Aaron and Adam discuss the headlining making news from 2016 that had the biggest impact on Canadian commercial real estate.

 

January

Calgary Office Space hits 18% Vacancy.

Avison Young Acquires Appraisal firm Metrix Ontario.

NexusCrowd Successfully raises $500K for GTA industrial redevelopment in JV with Downing Street Realty Partners.

Google unveils new 185K SF office space in Kitchener/Waterloo.

Coast Capital Opens “Help Headquarters” in new Surrey Office hub. Surrey driving change in Vancouver city.

 

February

Lowe’s announces Rona acquisition for $3.2B.

Saskatoon Office space hits 16% Vacancy.

Dream Office REIT puts $1.2B of assets on the block.

$400M mixed use development in Winnipeg announced. 4 towers. True North Square.

Rexall Purchased by McKesson Corp from the US for $3.0B.

 

March

A number of brand new office towers in Vancouver remain nearly 100% vacant. For example, 32-storey Exchange tower to be completed in 2017 for $240M. Described as ‘white elephants’ – state of the art, near transit, well located, and to top environmental standards. Vancouver’s office vacancy remains at decade high levels just under 10%.

Edmonton City Council approves another 550 units downtown. Brings total to over $3.0B in downtown Edmonton developments in a provincial market still struggling heavily…… $45M Hyatt Place, $180M MacEwan University Centre for Arts and Culture, Stantec’s 60 Storey Office tower.

Winnipeg office market suffering as head offices continue to move to Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver.

Starwood accepts higher offer from Marriott for $17.8B. Trumping a bid by Chinese Anbang Insurance Group.

 

April

Urbancorp files for bankruptcy.

Vaughan, Ontario’s Cara Operations Ltd (Canada’s largest restaurant company) buys St-Hubert’s 117 restaurants for $537M – expanding Cara’s exposure to Quebec.

Avison Young buys appraiser – Linnell Taylor Lipman and Associates in Calgary.

RioCan starts construction on 770,000SF mixed use (retail/residential) space in downtown Calgary. The Calgary market slowdown is exactly why RioCan is moving ahead with the project.

MEG Energy Corp announces it has hired JLL to sublet 300K SF of office space it is on the hook for after halting it’s ambitious growth strategy.

The Nations Capital’s National Capital Commission approves the Eugene Melnyk backed bid for the LeBreton redevelopment in Ottawa downtown.

 

May

The Fortress Real Development condo project in Barrie hit’s a snag. The project was financed by 100’s of contributors to a total of $16.9M.

Urbancorp CEO Alan Saskin files for bankruptcy protection.

Allied acquires over 1M SF of retail and office space in Montreal for $218M.

Menkes, Greystone, and Triovest buy $260M worth of TO waterfront lands part of which will be the new LCBO Office Tower.

Hong Kong based Bluesky Hotels buys InnVeset REIT for $2.1B. Which includes 109 hotel properties in Canada, including Toronto’s Fairmong Royal York Hotel.

Industry studies suggest $280M of office condo’s have sold in Vancouver in the last 24 months.  A heating sector?

 

June

British Columbia Investment Management Corp (bcIMC) creates QuadReal Property Group to develop, acquire and manage real estate asset’s around the world – starting with bcIMC’s own $18B in Canadian assets.

The creation of QuadReal impacts GWL Realty Advisors and Bentall Kennedy. GWL was the property manager for bcIMC and Bentall Kennedy’s former president, Remco Daal, leaves to head QuadReal’s domestic Canadian operations.

KingSett Capital and Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMco) set to acquire 50% of Scotia Plaza for well over $500M– Canada’s second largest office building from Dream Office REIT. Dream and H&R REIT had purchased the complex four years ago for $1.3B.

RIoCan, Tricon Capital and Diamond Corp agree to develop am mixed use retail/residential project in Toronto’s midtown. The land acquisition is pegged at $85M.

NY based Kimco Realty Corp sells its interest in 17 properties, covering an area of 1.8M SF, to Vancouver based Anthem Properties Group for $413M.

Cenovus Energy looking to fill unused office space and will only fill half of what it agreed to in the new Brookfield Place Calgary tower.

Calgary City Centre Tower celebrates phase one grand opening at 92 percent occupancy!

Edmonton city Councilors approve 45 story tower going against city planners who opposed the approval.

 

July

Tridel, Woodbourne buy residential component of the Well from RioCan REIT, Allied Properties REIT and Diamondcorp for $180M.

 

August

BC Government announces 15% foreign buyers tax. CRE pros surprised it also applies to apartment buildings.

Vail Resorts Inc. buys Whistler Blackomb Holdings for $1.39B.

Calgary downtown core office vacancy tops 21.6%.

Dream Office REIT announces write down of $675M of its Alberta portfolio value.

The Port of Halifax tops all ports in North America with its ability to receive bigger cargo ships coming through the new Suez and Panama Canals.

CHC Student Housing to merge with Dundee Acquisition. Dundee earmarking $113M for 12 off-campus university residences.

Fortress announces Barrie Collier Centre making progress at 80% complete and 78 of 82 units sold.

 

September

CPPIB buys $1.18B stake in 4.2M SF of downtown office space in Calgary and Toronto from OMERS Oxford Properties.

The Devimco project called Solar Uniquartier, a $1B mixed use development on the South Shore of Montreal is announced. Including a light rail train, the development is described as the biggest mixed property project in Quebec.

Calgary’s office vacancy rate nears 25%.

Edmonton’s office vacancy rate nears 12% forcing older office stock owners to consider alternatives. Some owners contemplating residential repositioning.

Toronto announces potential plan purchase air rights from CP Rail to develop Rail Deck Park at an estimated cost of $1B over stretch of rail yard. Shortly after a group of developers claim they already purchased the air rights years ago.

 

October

Costco announces their intention to expand aggressively in Canada over the next fiscal year opening 7 new stores in 2017.

OTPP buys Constellation Brands Canada, producer and operator of beer wind and spirits and the owner of 163 Wine Rack retail locations in Ontario, for $1.03B.

CoStar Group listed in Fortune magazine’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies. It announced it’s hiring another 730 researchers and software developers in Richmond VA.

 

November

The concept of Omni-channel retail slowly creeps its way into the collective social psyche. Colliers International announced $23B of what it calls “non-retail sales” occurred in 2015 – 4.7% of all retail sales for the year.

The Canadian Federal goverhment announces $81B in infrastructure or capital works over the next decade. In total, the federal government plans to spend $180 billion in the coming decade on things like public transit, transportation, “green” infrastructure, and “social infrastructure” which would include affordable housing.

RioCan announces a transition away from its acquisition strategy towards development.

The Hudson’s Bay Company announces 750K SF e-commerce distribution facility. At the same time Canadian Tire announces significant shift towards e-commerce investment away from physical stores.

 

December

Amazon unveils technology that eliminates checkout lines.

Lowes Canada to convert 40 Rona Big-box stores in 2017.

McKesson has to sell 26 Rexall stores in order to win approval from the Competition Bureau for its deal to buy Rexall Health pharmacy chain.

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