Greater Toronto Area’s Top-10 CRE Transactions Of 2024

CRE transaction volume down in the GTA, but demand remains for retail properties, suburban apartments and industrial

How Culture-Driven Placemaking Is Shaping Real Estate Strategies For 2025

Culture-driven placemaking is becoming a key strategy in real estate, influencing how spaces are designed to foster community engagement and authenticity. This approach is particularly shaping hotel strategies, with operators focusing on integrating hotels into vibrant neighborhoods rather than traditional downtown locations.

GUEST SUBMISSION: Over the past decade, we saw how the rise of Instagram and social media influencers helped scale a greater interest in creative placemaking in real estate. But that rush to drop in a colourful and flashy art piece for that perfect photo moment is now fading behind us.

What we are now seeing is a major shift in our industry, with a greater desire for placemaking and public art that is focused on culture-driven strategies to help give place a greater sense of purpose and identity. We are seeing this not just with developers and asset owners, but also with city spaces and infrastructure projects.

This greater appreciation is also being reflected in conversations we have been hearing from hotel owners.

It used to be, you could put up a nice hotel anywhere downtown and business would follow. Now hoteliers are strategically looking to embed themselves in destination neighbourhoods, with active communities that have authentic identities.

Running down placemaking trends

With that in mind, here are some other emerging placemaking trends we expect to see more of in 2025.

1. A greater demand from developers and asset owners for bringing in placemaking experts earlier in the planning and design phase of a project. While it is true that art can be dropped-in to make a space look beautiful and draw a crowd, there is now a growing understanding that the real power and economic impact of a placemaking strategy comes when it is integrated in the design and planning of a building, community or master plan from the start. Northcrest Developments, a Canadian developer leading the development of the former Downsview Airport in Toronto, understands this very well. We worked with them very early on, to incorporate an Art, Culture & Creative Placemaking Master Plan and Public Art Plan as part of their site plan application to the City of Toronto. We are also working with municipalities like the City of Brampton, who are taking a similar approach to their urban planning, to help guide strategic decision-making processes and investments for future public art projects across the city.
2. A greater focus on local art that tells a story about the community. Developers and asset owners are looking to work with more local artists who can bring deep and authentic knowledge and connections to an area.
3. Creative assets that make a space functional. Moving away from installations that are merely pretty to look at, there is now a greater demand for public art strategies that bring more live engagement and function to a space. A great example of this is work we did with Shape Properties to create a “Play on the Plaza” art installation, a pop-up summer activation at a retail plaza just outside Vancouver. It consisted of a series of brightly coloured modules designed as functional seating and integrated with 10 different game zones such as cornhole, table tennis, checkers, chess, pucket and tic-tac-toe.
4. Repurposing of vacant and unexpected spaces to create new social spaces, also referred to as “third spaces.” In addition to bringing in more function, we are also seeing placemaking strategies that give underused public spaces a social purpose. A key driver of this trend is the need for cities to help reduce the social isolation that many are still feeling post pandemic. Inflation right now is another driver. Because people are spending less money on shopping, dining and entertainment, there is now a greater need for free engaging public spaces that bring people together to socialize.
5. Transit hubs becoming cultural destinations. We are starting to see more and more airports thinking differently about their infrastructure and their role in cities as social and cultural destinations. We recently started working with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on a public art and media strategy, that aims to transform the airport into a cultural destination. San Francisco International Airport is another great example, using art to transform the airport from a place to pass through into a meaningful experience.

6. 

   Greater focus on sustainability and using authentic materials. With the rising need for asset owners to meet more rigorous sustainability mandates, we are starting to see art installations using natural elements and modular pieces that can be adapted and reused year after year. For a recent holiday installation at Royalmount in Montreal, reusability was an important consideration. When it comes to using organic materials, the work of New York-based architect, designer and artist Neri Oxman fuses nature with our built environment. It’s experimental and very cutting edge, but provides a great source of inspiration.

With so much pressure on cities, property owners and developers to build, reimagine and protect assets that will generate long-term value, placemaking strategies today must deliver on many fronts.

But the most important thing will still always be to build a physical and emotional connection between the community and the places they share.

Source Renx.ca. Click here for the full story.

Dream’s Big News Week: Strategic Review, $258M GTA Industrial Acquisition

UPDATED: Toronto-based Dream has provided its investors with a lot to unpack this week in the financial reports of its various entities and partnerships, from a strategic review at its residential REIT to a major Greater Toronto Area industrial acquisition and an update on the challenges facing its office REIT.

Many of its subsidiary entities reported their financials this week. Dream Unlimited, its parent company, is to report on Feb. 25.

One of the most significant announcements came Thursday, when Dream Residential REIT (DRR-U-T) announced it is undergoing a strategic review due to the ongoing disconnect between asset values and its unit trading prices.

“There continues to be a disconnect between our trading price and the intrinsic value of Dream Residential’s portfolio,” Brian Pauls, Dream Residential REIT’s CEO, said during its investor call on Thursday. “With our year-end results we have announced that the REIT has commenced a strategic review process with a goal to maximize value for our unitholders.”

Dream’s units have been trading mainly between US$6 and US$8 over the past year, vaulting from US$6.76 to US$7.85 yesterday on the announcement of the review. In 2022, the units had been trading well above US$11.

Its NAV per unit as of Dec. 31 was US$13.39.

Dream Residential REIT

The trust owns a portfolio of 15 apartment properties in three U.S. markets, the greater Dallas-Forth Worth, Cincinnati and Oklahoma City areas. They comprise 3,300 rental units and were valued at slightly over US$400M at year-end.

Net income for Q4 was US$4.2 million and for the year US$6.4 million, compared to a year-end loss of US$14.9 million in 2023. Most of the difference is attributable to fair value adjustments on the properties and trust financial instruments.

Funds from operations were largely flat, at approximately US$13.9 million.

Pauls told investors and analysts on the call that while the review takes place, management intends to operate on a status-quo basis: “We’re looking at everything, we’re looking at the entire company. The goal is to narrow the gap between where we trade and what our intrinsic, or NAV value, is. We believe that gap is too wide.”

No properties are currently listed for sale.

“We are continuing to run the business. We continue to evaluate opportunities in light of our liquidity and basically run the business as normal. So as we’re normally watching markets, watching transactions, looking for opportunities . . .”

He said if management opts to pursue sales of its properties, the market is “very healthy”.

“There is lots of capital that wants to be in this asset class, it’s very defensive. It’s very safe, the markets are nuanced meaning there is certain capital that wants to be in Texas, or Oklahoma, or Ohio. So there’s different levels of transactions and cap rates but there certainly continues to be transactions and interest in our types of properties, and our properties specifically, and in portfolios,” Pauls explained.

No timeline has been established for the review.

Dream industrial: Major GTA acquisition

Dream Industrial REIT’s (DIR-UN-T) report this week revealed a major industrial acquisition of seven properties, comprising 998,000 square feet, in the Greater Toronto Area. The properties were acquired for $258 million as part of the Dream Summit joint venture. Its partner in the JV is Singapore-based GIC.

The portfolio is a mix of single and multi-tenant buildings along the Highway 401 corridor. It includes a total of 11 buildings, according to data shared with RENX by Altus Group. It was acquired from Pure Industrial:

• 925 Brock Rd., ($48.3 million); 927 Brock Rd., ($4.3 million); 929 Brock Rd., ($14.5 million); 931 Brock Rd., (4.3 million) in Pickering;
• 1865 Clements Rd., ($60.1 million) and 1875 Clements Rd. ($6.4 million) in Pickering;
• 980 Thornton Rd., South ($26.1 million) and 1000 Thornton Rd., South in Oshawa ($28.4 million);
• 650 Finlay Ave., in Ajax ($28.2 million);
• 40 Mills Rd., in Ajax ($12 million); and
• 1655 Tricont Ave., in Whitby for $25.6 million.

“With relatively low site coverage and over 21 acres of excess land, the portfolio offers upside opportunities through a combination of sales and IOS (industrial outdoor space) activation, as well as intensification or redevelopment potential,” the announcement states.

Dream holds a 10 per cent interest in the Dream Summit JV.

The announcement came on the heels of two other major industrial acquisitions in recent weeks:

• a 27.5-acre waterfront property in Metro Vancouver which includes 210,000 square feet of existing buildings plus a large IOS footprint, for $143 million (by the Dream Summit JV); and
• a 32-acre infill site next to the existing Stellantis vehicle manufacturing facility in Brampton (Greater Toronto Area), for $80 million in partnership with a “sovereign wealth fund”. It is shovel-ready for up to 680,000 square feet of new industrial development, with the current plan showing a two-building layout.

Dream Industrial reported increases in net income ($259.6 million in 2024, compared to $104.9 million a year earlier) and funds from operations ($288.9 million, up from $274.6 million in 2023). FFO per unit was flat at 70 cents during 2024.

The trust holds interests in 335 properties comprising 71.8 million square feet of space and valued at approximately $7 billion as of Dec. 31. The portfolio is down slightly from 344 properties at the end of 2023. In-place and committed occupancy was 95.8 per cent.

Dream Office REIT

Dream Office (D-UN-T) continues to feel the effects of challenges in the sector, according to its Q4 2024 financials released Thursday.

The trust’s portfolio at year-end 2024 was 24 active properties (two less than Q4 2023), valued at approximately $2.2 billion. Committed occupancy declined from 84.4 per cent to 81.1 per cent year-over-year.

On the upside, however, Dream has executed just over a million square feet of leases thus far in 2025.

“We continue to manage our business in a very uncertain environment with a focus on reducing risk, improving liquidity and increasing our occupancy,” Michael Cooper, Dream Office REIT’s CEO, said in its financial announcement. “The announced sale of 438 University is an attractive transaction for the trust that will immediately reduce debt and increase liquidity.

“Our proposed plan to convert 606-4th Ave. in Calgary from an office building to a new residential rental building will mitigate future office leasing risk in a very challenging market, diversify the trust’s source of income and improve the average quality of our portfolio.”

438 University Ave. in Toronto has been sold for $105.6 million, or approximately $327 per square foot, and is expected to close in the coming weeks. Proceeds will repay a $68.9-million mortgage, with the balance being allocated to credit facilities to reduce debt.

The trust’s debt level (net total debt to net total assets) rose from 50 per cent at the end of 2023 to 53.9 per cent as of Q4 2024, and available liquidity dropped from $187.2 million to $138 million in the same period.

Dream Office reported a $19.1-million net loss in Q4, compared to a $42.4-million loss in Q4 2023.

EDITOR’S NOTE: RENX updated this article after it was published to include additional information about the industrial portfolio acquisition, provided by Altus Group.

Source Renx.ca. Click here for the full story.

These Areas Of The Country Are Expected To Lose The Most From US Tariffs

Upcoming tariffs on Canadian imports into the United States are anticipated to wreak havoc on some urban areas north of the border, while other cities can expect to feel less harm from the trade taxes set to take effect next month.

The Canadian city ranked most vulnerable to the tariffs is in Atlantic Canada. Saint John, New Brunswick, a city of approximately 80,000 residents located an 80-minute drive from the border to Maine, was deemed to have an exposure index of 131.1% in the study released by the Ottawa-based Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Saint John was listed well above the second-ranked city, Calgary, which scored 81.6% in the report.

The study noted that over 80% of the 320 thousand barrels of crude oil refined at Saint John’s Irving Oil Refinery are exported to the U.S., while many other seafood and forest products from the New Brunswick area are also exported to the U.S.

On Feb. 1, United States President Donald Trump issued an order to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, but they were postponed for at least 30 days. Last week, Trump ordered tariffs against steel imports from countries including Canada.

Moreover, the tariffs could have a devastating effect on Canada’s industrial and office real estate markets, as 1.8 million Canadians, 8.8% of all working Canadians, work in industries considered heavily dependent on American imports of Canadian goods, according to recent Statistics Canada data.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently noted that 500,000 jobs could be lost due to U.S. tariffs in Canada’s largest province alone, casting a dark cloud over the Ontario real estate market, valued at over $3 trillion at the end of 2023.

If the tariffs go into effect in early March as expected, the major impact expected on the cities’ economies could ultimately shrink their real estate footprints if jobs are lost because of the trade taxes.

The report’s rankings caught some attention in Saint John, where a local chamber of commerce official acknowledged the local economic dependence on the U.S.

“New Brunswick exported $15.5 billion to the USA in 2023 and the vast majority would have come from companies headquartered here in Saint John, the biggest being Irving Oil,” said Fraser Wells, chair of the board for the Saint John Chamber of Commerce, in an interview. “When you think of the companies large and small here in Saint John, it wasn’t a huge surprise to us overall, but certainly the scale to which Saint John was number one was a little bit surprising.”

Saint John has an office vacancy rate of 23.6%, well above the Canadian national average of roughly 17%, while it has a 1.4% industrial vacancy rate, according to Halifax-based real estate firm Turner Drake & Partners as of June 2024. Earlier this month Americold announced plans to build a warehouse near the port of Saint John.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce compiled the list with help from chambers of commerce in cities with populations of over 100,000. Officials in those cities were not surprised by the results, though the CCC’s Chief Economist, Stephen Tapp, confessed that he expected a different city to take the top spot before embarking on the work.

“I thought it would be Windsor, Ontario,” Tapp said in an interview with CoStar News. “Some of these cities might not be aware of how many eggs they have in the USA basket compared to other cities.”

He also said that some areas, such as Southern Ontario, might have a hard time adjusting their local economy to lessen their dependence on trade with the U.S.

Meanwhile, other urban areas, such as cities in Alberta, might be able to adjust local trade if a new pipeline gets built, Tapp said.

“I am not sure that Windsor has a lot of options because they are so closely tied to the American market but there could be new ways to sell energy, do we need a west-east pipeline to service a European or Asian market? Those are the questions,” Tapp said.

Calgary was listed as second-most vulnerable to the tariffs for similar reasons, as Alberta’s biggest city depends on exports of crude oil and natural gas to the U.S., most notably to the state of Illinois.

Three cities in Southwestern Ontario, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Brantford and Guelph placed three to six, as the area economies rely on exporting auto parts to the U.S.

Hamilton’s steel exports landed it in eighth place, while cities in Quebec seen as reliant on aluminum exports were also ranked as vulnerable to the imposition of tariffs, with the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region and the city of Trois-Rivières seen as most vulnerable. The report ranked Drummondville, Quebec, at the 12th position due to its wood and furniture exports to the U.S.

The urban areas that rely least on U.S. trade were Sudbury, which ranked last at 41, as its nickel exports are not uniquely focused on Canada’s southern neighbour, while West Coast cities like Nanaimo and Kamloops, British Columbia also ranked among the least vulnerable to sanctions due to the trade they conduct with Asian partners.

Canada’s largest cities were not ranked particularly high as being vulnerable to trade tariffs according to the Chamber of Commerce. Montreal ranked 23rd of the 41 cities, while Quebec City came in at 26th. Toronto was ranked No. 27 while Ottawa was 29th and Vancouver 32nd.

Source CoStar. Click here for the full story.

Canada Braces For Tariffs, But Impact Will Not Be Evenly Felt Across Provinces

The Canadian economy is bracing for considerable economic disruptions resulting from U.S. President Trump’s executive order to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian exports. While not everyone is convinced that all of the tariffs will come to fruition, the threat to Canada’s economy is real and significant.

The value of exports to the United States amounted to $546.6 billion in 2024. That value represents a nearly 60% increase from 2020, the year Trump all but wrapped up his first term in office. Over the last decade, exports to the U.S. have accounted for 72.3% to 79.9% of Canada’s international exports. The exposure to a trade war with the United States cannot be understated.

Breaking down 2024’s U.S.-bound exports by province illustrates which of Canada’s jurisdictions could be hit the hardest in the event of a trade war. Ontario, Alberta and Quebec will likely be affected more than other areas of the country due to export volumes and values. However, removing energy products from consideration takes Alberta’s contribution to the U.S. export portfolio from 30% to 8%, leaving Ontario and Quebec as the only provinces contributing more than 10% toward the products entering the U.S. market, at 52% and 23%, respectively. Tariffs on oil aren’t expected to exceed 10%, as opposed to the 25% levied across all other product types.

Looking at each province’s trade activity in 2024 as a percentage of the estimated provincial 2024 gross domestic product illustrates each province’s challenges.

Alberta exports to the U.S. account for 45% of its GDP. If energy exports are removed entirely from consideration, that 45% U.S. export-to-GDP ratio drops to 8%. New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador all experience significant declines in percentage of GDP affected when energy products are removed from consideration.

The western provinces of Canada are likely to avoid the level of economic shock felt in the east. The anticipated lower tariffs on oil will be felt almost immediately by American consumers in the form of higher prices for gasoline.

Additionally, the now-completed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX) presents the possibility of ramping up oil exports to other international markets. Roughly 20% of the added capacity, the equivalent of approximately 180,000 barrels a day, is currently available and could provide alternatives for producers who would otherwise be facing tariffs. However, tariffs on crude oil could hamper oil production and will reverberate through Alberta’s manufacturing industry.

Reduced business investment and rising unemployment will also take momentum from the multifamily market, which in Edmonton is coming off a landmark year of investment while Calgary faces the prospect of further reductions in its already-slipping average apartment rent rates.

Quebec and Ontario are both heavily weighted to trade with the United States: 75% and 77% of all their international trade is U.S.-bound, respectively. Half of Ontario’s trade with the U.S. is in the ‘Machinery and Equipment’ category, which includes car parts. One-third of Quebec’s U.S.-bound products are in the same category. Another 23% of Quebec’s trade falls under ‘Metallic Mineral Products’ and ‘Fabricated Metal Products.’

The manufacturing sectors in these two provinces will likely be affected at an inordinate level. Real estate markets will experience a sudden reduction in space demand, led by industrial, from large scale specialized buildings through to the small bay market that supports the manufacturing industry. Retail and multifamily markets will be far from unscathed, suffering from the knock-on effect of increased unemployment, reduced consumer spending, and a likely increase in the already high number of resident outflows to other provinces from Ontario.

While British Columbia’s contribution to Canada’s exports is just 7.6%, it is one of the more diversified provinces in terms of trading partners. Roughly 53% of BC’s exports end up in the United States. However, 16% of BC’s exports go to China, 10% to Japan and 6.5% to South Korea. India, the European Union, countries belonging to the ASEAN region, and a collection of smaller countries worldwide account for another 15% of British Columbia’s current trade network.

The province will not be left without scars. Canada’s reciprocal tariffs on inbound products will increase construction costs after having levelled off. Vancouver’s acute housing shortage will likely be aggravated as more projects are delayed or potentially scrapped altogether. Even small projects that can be fast-tracked through planning processes will suffer under the sudden reacceleration of costs. This will affect the multifamily market’s recovery and reduce the momentum in the small bay industrial market, which is a significant contributor to the health of Vancouver’s industrial market.

While all provinces and territories ardently oppose the trade war, its effect on these jurisdictions will be felt at differing magnitudes. British Columbia and Alberta, the two provinces that could be considered the most insulated from tariffs, are also the two provinces with existing trade relationships and infrastructure already in place to help offset the overall national effect by pivoting trade practices more in the direction of other countries. More countries will likely face similar challenges and could also consider altering trade relations.

Source CoStar. Click here for the full story.

Investment Market Activity In Retail Expected To Heat Up: Morguard

Morguard has released its 2025 Canadian Economic Outlook and Market Fundamentals Report – a comprehensive analysis highlights trends and opportunities shaping the real estate market as Canada gears up for a rebound amid improving economic conditions.

“Retail leasing tightens as national and international brands expand their physical footprints, driving increased competition for high-quality spaces in top-performing shopping centres,” said the report.

“Demand for retail space in the country’s most productive shopping centres and community strip centres outpaced supply as national and international retailers continued to expand their brick-and-mortar presences. A range of new retail offerings, concepts, and formats have been introduced across the country. Looking ahead to 2025, investment market activity in the retail sector is expected to increase while the retail leasing market stabilizes, supported by a balanced demand-supply dynamic.”

Keith Reading, Senior Director of Research for Morguard, said leasing market tightened in 2024 as demand outpaced supply. Vacancy fell to 6.2% nationally at midway 2024 from 7.0% a year earlier.

“Construction activity continued to rest below the long-term average due to the high cost of financing and materials and labour shortages. Premium-quality available space became increasingly scarce, particularly in open-air centres.. Retailers continue to lease up space including on the main shopping streets of the country’s downtown areas,” he said.

“However, vacancy remained elevated in older covered malls and in the downtown areas of cities where foot traffic rested below the pre-pandemic peak levels. Stronger leasing fundamentals and rent growth supported healthier performance, investment returns averaged 4.2% for the year ending June 30, 2024, following a three-year period of weaker performance.

“Property values stabilized as occupancy levels increased along with rents. Retail property sales increased by 30% in the first half of 2024 from the same period a year ago, reflecting increased investor confidence levels. Private investment groups acquired retail property at an increased rate while institutional groups remained on the sidelines due to the high cost of capital. Retail owners and managers continue to look for opportunities to drive foot traffic and sales with new restaurant and entertainment offerings.”

Reading said investors have exhibited increased interest in acquiring retail property recently resulting in several significant sales – recent examples include the announced sales of: Galeries Laval a 591,00O regional shopping centre in Montreal, Kitchener Ontario’s 732,000 square foot Fairview Park Mall also a regional centre, and the 784,000 square foot Champlain Place Centre in Dieppe New Brunswick, which is the province’s largest mall.

“Investors continue to look for shopping centres with strong national tenants that generate strong sales results and that are market leaders,” he noted. “Private capital groups have been able to acquire high-quality assets in an environment where competition levels have been relatively low, as institutional buyers have adjusted their portfolio weightings and/or allocated funds to other property types such as industrial and multi-res apartments to offset weakness in the office sector.

“Investment performance has improved, and pricing has stabilized, which has also supported positive investor sentiment. Developers have been reluctant to build new speculative product per se. Development activity has been relatively brisk with owners of retail property looking to add density and/or alternative uses to existing shopping centres including residential. At the same time, investors and developers have acquired retail properties with a view to expansion through retail pads or other improvements. The development of retail space at the foot of newly constructed condominium and rental towers has also been a retail development market driver over the recent past.”

Are grocery-anchored properties still the jewel of this sector?

“The short answer is yes, demand for this kind of product continues to outdistance supply,” explained Reading. “Buyers continue to recognize the benefits of grocery store anchors as a stable, large tenant that will generate foot traffic and benefit the rest of the tenants in the property.

“It will continue, as the grocery sector continues to expand its footprint with several expansions already announced for 2025 – Loblaw has announced its intention to open 50 new stores in 2025, Metro Inc is planning to open a dozen new discount stores in fiscal 2025.

“Grocery anchored centres have outperformed over the past few years, a trend that will continue into 2025. Investors crave stable returns, which grocery anchored centres have provided in the past and have outperformed during periods of economic uncertainty. Quite simple, food is a necessity, and our growing population will require food and other necessities which bodes well for the grocery sector.”

What is the forecast for the retail sector in 2025?

Reading said the outlook for the retail sector is generally positive, despite increased headwinds.

“Retail spending is expected to increase at a modest pace, driven by population growth, positive wage growth trends, lower mortgage rates, modest economic expansion and job growth, and a pick up in housing market activity,” he said.

“As a result, retailer revenues will continue to rise in 2025, albeit at a slower pace than in 2024. Investors will continue to target retail assets that will provide attractive risk-adjusted returns and income growth. Discount, grocery, and other retailers selling necessities will continue to expand.

“Growth will also include niche retailers such as thrift stores and other recycled merchandise operators, services retail, and experiential retailers. International and national retailers will continue to expand in 2025 as well with several expansion announcements already being announced. The generally positive outlook is accompanied with a measure of risk including the negative impacts on the retail sector and spending patterns – these include higher inflation levels as a result of tariff wars, a slower than expected interest rate cutting cycle, weaker than anticipated economic and job market growth, and the negative impacts of geo-political events on business and consumer confidence.”

What is the impact of the low Canadian dollar on the retail sector?

Reading said prices for imported goods and services generally increase (particularly from the US), which reduced the spending power of Canadians. Canada imports close to half of its goods from the US. Prices for domestic goods increase. For example, gasoline is priced in US currency, therefore, gasoline prices will increase.

Food prices will also increase. Canadian consumer spending and balance sheets will suffer. However, wage growth and lower interest rates will offset the impact of a weak Loonie to some extent.

“The retail sector and Canadian consumer have exhibited a significant level of resilience over the recent past, despite several headwinds. I anticipate this will continue over the near term, especially given the comfort-level Canadian consumers have exhibited with record high levels of consumer debt,” added Reading.

Source Retail Insider. Click here for the full story.

Northstar Plans To Be ‘Tim Hortons Of Asphalt Shingle Recycling’

Company leases Hamilton site for facility to recycle 40,000 tonnes annually; Calgary plant nears completion

Massive Toronto Redevelopment Is Back On The Table After Years Of Silence

A long-dormant plan to introduce an enormous four-tower development to the heart of downtown Toronto is back after a few years of radio silence.

Developer Oxford Properties Group made a huge splash with its Union Park proposal back in 2019, revealing a bold new vision for the city skyline that featured designs boasting swooping curves from internationally-acclaimed firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.

The plan would see the existing office complex at 325 Front Street West levelled and replaced with an enormous community that would feature one of Canada’s tallest buildings and act as an iconic new backdrop to the Rogers Centre.

The existing building at 325 Front Street West would be demolished for the new four-tower complex. Photo by Jack Landau.

Sleek 33-Storey Development Could Be Headed For Toronto’s Stockyards

Toronto-based Diamond Corp has filed for a site-specific Official Plan Amendment (OPA) to admit the development of a 33-storey mixed-use building that would bring 429 residential units and 4,596 sq. ft of retail space to The Stockyards neighbourhood.

The application was submitted in mid-December, and is currently under review. If approved, the development would replace a vacant site that was formerly a coin car wash facility.

Toronto-based Diamond Corp has filed for a site-specific Official Plan Amendment (OPA) to admit the development of a 33-storey mixed-use building that would bring 429 residential units and 4,596 sq. ft of retail space to The Stockyards neighbourhood.

The application was submitted in mid-December, and is currently under review. If approved, the development would replace a vacant site that was formerly a coin car wash facility.

Initially, Diamond Crop envisioned redeveloping the site with a 31-storey residential, office, and retail building. The developer filed its first application in August 2022, but in May 2022 City Council had adopted the Keele-St. Clair Secondary Plan (OPA 537), which converted the site from Employment Areas to Mixed Use Areas in order to “achieve the creation of a transit supportive, complete community centered around the future St. Clair-Old Weston Smart Track Station,” says the application’s cover letter.

However, by December 2023 the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing had not given final approval and, at that point, suspended the 120-day decision making timeline for OPA 537. As of now, final approval has still not been granted, meaning the Stockyards development remains within an Employment Area, requiring a minimum non-residential floor space.

The most recent OPA application seeks to change that, exempting it from the need to provide office space and allowing it to deliver more much-needed housing near transit. A Zoning Bylaw Application and Site Plan Application were also submitted in July 2024 and the success of those depend on the approval of the site-specific OPA submitted this December.

The relatively slim, 23,745-sq.-ft site is located at 611-623A Keele Street on the corner of St Clair Avenue West and Keele Street and just 300 metres from the planned St. Clair-Old Weston GO Station. Once complete, the development would consist of a five-storey podium with a 28-storey tower element, featuring designs from architects—Alliance.

Inside, the building would contain 4,596 sq. ft of retail space at grade with residential space in the floors above. The 429 units would be divided into 31 studios, 239 one-bedrooms, 128 two-bedrooms, and 31 three-bedrooms. Amenity spaces would be located predominately on level two where 6,124 sq. ft of indoor amenity space conjoins with 4,348 sq. ft of outdoor amenity space. Additionally, a 1,969-sq.-ft terrace would be found atop level five.

Residents would also have access to 39 residential parking spaces, and 23 retail or visitor spaces across two levels of underground parking, alongside 388 long-term bicycle parking spots and 44 short-term spots.

Source Storeys. Click here for the full story.

What Office Tenants Want – And How Landlords Are Delivering

The office sector is still adjusting to lingering fallout from the pandemic and the effects of hybrid work policies, but savvy businesses should already be looking ahead to the next major wave of change.

That was a key message during a discussion at the recent Real Estate Forum in Toronto, which focused on what tenants want and how landlords are responding.

“Hybrid is here to stay as the cornerstone of any strong workplace strategy, and our research at C&W would tell you don’t mandate, because it lowers engagement,” said Samantha Sannella, Cushman & Wakefield’s business lead for Total Workplace Americas and national managing director for Total Workplace Canada.

“People want to be where they want to be, and they want to be in exciting, interesting office buildings.”

Sannella said representatives from a company’s real estate, human resources, communications and information technology teams must be involved to make any workplace strategy successful.

She advises clients they should always be looking 10 to 15 years in the future when calculating their office space needs.

“We are in a hybrid workplace now, but we will be in a meta workplace soon,” Sannella explained. “So start to think about how AI and really insane technology is going to affect our workplaces.”

Office space is a strategic asset

Veni Iozzo, CIBC’s executive vice-president of enterprise real estate and workplace transformation, considers office space a strategic asset and not a cost centre.

CIBC’s office footprint has dropped a bit, as it’s making more efficient use of space by emphasizing the hierarchy of work and not the hierarchy of the organization. Digitization and technology have also played important roles in increasing office efficiency, Iozzo noted.

“In most of the U.S., there is almost a manic focus on getting people back in the office,” Hines senior managing director and co-country head for Canada Avi Tesciuba said.

A location close to public transit is more critical than ever, as overcoming commuting times and removing friction from coming to the office is crucial. Tenants also want as many amenities as possible, and Tesciuba said access to the mostly underground PATH system that features more than 30 kilometres of restaurants, shopping, services and entertainment is seen as a big plus in downtown Toronto.

There’s a definite flight to quality and landlords have to be willing to look past making a profit on amenities they’re providing in order to attract and retain tenants.

Things are looking up for the office sector

GWL Realty Advisors (GWLRA) leasing VP Devan Sloan believes the Canadian office market has reached the bottom of the cycle in terms of vacancy rates and building valuations. He expects it to outperform other asset classes during the next 24 to 36 months.

“The uncertainty is coming out of the marketplace and we’re seeing more positive leading indicators that is likely going to lead to more deals,” Sloan observed.

“We’re going to see the first year in many of positive absorption in downtown Toronto and that will be great. We’re seeing markets firing across the country, particularly Alberta.”

While GWLRA still believes in the strength of office buildings and has clients that feel the same way, it continues to examine its portfolio and consider what could potentially be converted or sold to recycle capital into something with better long-term prospects.

Improving existing buildings

Sloan estimates his company has spent $40 million over the past three years improving its Greater Toronto Area office portfolio, and that number will rise to about $65 million by the time it’s done.

“In assets where we have high conviction, we’re invested,” Sloan said. “We’re doing new lobbies, we’re putting in amenities, we’re doing tenant gyms — and that’s true across the country.”

Sloan is also spending more time on the retail component of office buildings, considered a tenant amenity.

“Our owners are not numb to the fact that they’ve had a 15-year bull run which has been fantastic in the office space,” Sloan noted, “and now it’s time where you’ve got to invest in the assets that you want to own long term.”

“We have elevated food and beverage, we have amenities, a wellness centre and a conference centre as much as possible,” Tesciuba said of his firm’s properties. “We try to have outdoor spaces.”

The intent is to make the office experience seem more like a luxury hotel or private club, and Hines is hiring hotel concierges instead of security people for its lobbies.

Technology plays a bigger role in making life easier for tenants in new buildings, and upgrades in that area can be made in older assets.

Landlords and tenants need to share values

“All these amenities are great, but the greatest amenities are people, and people like to be with people,” Iozzo said. “When we bring teams in, they like to be together and that’s what’s happening now.”

He noted CIBC is the anchor tenant in both Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines’ recently built 49-storey first tower at CIBC Square, the 50-storey second tower to be completed later this year, and has space in other office buildings. But, Iozzo said the company will still need room to grow in the future.

“I’m looking for landlords to have a value proposition that I can align with,” Iozzo said. “In the past, I would say it was more about the transaction. I saw everybody at the time of signing a lease and then didn’t see them again until renewal.

“Now it needs to be more of an integrated partnership. My scorecard for success in real estate is no longer just about square foot per employee, which is an important sub-component, but we also have vibrancy as a measure.”

CIBC also measures occupancy cost as a percentage of revenue, and it’s willing to pay more if it can demonstrate the value.

Source Renx.ca. Click here for the full story.