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Colonnade BridgePort making inroads in the GTA | RENX – Real Estate News EXchange

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IMAGE: Hugh Gorman, the CEO of Ottawa-based Colonnade BridgePort. (Courtesy Colonnade BridgePort)

Hugh Gorman, the CEO of Ottawa-based Colonnade BridgePort. (Courtesy Colonnade BridgePort)

Ottawa real estate investment and management company Colonnade BridgePort’s first move into the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was both successful and short-lived. In the past couple of years, though, it’s been establishing an ever-firmer footprint in the market.

Colonnade BridgePort has made a name for itself in Ottawa over the past 35-plus years.

In 2017, it bought a property along Highway 427 and planned to use it as a springboard to enter the GTA, but got a strong offer to sell before executing its strategy.

“Within six months, we were in and out of the market,” chief executive officer Hugh Gorman told RENX.

Colonnade BridgePort returned a short time later, after accepting an invitation from an Ottawa institutional partner to assist with some challenged assets in Richmond Hill. The company has continued to grow in the GTA, and is now involved with just under three million square feet of properties, largely through connections with Ottawa clients who hold portfolios in the region.

“It was a natural progression to go into the GTA,” said Gorman. “We see significant opportunities for growth in our services business, but also on the investment side in terms of diversifying and where we’re deploying equity.

“Our model is that we work a lot with institutional partners in our services business and, when we find opportunities, we often invest alongside our institutional partners.”

Colonnade BridgePort’s services

Colonnade BridgePort is a full-service real estate company offering property management and leasing services, acquisition, development, investment management and asset management for commercial and residential properties.

In addition to its Ottawa headquarters, it has also opened a second location in the city as well as offices in Mississauga and Toronto.

Colonnade BridgePort manages more than eight million square feet of commercial real estate throughout Ontario. It’s involved with more than 120 properties, more than 200 annual lease transactions and approximately 1,500 tenants.

The firm has worked on establishing a solid infrastructure and platform and adding people to support its GTA growth. Its two most recent hires, Colin Ross as director of GTA leasing and Chris Coleman as director of asset management, are the next steps in its evolution.

“We don’t create markets, but we have to be able to make sure that we can execute at the asset level,” said Gorman. “We’ve got to be adaptable to market conditions and make sure that we’re adapting strategies on an asset-by-asset basis to meet those objectives.”

Colonnade BridgePort’s GTA portfolio

Colonnade BridgePort’s move southwest from Ottawa has seen it become involved with a lot of small and mid-sized assets in cities including Mississauga, Hamilton, Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo, Brampton and Richmond Hill.

“We’ve got everything from suburban office to small-bay industrial to larger-bay industrial to retail,” said Gorman. “We’re really covering the spectrum of asset classes, and it’s predominantly a services portfolio for our key clients.”

Colonnade BridgePort remains an active developer in Ottawa and is looking for opportunities to reposition assets or develop new properties in the GTA. Gorman wants the company to become a more important player in the market and is making that a priority before considering a move into another new region.

“We’re long-term believers in Toronto, and our business model is such that we’re building for the long term,” he said. “There are more than enough opportunities there to satisfy our appetite for scaling up.”

Dealing with COVID-19 challenges

COVID-19 has negatively impacted the Canadian commercial real estate market, both for owners and tenants. Gorman wants to help good tenants survive, but he acknowledges there will be casualties.

Colonnade BridgePort’s leasing team is spending 70 per cent of its time dealing with COVID-19-related issues as opposed to new leasing, according to Gorman, and he concedes it won’t be as easy to do business in the future.

“We’re going to have to adapt to a market where there are more vacancies across the board, specifically in retail, and ultimately in office with the sub-lease space coming to the market.

“We know the markets we’re in. We’re active and we know the brokers and the tenants and we’re going to have to work that much harder to make sure that we generate consistent revenue out of the portfolio.”

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Greater Toronto home sales jump in October after Bank of Canada rate cuts: board

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TORONTO – The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in October surged as buyers continued moving off the sidelines amid lower interest rates.

The board said 6,658 homes changed hands last month in the Greater Toronto Area, up 44.4 per cent compared with 4,611 in the same month last year. Sales were up 14 per cent from September on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The average selling price was up 1.1 per cent compared with a year earlier at $1,135,215. The composite benchmark price, meant to represent the typical home, was down 3.3 per cent year-over-year.

“While we are still early in the Bank of Canada’s rate cutting cycle, it definitely does appear that an increasing number of buyers moved off the sidelines and back into the marketplace in October,” said TRREB president Jennifer Pearce in a news release.

“The positive affordability picture brought about by lower borrowing costs and relatively flat home prices prompted this improvement in market activity.”

The Bank of Canada has slashed its key interest rate four times since June, including a half-percentage point cut on Oct. 23. The rate now stands at 3.75 per cent, down from the high of five per cent that deterred many would-be buyers from the housing market.

New listings last month totalled 15,328, up 4.3 per cent from a year earlier.

In the City of Toronto, there were 2,509 sales last month, a 37.6 per cent jump from October 2023. Throughout the rest of the GTA, home sales rose 48.9 per cent to 4,149.

The sales uptick is encouraging, said Cameron Forbes, general manager and broker for Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc., who added the figures for October were stronger than he anticipated.

“I thought they’d be up for sure, but not necessarily that much,” said Forbes.

“Obviously, the 50 basis points was certainly a great move in the right direction. I just thought it would take more to get things going.”

He said it shows confidence in the market is returning faster than expected, especially among existing homeowners looking for a new property.

“The average consumer who’s employed and may have been able to get some increases in their wages over the last little bit to make up some ground with inflation, I think they’re confident, so they’re looking in the market.

“The conditions are nice because you’ve got a little more time, you’ve got more choice, you’ve got fewer other buyers to compete against.”

All property types saw more sales in October compared with a year ago throughout the GTA.

Townhouses led the surge with 56.8 per cent more sales, followed by detached homes at 46.6 per cent and semi-detached homes at 44 per cent. There were 33.4 per cent more condos that changed hands year-over-year.

“Market conditions did tighten in October, but there is still a lot of inventory and therefore choice for homebuyers,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer.

“This choice will keep home price growth moderate over the next few months. However, as inventory is absorbed and home construction continues to lag population growth, selling price growth will accelerate, likely as we move through the spring of 2025.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Homelessness: Tiny home village to open next week in Halifax suburb

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HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.

Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.

Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.

The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.

Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.

They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.

The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Here are some facts about British Columbia’s housing market

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Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.

Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.

Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500

Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438

Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103

Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839

Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359

Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent

How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

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