Newsworthy Industry Hot Topics

Industry Hot Topics

SmartCentres and Greenwin enter new joint venture

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Greenwin Corporation announced that they have jointly acquired 1.15 acres in Toronto’s Yonge and Davisville neighbourhood for the development of a mixed-use rental property.

The acquisition of the site, which had been part of Greenwin’s holdings for over 60 years, follows on the recent success of the previously announced joint acquisition of 7.8 acres on Barrie’s waterfront. Together the two properties represent a development pipeline of over 2,000 purpose-built rental units and an aggregate development value of in excess of $1 billion.

“We are very pleased to once again partner with Greenwin on this important property located strategically in the heart of Toronto,” said Mitchell Goldhar, Executive Chairman of SmartCentres. “Steps away from the Davisville TTC subway along with an abundance of restaurants and a myriad of amenities along Yonge Street, I am confident that this will become one of the jewels in the SmartCentres REIT portfolio. This acquisition reaffirms our commitment to focus on recurring revenue growth in purpose-built apartments, seniors, office and self-storage.” SmartCentres, one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs with $9.7 billion in assets, continues to expand its focus to include the planning and development of connected, mixed-use communities on its existing retail properties. A publicly announced $12.1 billion intensification program ($5.5 billion at SmartCentres’ share) represents the REIT’s current major development focus. This intensification program consists of rental apartments, condos, seniors’ residences and hotels, to be developed under the SmartLiving banner, and retail, office, and storage facilities, to be developed under the SmartCentres banner.

SmartCentres’ intensification program is expected to produce an additional 27.3 million square feet space; all construction commencing within the next five years, 13.3 million square feet of which is already underway.

“We are looking forward to again partnering with SmartCentres,” said Kevin Green, President of Greenwin. “For Greenwin, this project represents a return to our roots, which stretch back to the 1960s in the Davisville Village. Six decades later, we’re excited to continue that legacy of shaping mid-town Toronto’s skyline. We are confident that this collaboration will lead to the creation of an exceptional rental community.”

CAPREIT completes acquisition of Halifax portfolio

Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (“CAPREIT”) has completed the purchase of the substantial Halifax portfolio it previously announced in December. The portfolio contains fourteen apartment buildings on eight properties located throughout the downtown core and surrounding metro area of Halifax. Totalling 1,503 rental suites, the acquisition represents a significant percentage of all primary rental housing on the Halifax peninsula. Occupancy for the total portfolio is currently 99.1 per cent.

“We are very pleased to increase the size and scale of our Halifax

26 | Canadian Apartment | Part of the REMI Network | portfolio,” commented Mark Kenney, President and CEO. “With the completion of this transaction, our Halifax portfolio has grown significantly to over 3,100 rental suites, transforming CAPREIT into one of the City’s largest providers of quality rental accommodation.”

CAPREIT paid approximately $391 million for the portfolio, satisfied by the assumption of approximately $109.0 million in mortgages with a weighted average interest rate of 1.94 per cent and a weighted average term to maturity of 1.14 years, with the balance in cash from its December equity offering and Acquisition and Operating credit facility.

Vacant homes in Vancouver down 15 per cent

The City of Vancouver released a report stating the number of homes declared vacant last year under the Empty Homes Tax program have gone down 15 per cent since 2018 and 30 per cent since the program launch in 2017.

The program, a first in North America, is designed to address the city’s rental crisis with that tax money being reinvested into affordable housing. Properties declared vacant will be issued a bill for one per cent of the property’s 2019 assessed taxable value. For the 2020 tax year, the tax will rise to 1.2 per cent in the hopes it will push owners to occupy their empty homes.

Condos currently make up the majority of vacant homes. Most of them are located in Vancouver’s downtown core where condo density reigns. The West End recorded the highest percentage of unoccupied properties, relative to the number of residential properties in the neighbourhood that were required to declare.

As of the February 4, 2020 declaration deadline, 787 properties were declared vacant in 2019, compared to 922 at the same point in 2018, and 1,131 in 2017. This year, 97 per cent of residential property owners made their property status declaration by the deadline. Last year, the total overall number of residential properties in the city rose 1.6 per cent year over year, mostly due to a three per cent increase in the number of condo units.

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Vancouver rated most walkable city in Canada

Vancouver, Montréal and Toronto are the most walkable cities in Canada in 2020, according to new data from American company Walk Score. Burnaby, B.C. and Longueuil, Québec were also in the top five, in fourth and fifth place.

Walk Score, owned by residential brokerage Redfin, rates the walkability of cities (and neighbourhoods) with populations of more than 200,000. Cities where daily errands do not require a car score 90 points and above, a score of 70 to 89 points means most errands can be accomplished on foot and a score of 50 to 69 indicates that some errands can be completed on foot. Car-dependent cities Markham and Vaughan were ranked as least walkable with a score of almost 35. Vancouver earned a Walk Score of 79.8.

According to Redfin Vancouver market manager Brooks Findlay, well-built properties in walkable areas often sell for a premium. “Over the past 10 years, Vancouver has placed a strong emphasis on development that supports walkability. Many of the new developments are focused on areas that are close to transit—specifically our monorail system,” Findlay said. “The city itself has also been very focused on building new walking and bike paths, allowing for a green commute and discouraging single-driver vehicles. Many young professionals in Vancouver don’t even consider owning a car. Developers have created mini villages in high-traffic areas, meaning you don’t have to travel more than five or six blocks to get anything you need.” Toronto, meanwhile, earned a lower Walk Score of 61. “A lot of Toronto is connected underground, so when it gets cold in the winter, there are still ways to get around. Then there’s the boardwalk, which allows people to walk across much of the city right on the waterfront,” Redfin Toronto market manager Blair Anderson said. “One thing people don’t always realize about Toronto is that there are lots of nature walks and trails right in the city. If it was just a concrete jungle, people wouldn’t be so inclined to walk places, but since it’s so beautiful, walking is appealing. Plus, city traffic is less than desirable these days, so being able to get around on foot is very advantageous.”

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