REIT News

Commercial real estate: Victoria revitalization continues

by creitadmin on August 5, 2011

A couple of commercial real estate projects have made the news in Victoria this week. One story discusses how Evergreen Centre, Sooke’s largest shopping centre, is in the process of being sold to a new owner. This commercial property, home to a largest supermarket, a national bank branch, and a retail and pharmacy store, will be managed by LAPP Global Asset Management, an affiliate of IGW REIT, one of Canada’s largest private real estate investment trusts. Sooke, a bedroom community of Victoria, BC, is growing fast. Land in BC’s Capital Region is at a premium (Victoria, after all, is located at the tip of an island, and is hemmed in by ocean, mountains, farmland, and land reserved for green space), so Sooke has a bright future. The population is affluent, and the community itself is extremely desirable, as it will likely escape the explosive growth of its sister-municipalities to its west.

The second bright spot for commercial real estate in BC this week is the announcement that Victoria’s Plaza Hotel will finally be renovated, once again with a little help from League. The Plaza Hotel, most famous in Victoria for being the home of Monty’s Showroom Pub (a strip club) is the last remaining commercial building in its neighbourhood to await revitalization. Mountain Equipment Co-op has moved in across the street, as well as a number of nice new condominiums,so the Plaza Hotel looks positively blighted in comparison (especially when contrasted with chic Lower Johnson, just a block away).

Plans for the Plaza Hotel include mixed use affordable housing, market condominiums and commercial opportunities at street level. As well, the somewhat less-than-stellar backside of the hotel may be converted into a street-level open-air cafe.

Here’s more information about the two League Assets-related projects.

Add these stories about the second phase of the Uptown Project and the recent addition of a new movie theatre to the Westshore region, and the Victoria BC commercial real estate scene is looking very rosy indeed.

- Charles Edwards frequently blogs on Canadian REIT topics

{ 0 comments }

Florida REITs leading US commercial real estate rebound?

by creitadmin on July 27, 2011

Industrial REITs are buying land in Florida again. Denver-based DCT Pan American has purchased a 14.7-acre vacant site in Doral (located in Miami-Dade County) for a 65 percent discount off of the distressed property’s mortgage. The site was purchased for $14 million in 2008 but acquired by DCT for $3.13 million. EverBank had foreclosed on the property’s $8.85 million mortgage.

Indeed, after claiming the dubious title as “default capital of the US”, Florida’s real estate market is showing signs of rebirth, led by affluent buyers, many of them foreign (and, presumably, Canadian).  Reports the New York Times:

Much of Miami is gripped by a housing mania as the oversupply of distressed homes dries up and foreigners and investors swoon. Only a few years after it seemed there were so many unwanted high-rise condominiums that the only solution was to tear some of them down, there are plans to build even more… Prices, after a brutal drop, are firming up or even increasing. During the first six months of the year, there were 439 sales for at least $2 million, up 13 percent from last year.

Part of the rebound has been a result of a crackdown on “foreclosure mills”, or legal firms that used unscrupulous methods to claim properties during the crash. Legal challenges against these businesses have slowed the process of foreclosures, giving a market a reprieve from its downward spiral, allowing property prices to remain relatively stable, yet low enough for other investors to swoop in and purchase them.

In Florida, many of these purchasers are foreign, benefiting not only from low real estate prices, but also a weak US dollar.

But is the real estate rebound sustainable? Concludes the Times:

In the meantime, the South Florida market is busy, although it offers a problematic blueprint for a national recovery. For the traditional buyer who wants to put down no more than 20 percent, loans are somewhere between tough and impossible. Many of the sales are to investors, rich people or foreign citizens benefiting from a weak dollar.

- Charles Edwards frequently blogs on real estate investing.

{ 0 comments }

Commercial real estate outlook improving

July 26, 2011

Moody’s reports that the commercial real estate market is improving in the United States during the first quarter of FY2011, with apartment units showing the most improvement. Commercial real estate generally is divided into five main categories: Office, industrial, retail, hospitality and apartments, sometimes referred to as the multifamily sector. Moody’s ranks markets’ health on a scale [...]

Read the full article →

Colliers Canada Retail Report (Spring 2011)

July 14, 2011

Colliers has published its Canada Retail Report for Spring 2011, which can be downloaded here (pdf). The report provides plenty of useful information. Small snippets of the report are provided (and often regurgitated) by many news outlets, but it’s always better to read the report in its entirety. The theme of the spring 2011 report is Canadian [...]

Read the full article →

How to increase commercial real estate profitability: sell fresh food

July 11, 2011

Food will be a critical part of Target’s business model, according to top company brass  at the Honda Indy race in Toronto. Fresh food is big business for Canadian retailers. According to Colliers International: The grocery business in Canada is significant, worth $111.8 billion, or 38 percent of the $294.3 billion of non-automotive retail sales in [...]

Read the full article →

Big bump up for Calgary’s commercial real estate market

July 7, 2011

Calgary’s commercial real estate market is leading the country in the drop in office space vacancies, according to a report by by CB Richard Ellis Ltd. The report, the Calgary 2011 Market Outlook at a glance (PDF), states: A stronger oil & gas sector and increased foreign investment helped stabilize Calgary’s economy in 2010. Many shelved projects [...]

Read the full article →

“Significant” growth ahead for REITs

July 4, 2011

The retail asset class in Canada is still fairly fragmented, there is a pretty significant base of existing retail that private REITs can go after, according to League Assets in a recent interview in Property Biz Canada. Says Adam Gant, League Founding Partner: There is lots to go after so we can grow our portfolio pretty [...]

Read the full article →

Canadian REIT news: Walmart buys Zellers space

June 28, 2011

Back in January, HBC sold the bulk of its weakest chain, Zellers Inc., to U.S. retail giant Target. Target assumed control of up to 220 Zellers stores and is spending $1-billion to convert 100 to 150 of them to its own brand. But what of the remaining locations? Late last week competing retailer Walmart signed a deal with Target [...]

Read the full article →

Skip Treasuries, buy REITs

June 15, 2011

Jim Cramer suggests buying 5% yielding REITs instead of Treasuries for safe money Video: Cramer says US investors should skip Treasuries, and buy REITs - Charles Edwards frequently blogs on real estate investment trust topics

Read the full article →

Canada rental market: demand is outstripping supply

June 9, 2011

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has released its Rental Market Survey today covering rental apartment vacancy rates in Canada’s 35 major cities. According to the report, vacancy rates declined to 2.5% in April 2011 from 2.9% in April 2010. What this means is that rents may increase. According to CMHC, the major Canadian cities [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries