This 56-acre tract of industrial development land adjacent to Hamilton airport was acquired by Pure Industrial. (Courtesy Forge and Foster)
Hamilton had a record-breaking $434.42 million in commercial real estate transactions in the third quarter and is on pace for a record year.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever seen anything go over $400 million in a quarter,” Forge & Foster Investment Management strategy and acquisition associate Alex Manojlovich told RENX. “The closest we’ve come is Q4 of last year when we hit $395 million.”
Forge & Foster publishes a weekly email newsletter on commercial real estate sales and news in the Greater Hamilton Area in addition to its investment and asset management activities.
Hamilton transactions have totalled $1.14 billion in 2021 and should easily surpass the previous high-water mark of $1.2 billion that was reached last year when third-quarter deals were $322.31 million.
Steady stream of transactions
“There’s sometimes one mega-deal where something goes for over $100 million that drives the total, but there wasn’t a massive influencer that swayed the total in the quarter,” said Manojlovich.
Seventy transactions per quarter is typical for Hamilton, according to Manojlovich. There were 83 in the most recent quarter, 77 in the second quarter and 69 in Q3 2020. The average value of transactions has been increasing over the past five years.
“We’re starting to see larger and larger national and multinational institutions enter the market,” said Manojlovich.
There were nearly $150 million in industrial transactions, more than $100 million in industrial, commercial and investment (ICI) land transactions, and more than $50 million in residential land transactions. No other asset class reached $50 million.
– 1205 Glancaster Rd., an 89.54-acre piece of ICI land adjacent to the airport that was sold by a private individual for $34.32 million to Broccolini;
– 360 and 410 Lewis Rd. in Stoney Creek, a 205,000-square-foot multi-tenanted industrial flex building sold by a private individual for $34 million to Forge & Foster, which will renovate and restore the exterior, try to lease vacant units, explore converting units to industrial condominiums, and change the name to Orchard Place to pay homage to the fruit farms in the area;
– 2876 Highway 6, a 56.37-acre piece of land near the airport that was sold by RCG Upper James Hamilton Inc. to Pure Industrial for $33.95 million;
– 1 Head St., a 121,900-square-foot industrial building in Dundas sold by Forge & Foster to a private individual.
Airport area attracting lots of interest
Hamilton received a Foreign Trade Zone designation a year ago from the federal government. As a result, businesses that import and/or export goods or manufacture products in the city were granted access to direct support on a range of duty deferrals and tax exemptions.
Hamilton’s international airport is one of Canada’s largest for domestic air cargo distribution and has received federal government funding to support its growing importance.
The City of Hamilton’s Airport Employment Growth District is a planned development area of 1,361 acres of employment land bounded by: Garner Road East and Twenty Road West to the north; Upper James Street to the east; Whitechurch Road West to the south; and Fiddler’s Green Road to the west.
“The airport is a big attractor to investors, particularly in the industrial space,” said Manojlovich. “There’s lots of industrial land that’s getting quickly gobbled up by massive players.”
In addition to the properties near the airport noted in the Q3 transactions, there are other major new industrial facilities and proposed developments in the area:
– DHL Express invested $100 million in a 238,000-square-foot facility, which features a fully automated sorting system with the capacity to process 28,000 packages per hour. It opened at the airport in September;
– Panattoni has built a new 885,000-square-foot fulfillment centre for Amazon on Upper James Street and Dickenson Road West;
– Fengate Real Estate acquired 75 acres at 3054 Homestead Dr., adjacent to the airport, in the spring. The site needs to undergo rezoning and the plan is to create an industrial business park of roughly one million square feet; and
– Broccolini acquired industrial land at 9451 Dickenson Rd. W., with direct airport frontage, on which it plans to build a million-square-foot facility.
New developments coming to Hamilton
Hamilton’s real estate and development markets have benefited from spillover from Toronto, located 70 kilometres to the east, as both companies and residents look beyond the city borders for availability and affordability reasons.
Hamilton passed the $1-billion mark for building permits in June, the earliest that’s ever happened. The previous earliest month was August 2019. Hamilton has now reached the $1 billion milestone in 11 of the past 12 years.
Major projects proposed, or in the early stages of development, include:
– DiCenzo Construction Company’s proposal for two downtown mixed-use residential towers of 42 and 38 storeys with 792 units, 672 parking spaces and ground-level commercial space at 117 Jackson St. E.;
– Vrancor’s proposal for a downtown 30-storey development at 213 King St. W. that would include a 110-suite hotel in the podium and 241 rental units in the tower;
– First Avenue Investment Counsel’s proposal for a downtown development with three 30-storey condo towers and 908 units at 41 Wilson St. E.;
– New Horizon Development Group’s proposal for four 12-storey condos and four four-storey townhomes with a combined 1,407 units on the former Brock University campus near Red Hill Valley at 1842 King St. E.
– Emblem Developments’ sold-out, 354-unit 1 Jarvis condo that’s scheduled for completion in January 2024; and
Interest and growth in Hamilton will also be fuelled by improved public transit.
The West Harbour GO Transit station in the north end of downtown now has hourly, all-day train service to and from Toronto’s Union Station. A self-service GO train station is planned for Centennial Parkway North.
A memorandum of understanding was signed in September for Hamilton’s 17-stop light rail transit line to move forward. It should better accommodate future travel demand and encourage the development of mixed-use higher density communities for a population that’s expected to significantly grow.
There are also plans for a bus rapid transit system that would run from Hamilton along Dundas Street through Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga to Etobicoke.
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.
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.
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.
