2024, totalling over $700M. 

CAPREIT bulks up liquidity with $740M portfolio sale to TPG:

CAPREIT is selling its Canadian portfolio of 75 manufactured homes communities to TPG Real Estate for $740 million, a move president/CEO Mark Kenney called a major step toward becoming a pure-play apartment REIT. It also announced an additional $477M in transactions, including $387M in Q2 acquisitions (https://renx.ca/capreit-bulks-up-new-apartment-buildings-477m-transactions).

Crestpoint, Anthem partner to make two major Vancouver acquisitions:

Crestpoint Real Estate Investments and Anthem Properties continue to expand their relationship, with Anthem announcing it is acquiring stake in a master-planned Crestpoint redevelopment at “the Boot” in Burnaby, B.C. The partners also acquired a Vancouver development site –  1318 Thurlow St. –  where they plan a 32-storey purpose-built rental tower (https://renx.ca/crestpoint-anthem-partner-to-acquire-vancouver-high-rise-dev-site).

Groupe Mach buys Montreal office tower from BentallGreenOak:

Groupe Mach purchased a 17-storey, 256,574-square-foot property at 1600 Rene-Levesque Blvd. W. from BentallGreenOak, in a deal that bucked the recent trend of few significant office trades. 1600 Rene-Levesque was one of the country’s largest office transactions during the summer.

AIMCo acquires $129M Montreal industrial portfolio from Pure:

Alberta Investment Management Co. (AIMCO) has acquired a five-building industrial portfolio in Greater Montreal for approximately $129.2 million. The buildings are in Lachine and Dorval and comprise approximately 455,000 square feet.

There’s big demand in Canada’s retail shopping centre market:

In a commercial real estate environment largely devoid of major transactions, one sector continues to surprise: retail. In the wake of media reports that Quebec City’s massive Galeries de la Capitale mall is for sale, another major transaction could be in the offing.

Retail rents continue to rise, little new space on the way:

Canadian retail real estate rents have continued to rise and, with little significant new supply on the way to meet demand, that trend is expected to continue, CBRE’s H1 2024 Retail Rent Survey states. A case in point were three Alberta shopping centre acquisitions by Crestpoint and Trinity Retail Fund (https://renx.ca/crestpoint-expands-alberta-portfolio-buys-3-shopping-centres).

Allied Properties’ debt downgraded to ‘junk’ by Moody’s:

Moody's Ratings downgraded office owner and operator Allied Properties REIT’s senior unsecured debt rating to junk status, dropping it one level to Ba1 with a continuing negative outlook due to what the agency considers ongoing high debt levels.

Slate Office REIT receives notices of default:

Slate Office REIT’s financial troubles are continuing, as the trust announced it received notices of default for its revolving credit facility, and an expectation to also go into default on interest payments for three debentures.

Broccolini considers return to its roots: Rental housing development:

Broccolini is seriously considering a return to its roots by building rental housing for the first time in about 50 years as the condo market continues to slump, Michael Broccolini, CIO and president of the Montreal developer’s real estate group told RENX. Major projects in Montreal and Toronto would be affected by the move.

Greystar in early stages of Canadian expansion:

Greystar named John Wilbeck managing director of its Canadian operations as the U.S.-based firm moves to increase its presence north of the border. As part of the strategy, it is well underway developing a 593-unit multifamily rental project with over 110,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail at its University Heights Shopping Centre property in Saanich, B.C.

Epic Investment Services execs become majority shareholders:

Epic Investment Services is now 100 per cent employee owned, with managing partner and CEO Craig Coleman and managing partner, CFO and COO Laetitia Pacaud becoming its majority shareholders.

KingSett affordable housing fund seeks to make a big impact:

The $180-million KingSett Affordable Housing Fund LP closed on the acquisition of Birchmount Green in the east end of Toronto and continues to push ahead with development and planning for other large-scale multiresidential sites in the city.