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Forest Gate buys Niagara Falls shopping centre | RENX – Real Estate News EXchange

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IMAGE: The Mount Carmel Centre, a retail facility in Niagara Falls which has been acquired by Forest Gate Financial. (Courtesy Forest Gate)

The Mount Carmel Centre, a retail facility in Niagara Falls which has been acquired by Forest Gate Financial. (Courtesy Forest Gate)

Forest Gate Financial Corp. has acquired a Niagara Falls shopping centre as the newly formed investment firm begins building a portfolio and executing on its strategy to acquire a diverse range of properties.

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The Mount Carmel Centre was purchased from a private investment group for $37 million. The 30-acre site at 3930 Montrose Rd. is occupied by a shopping centre with tenants that include Food Basics, The Sleep Factory, Tim Hortons, Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s, among several other retailers and food, beverage and service providers.

“We really believe in the Niagara Falls market and think this is an excellent opportunity for us,” Forest Gate chief executive officer and managing partner Dan Marinovic told RENX. “We like the site because it’s a very large property that we feel we can add value to.”

Forest Gate will manage the property, which is in close proximity to a residential neighbourhood and Mount Carmel Park. Niagara Falls has natural attractions, a strong tourism industry and a manufacturing base.

The city will benefit from improved GO Transit service, which Marinovic believes will make it an attractive location for people looking to work remotely while seeking a more affordable and relaxed lifestyle than can be found in larger markets.

Forest Gate seeks variety of asset classes

While there are no immediate plans for redevelopment, the Mount Carmel Centre site is large enough to accommodate future multifamily and mixed-use development.

Forest Gate is establishing a stand-alone purpose-built rental apartment vertical and Marinovic said it has close to 500 units under management or in its acquisition pipeline.

The company is looking to add at least 1,000 units annually over the next several years. It’s targeting value-add opportunities in Southern Ontario communities like Niagara Falls where there’s access to public transit and pleasant environments for living and working from home.

Forest Gate is also seeking income-producing industrial and retail properties, as well as development and redevelopment opportunities.

The Vaughan-headquartered boutique real estate private equity, private debt and advisory investment firm was launched in March by Marinovic and partner and chief financial officer Frank DelZotto to deliver premium risk-adjusted returns on its own and in partnerships with developers, builders, investors and capital providers.

Forest Gate can be nimble in making acquisitions and Marinovic is excited by the momentum the company has achieved in its first six months.

“We’re big believers in the Canadian real estate landscape, especially as things start to normalize and we get immigration back to pre-pandemic levels,” said Marinovic. “We’re looking at very significant growth over the next 12 months.”

The Forest Gate team

Marinovic was most recently chief development officer of Dream Unlimited, where his responsibilities covered finance, development, construction and operations. Before joining Dream in 2013 he was vice-president of finance for First Gulf, the commercial real estate arm of Great Gulf, for seven years.

DelZotto was previously a partner at BDO Canada LLP for 19 years.

Forest Gate just hired Justin Hawkins, formerly First Gulf’s senior manager of development and planning, as director of development. Hawkins worked for RioCan REIT, Dream and SmartCentres REIT before that.

Vaughan-based home-builder Treasure Hill Homes is a partner in Forest Gate. Forest Gate’s advisory board is comprised of Marinovic, DelZotto, Treasure Hill president Nicholas Fidei and Treasure Hill CFO Mark Caruso.

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The Realtors' Big Defeat – The New York Times

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A settlement in the real estate industry is a case study of a central flaw in free-market economic theory.

Free-market economic theory suggests that the American real estate market should not have been able to exist as it has for decades.

Americans have long paid unusually high commissions to real estate agents. The typical commission in the U.S. has been almost 6 percent, compared with 4.5 percent in Germany, 2.5 percent in Australia and 1.3 percent in Britain. As a recent headline in The Wall Street Journal put it, “Almost no one pays a 6 percent real-estate commission — except Americans.”

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If housing operated as an efficient economic market should, competition would have solved this problem. Some real estate brokers, recognizing the chance to win business by charging lower commissions, would have done so. Other brokers would have had to reduce their own commissions or lose customers. Eventually, commissions would have settled in a reasonable place, high enough for agents to make a profit but in line with the rest of the world.

That didn’t happen. Instead, an average home sale in the U.S. has cost between $5,000 and $15,000 more than it would have without the inflated commissions. This money has been akin to a tax, collected by real estate agents instead of the government.

The situation finally seems to be ending, though. On Friday, the National Association of Realtors, the industry group that has enforced the rules that led to the 6 percent commission, agreed to change its behavior as part of an agreement to settle several lawsuits.

The settlement is important in its own right. Americans now spend about $100 billion a year on commissions. That number will probably decline by between $20 billion and $50 billion, Steve Brobeck, the former head of the Consumer Federation of America, told my colleague Debra Kamin.

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Allied REIT buys out Westbank on two building projects, the Home of the Week and more top real estate stories – The Globe and Mail

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Home of the Week, 80 John St., Upper Penthouse 1, TorontoJohn Lee/John Lee/Soare Productions

Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

Canadians’ wealth is bolstered by stock rally amid housing slump, Statscan says

In the fourth quarter, households saw their net worth rise by $290-billion, or 1.8 per cent, to roughly $16.4-trillion, Statistics Canada said in a report Wednesday. But many homeowners have yet to face the full brunt of higher interest rates until they renew their mortgages, writes Matt Lundy. Others have variable-rate mortgages with fixed payments, which means that as rates have increased, more of their bill is going toward the interest portion rather than paying down the principal. The looming renewals, among other factors, led Canadians to stay cautious about taking on new debt — financial liabilities only rose by 3.4 per cent in 2023.

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Allied REIT takes control of two towers co-developed with Westbank

Allied Properties REIT AP-UN-T is buying out its partner, Westbank Corp., on two office skyscrapers as the Vancouver-based real estate developer faces rising costs and legal claims at projects in Toronto and Seattle, writes Rachelle Younglai and Shane Dingman. The deal, which is expected to close in early April, will significantly cut the amount of debt Westbank owes Allied — giving them an infusion of cash in the process. In November, The Globe and Mail reported that Westbank faced legal claims for $25-million in unpaid work at the Mirvish Village development in Toronto.

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Advertised rents for purpose-built rentals were up 14.4 per cent nationwide in February, compared with the same month in 2023. An apartment rental building in Toronto’s Beach neighbourhood on Mar 11.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Why rent inflation is much higher for rental apartments than for condos

In Canada’s overheated rental market, tenants are increasingly gravitating toward purpose-built rentals, experts say – demand that is driving up rent for these units much faster than for condos, writes Erica Alini. Advertised rents for purpose-built rentals, also called rental apartments, were up 14.4 per cent nationwide in February, compared with last year— rents for condos, on the other hand, grew by just 5 per cent in the same timeframe. A severe supply shortage, affordable prices and the allure of rent control in older buildings is driving up the prices in purpose-built rentals.

Renters have harder time accumulating wealth than homeowners, RBC report says

According to the report, homeowners have seen their net worth grow from nine times household disposable income to 13 times since 2010, while for renters, net wealth grew from three to 3.5 times over the same period. The gap has widened even though renters’ incomes have risen at the same pace as homeowners. Meanwhile, homeowners are also accumulating home equity with their housing payments. The tightening of renters’ incomes will make it even harder to save up for a down payment, economists say.

Home of the week: Festival Tower penthouse with an interior designer touch

  • Home of the Week, 80 John St., Upper Penthouse 1, TorontoJohn Lee/John Lee/Soare Productions

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80 John St., Upper Penthouse 1, Toronto

The 46th-floor penthouse sits right above the TIFF Lightbox theatre, which is home to the Toronto International Film Festival. When you first enter the two-bedroom-plus-den condo, you’re greeted by 11-foot-tall ceilings leading you into the living room. The previous owners had white-lacquered book cases installed on the wall separating the living area from the kitchen — which frames the spacious room — and the primary bedroom has its own hotel-style bathroom attached. The 180-degree view from the penthouse features a panoramic view of the city’s downtown. and stretches across Lake Ontario.

What do you think is the asking price for the property?

a. $2,999,000

b. $3,875,000

c. $4,195,000

d. $4,500,000

c. The asking price is $4,195,000.

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At Real Estate's Biggest Conference, Property Crisis Denial Shifts to Acceptance – Bloomberg

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Welcome to The Brink. I’m Jack Sidders, a reporter usually based in London but this week I’ve been in Cannes where about 20,000 real estate professionals gathered for the annual Mipim conference. We also have news on German giant Bayer, crypto exchange FTX and Swedish debt collector Intrum. Follow this link to subscribe. Send us feedback and tips at debtnews@bloomberg.net or DM on X to @JackSidders.

Mipim is supposed to be a time for developers to show off their grand visions for projects of the future, with cities built in miniature hoping to lure pools of capital that will turn them into full scale realities.

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