BGO Properties and Visitt, a property operations platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI), have partnered to deliver solutions across BGO's national portfolio of over 300 commercial real estate assets. 

TO OUR VALUED READERS: RENX staff will be taking our annual break for a hard-earned vacation during the week of June 29 through July 3.

The global transition to a net zero economy is inevitable but how Canada will take advantage of the opportunity to drive the development of green buildings remains a question, the Building Lasting Change conference heard last week.

An investment group led by Immo Alliances has acquired  a multi-residential portfolio of 25 buildings with 248 units, as well as two redevelopment sites following a fire at 2012-2022 Westmore Ave., in Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood.

Ground has been broken on the first of three towers at Forêt Forest Hill, Canderel’s master-planned 1,300-plus-unit condominium community at the corner of Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue West in midtown Toronto.

On Monday June 1, CMHC announced that Operating Expense Benchmarks are increasing for five-plus unit multifamily insured mortgages with the changes taking effect for applications received on June 8 or later.

Pontegadea has acquired a 379,000-square-foot refrigerated distribution centre, which is leased to Lactalis Canada for another 24 years, in an off-market deal from Broccolini for $187 million.

Public Storage Canada (PS Canada), which has a portfolio of 68 self-storage facilities across five major Canadian cities, is set to be sold to Texas-based Public Storage (PSA-N) for $1.67 billion.

RFA Financial is continuing to sell off assets following its creation from the merger of RFA Capital and Artis REIT in February. The new company is seeking to bolster its financial services and banking operations with capital from these sales.

GUEST SUBMISSION: "B.C. leads the country in rent decreases," Minister of Housing Christine Boyle’s office declared again this month. "We continue to see the effects of our efforts to build a historic amount of affordable housing."

Leyad has acquired The Bay Centre, a 420,000-square-foot mixed-use commercial property in the heart of downtown Victoria, from Manulife in an off-market deal for an undisclosed price.

Allied Properties REIT (AP-UN-T) announced that Craig MacIntyre has been appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective July 29. Three new leaders appointed at Arcadis and executive moves at CBRE, OIM Group and Crozier.

In a deal first announced early in 2025, a new cold-storage facility is now open for business in the port of Saint John. The operation supports approximately 22,000 pallet positions and is owned by Atlanta-based Americold Realty Trust (COLD-N).

Peterson’s Mirvish Village development in Toronto is ready to take the neighbourhood into its new era. Located at the site of the former Honest Ed’s store, Mirvish Village has been welcoming residents to its first rental towers.

The Canadian purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) market is dominated by companies with small portfolios, but companies like Forum Asset Management and Fitzrovia are looking to expand quickly in the sector.

Lankin Apartment REIT has acquired a 258-unit multifamily residential community in Ottawa, parent company Lankin Investments announced this week. The property was acquired for $72 million in a deal which closed last month.

Forum is marking 25 years of the partnership that built the company. As a privately held Canadian real estate developer with offices in Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta, we pair nationwide reach with a commitment to making a lasting, positive impact.

Leasing has kicked off at one of Toronto's newest communities, Marlow at 980 Dufferin St. from developer Fitzrovia. The purpose-built rental apartment will offer over 898 residential units across three towers.

Thousands of newly completed and forthcoming condominium suites — including small, investor-driven units not designed for long-term end-users — are entering a generationally weak Greater Toronto and Hamilton (GTHA) market shaped by higher interest rates, constrained financing and cautious buyers.

Oxford Properties has fully leased all 1.55 million square feet of space across four speculatively constructed buildings of the first phase at James Snow Business Park in Milton, Ont. 

Adam Jacobs is joined by Jasmine Young, vice president of advisory for Canada at Zonda, for a deep dive into the state of Ontario’s housing and development market.

Nokia’s Ottawa Innovation Campus redevelopment represents one of the most significant real estate projects undertaken in Canada in recent years. The campus brings multiple laboratory research environments, collaborative work places, and community amenities to support Nokia’s people and next-generation technologies.

The real estate and development industry has always been proud of its resilience, proud of its ability to weather rate shocks, political cycles and market unpredictability with a kind of stoic confidence. However, resilience is not the same as readiness.

While Canada remains a major global hub for higher education despite student visa caps negatively impacting international enrolment, it doesn’t have enough purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) to meet demand.

The Land & Development conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre closed with a discussion about the most significant challenges, trends, risks and opportunities for investors, owners and developers across Canada.