Real eState
Hudson Bay aims to 'unleash' real estate values – Western Investor
A plan by Hudson Bay Company (HBC) to unlock the real estate values of its vast property holdings could run into dramatic price differences among its holdings in Western Canada.
On October 19, the venerable retailer, founded in Canada in 1670, announced it had formed HBC Properties and Investments (HBCPI), a dedicated real estate and investments business to “manage, maximize and enhance” the 40 million square feet of gross leasable space that HBC owns across North America.
Richard Baker, HBC’s executive chairman and CEO said, “This is an exciting phase of our company’s transformation and provides us with a significant opportunity to unleash the full potential of our real estate and investments business. Under this new organization, we will build upon our strong foundation of valuable real estate assets in key demographic areas. We will also continue our strong track record of maximizing our portfolio and generating value from these assets, as we did through the sales of the Lord + Taylor flagship building and our interest in European real estate assets,” He added, “HBCPI is well-equipped to further elevate and increase the value of our portfolio.”
HBCPI sold HBC’s Lord + Taylor building in New York City last year for $1.1 billion. It unloaded the company’s share of European assets for a reported $1.5 billion.
The plan to monetize real estate could include downtown locations in Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg.
The 168,000-square-foot Edmonton store is slated to close this fall. The Winnipeg downtown store, once the HBC flagship outlet in Canada, is scheduled to close February 2021 after more than 125 years in business.
In Vancouver, HBC had a conditional agreement in 2018 to sell its downtown store at 674 Granville Street to RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust for $675 million, but the transaction failed to go through.
The site, which includes 767,000 square feet of land at the corner of West Georgia Street, is currently assessed at $251.6 million by BC Assessment.
As a comparison, the 650,000-square-foot Winnipeg downtown building was valued at zero in a January 2020 appraisal done by Cushman & Wakefield.
According to the appraisal, the building is worthless, but the site would likely be developed with retail and other commercial uses, such as offices or multi-residential development.
This would likely be the fate of other HBC downtown locations in Canada.
HBCPI now owns New York-based Streetworks Development, a large-scale property development division that specializes in mixed-use redevelopments.
“This new division focuses on creating multi-use spaces that feature a variety of services and experiences across the workplace, retail, residential and entertainment categories,” according to a HBCPI statement October 19.
Real eState
Ontario regulator freezes assets of unlicensed builder – The Globe and Mail
The extraordinary measures Ontario’s new homes regulator is taking to deal with a Toronto builder with a history of sanctions highlight the challenge posed by unlicensed builders.
On March 19, the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) froze the assets of Albion Building Consultant Inc. Court documents said that an investigation found evidence that the company took money for as many as 53 separate homes in Toronto it did not have the proper licences to build or sell.
The number of homes allegedly illegally built by Albion is several times larger than previously believed, which the HCRA said prompted it to invoke rarely used powers.
The freezing of assets was not punitive, but “to hold any purchaser funds in trust … to prohibit [Albion] from transferring any assets [and] to preserve the deposits for the benefit of homebuyers,” said Wendy Moir, the HCRA’s chief executive officer and registrar.
Ontario’s new home regulations are split between two delegated authorities, HCRA and Tarion. HCRA, which was launched in 2021, licenses builders and polices their conduct. Tarion approves the number of homes a builder can enroll in its home warranty program, an insurance pool that protects new home deposits and serves as a backstop for builder defect complaints.
If homes are built or sold without licences, they cannot be enrolled in the Tarion program, limiting the buyers’ recourse in the event of defaults by the builder.
“The HCRA is taking appropriate action to protect the public and send a clear message to the industry that those who act unlawfully or unethically will be held accountable,” said Ms. Moir.
The principals of Albion – Zamal Hossain and his wife Farida Haque – have already been convicted four times for regulatory offences related to 16 homes built without licences between 2016 and 2022. But in a search warrant application the HCRA filed on Feb. 20 with the Ontario Court of Justice, the agency outlines dozens of other new-build homes Albion is alleged to have sold or constructed. Those allegations have yet to be proven in court.
The warrant is only the second one the relatively new agency has served. It allowed investigators to comb through Albion’s office at 3028 Danforth Ave. in Toronto for any records of contracts and agreements with buyers about the homes, contracts with trades and subtrades, contact information for the new home purchasers and any correspondence between Albion and purchasers about the new homes.
“We got a lot of information from them – a van full of documents,” said Ms. Moir. “We have hundreds of documents to go through,” she said. “This is one of our largest investigations.”
Albion’s business has been to tear down a single detached home, split the lot and then construct two new homes on the old site. The HCRA warrant suggests the majority of the 53 suspected unlicensed homes are lot-splits located mainly in Scarborough. It’s unclear as yet how many homes the company actually completed.
In the past, Tarion extended a licence to build homes to Mr. Hossain and Albion, but limited the number of new homes he was allowed to enroll into its insurance program.
The evidence HCRA submitted for the search warrant suggests that the actual number of unlicensed homes built by Albion was several times higher than Mr. Hossain admitted.
Mr. Hossain didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story, but in 2023 he offered this comment to The Globe on his previous convictions: “Yes I broke the law. I did the house without the Tarion [new home warranty]. … I didn’t murder anybody.”
According to Ms. Moir, there’s no clear tally of how many unlicensed builders there are in the province. She notes that it is not illegal to build your own home without a licence. But if you hire a contractor to do it, they must be licensed.
“We’ve seen an 80-per-cent increase in illegal building complaints since last year,” she said. “I don’t think it’s more illegal building, we think it’s more awareness.”
Neil Rodgers, Interim CEO of the Ontario Home Builders Association, said the Albion case puts a spotlight on the need for regulatory fixes to tackle illegal vending where an unlicensed builder takes deposits to build homes they aren’t entitled to sell or build.
“There has to be a pro-active regulatory regime,” said Mr. Rodgers. “There needs to be a system put in place that allows for what I’m going to call early warning tracking, whereby purchasers or their agents or their solicitors could register their agreements of purchase and sale with HCRA or Tarion. If there’s a pattern that’s emerging it gives the regulator an opportunity to intervene much faster.”
Mr. Rodgers likens this requirement on buyers to share details of their agreement of purchase and sale’s with HCRA or another agency as similar to mailing a warranty card for an electronic appliance, and says he’s calling on the province for consultations on changes to the requirements.
Karen Somerville of the consumer lobby group Canadians for Properly Built Homes (CPBH) doesn’t agree the burden should be on consumers to identify unlicensed builders, and points to a different screening where there’s already been pilot programs in the past: construction permitting.
“CPBH proposes that the municipality has the responsibility to notify HCRA given the information available in the building permit application,” Ms. Somerville said. “This would result in government organizations working together using information they already have to identify unlicensed builders.”
Real eState
Surreal Estate: $15 million for a turnkey Muskoka resort with 41 guest rooms
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Location: Port Severn, Muskoka
Price: $14,999,000
Size: 17 acres of land with 41 guest rooms and a three-bedroom cottage
Real estate agent: Ali Booth, Sotheby’s International Realty
The place
A fully operational vacation escape sitting on 17 acres of land on Little Lake in Muskoka. The property comes with 41 guest rooms, a three-bedroom cottage, a private island accessible by helicopter and more than 600 metres of shoreline. It’s a short drive from Highway 400 and several neighbouring resorts.
The history
This getaway was originally built in the 1950s. The current owners purchased the place in 2021 and immediately invested $1 million to replace the roof and rebuild the guest cottage. After serving as a filming location for Bachelor in Paradise Canada, it reopened for business in July of 2022. The owners are now taking on a new venture and looking to sell the resort to a wealthy investor.
Related: $11.9 million for a Muskoka compound perched atop its own peninsula
The tour
To begin, here’s an aerial view of the peninsula, with its many docks, green spaces and lodges. That’s Port Severn North Road just beyond the parking lot.
And here’s the main entrance. The original hotel was renovated around Y2K, and the current owners bought it in 2021.
In the lobby: guest check-in, a lounge and doric columns.
The full-service restaurant overlooks the lake and includes a café and lounge.
This reverse angle shows off the bar and dramatic circular ceiling.
There’s also a nail salon down the hall.
The indoor pool and hot tub are open year-round.
The shiplap ceilings and wall of windows add warmth to the massive space.
Here’s the 24-hour gym, with rubber floors.
Now for a peek inside one of the European-style suites, which are larger than traditional hotel rooms. This one is outfitted with hardwood floors, a stone fireplace, a floor-to-ceiling walkout and gold accents throughout.
The hotel also rents out its 90-seat conference centre for weddings and corporate retreats.
Here’s another look at the cavernous conference centre.
Outside, it’s all about the amenities: a tennis court, a patio, a private beach, many docks for water sports and a private island accessible by helicopter.
Speaking of water sports, guests are free to explore Little Lake and its seemingly endless waterways.
Here’s the tropical-themed beach.
Finally, another bird’s eye view of the compound, highlighting the ample space for expansion. While there have been no formal approvals for development, the town has provided zoning guidelines on what could be built here.
Have a home that’s about to hit the market? Send your property to realestate@torontolife.com.
Real eState
Search platform ranks Moncton real estate high | CTV News – CTV News Atlantic
Like many of her clients, realtor Jenny Celly and her family moved from southern Ontario to southeast New Brunswick to find a more affordable home.
The slower pace and quality of Maritime life was very appealing.
“There’s less traffic. People, because they’re not as stressed out, they are friendlier, in my opinion, so that attracts a lot of people,” said Celly.
Moneysense.ca and Zoocasa, a consumer real estate search platform, have ranked Moncton as the top place in Canada to buy real estate for the third straight year.
Forty-five neighbourhoods and municipalities were ranked using factors such as the average price of a home, price growth over time and neighbourhood characteristics.
According to the rankings, the Greater Moncton area is highest in value and best buying conditions and has a seen a growth of 69 per cent over the past three years.
Celly said the region is still seeing buyers from Ontario and British Columbia purchasing homes sight unseen using Zoom or FaceTime – something that was very popular during the pandemic.
“I put myself in their shoes. So I’m saying, ‘OK, it smells kind of funny,’ because you are being their eyes and they will put in an offer after seeing the home via video. Most of the buyers are seeing their home for the first time on closing day,” said Celly.
One of realtor Tracy Gunter’s homes in north end Moncton recently sold in less than two weeks.
Gunter said it’s a seller’s market here, but there isn’t a lot of inventory.
“We don’t have a lot to sell. So, our buyers are coming in, they want to spend their money, but we don’t have the homes for them to buy. There is a house shortage,” said Gunter.
Gunter said what is selling are semi-detached homes and properties under $400,000 to people from outside the province and the country.
The average price of a home in the Greater Moncton area last year was $328,383.
“Things are slowing down a little bit, but people are still coming,” said Gunter. “Right now, it’s just finding homes for the people that need them.”
Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold said the city’s appeal is its lifestyle and residents.
“We have kind, compassionate, collaborative people that want to work together that are engaged. They want to be a part of it all. There’s a real feeling of positive energy in our community right now,” said Arnold. “There’s really amazing people in our community.”
Celly said the area is attracting many families, retirees, and investors.
The main reason: the prices.
“We’re looking at bigger markets, bigger cities where prices are two to three times more than what you find in Moncton,” said Celly. “A lot of people who are looking at the Maritimes are also looking at the quality of life.”
Saint John was ranked second for best places to buy real estate, Fredericton fourth and Halifax/Dartmouth was sixth.
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
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