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The full impact of Toronto's building boom won't be felt for years to come, according to CBRE. (For those who demand instant satisfaction, send an email to yourself.)  CBRE EVP John O'Toole walked us through some of the highlights of a national 2014 outlook report he co-authored. While many larger office tenants have completed their renewals or relocations, there is uncertainty as to the next sources of office demand. While they don't know what specific sector will emerge to drive demand, they certainly see demand increasing over the next five years, John says. Office vacancy in the region is expected to rise, to 11.1%, from 9.4% in 2013; in terms of industrial, availability rate is expected to drop to 4.5%, from 4.6% in 2013, but the net rental rate and sale price are expected to rise to $5.24 and $90.24/SF, respectively.  Sherway Gardens GM Andy Traynor and property manager Brian O'Hoski, during a tour of construction on Sherway Gardens. (It only looks like an outdoor mall at the moment.) Over 50% of the total retail space under construction nationwide is in the GTA--we're tops when it comes to desirable locations for foreign and domestic retailers. Space that's available remains a hot commodity. One unexpected development on the investment front: manufacturing growth in Durham, and the inevitable retail and residential expansion that will follow.  RBC Waterpark Place, one of the projects to watch, according to CBRE. With Toronto undergoing the largest build cycle in the downtown since the late 1980s, John says they'll be monitoring development closely over the next year. "There are a variety of different approaches to downtown office development at play," he tells us. Buttonville redevelopment and The West Don Lands are other projects to watch, he says, "because of their size and potential to be transformative for the city." |
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Update on Bathurst Walmart Last week's announcement that Loblaws is opening a 20k SF store at the street level of a new residential building at 297 College St—close to Kensington Market—got us thinking about another proposed project that many residents and business people in KM, as well as local politicians, are debating--the proposed Walmart location to be developed by RioCan on the Bathurst Street site of the old Kromer Radio store. The project (image) calls for a three-floor, 130k SF complex for up to 10 retailers. (Hopefully one of them will be called Sign.) Walmart would take the second and third floors. This morning, Walmart announced it was expanding across Canada big time--investing $500M in supercentre, distribution network, and e-commerce projects).  After two, shall we say, noisy public consultation hearings last summer, Lynda Macdonald from the city's planning department tells us two events are on the calendar that should advance the process over the next few months, including a report from an independent consultant hired by the city to look at the impact a new Walmart would have on the local businesses. Planning would then give advice to council on whether to go ahead. RioCan also launched an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, and a pre-hearing should happen in March. Lynda tells us the planning department will see the independent retail impact report before that OMB hearing. |
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One More Reason To Feel BullishMorguard's Keith Reading points to expected improvements in Canada's labour market in 2014 as a reason to feel good about employment and the commercial property rental market. A stronger US economy will drive export demand and create more jobs, he says. “A weaker Canadian dollar will boost export and manufacturing employment levels,” he says. “Office and industrial rental markets are most directly tied to the overall economic and job growth trends.” |
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Cool Cribs: Avison Young |
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 Part of a continuing Bisnow series, we're looking at the coolest offices in real estate. According to Avison Young VP and director of research Bill Argeropoulos, when the company announced it was moving from 150 York St to the new PwC Tower at the NW corner of York St and Bremner Steet in Toronto's Southcore Financial Centre (SFC) in 2011, it was looking to make a statement. AY was the first of the city's big brokerage firms to move into a LEED Gold building in Toronto. SFC includes a second office tower and a 45-storey Delta Toronto hotel. AY's global HQ is a bright, vibrant space marked by floor-to-ceiling glass so natural light reaches all parts. |
 The extensive use of interior glass walls adds to the open concept, says Bill. The PwC Tower was designed by award-winning KPMB Architects. AY also successfully endeavoured to make more economical use of the space—the number of offices increased from 23 to 35, and the number of seats from 55 to 68, while the employee per square foot ratio was reduced from 190 to 167. Usable office area was reduced by 1,000 SF. All three buildings will be connected by more than 14k SF or urban forest areas and pedestrian walkways.
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