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RoseFellow JV buys Montreal Garment District industrial sites | RENX – Real Estate News EXchange

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IMAGE: RoseFellow has created a joint venture with HW Properties and the Drazin family, all of Montreal, to acquire an industrial portfolio in the Garment District. (Courtesy RoseFellow)

RoseFellow has created a joint venture with fellow Montreal firms HW Properties and the Drazin family to acquire an industrial portfolio in the Garment District. (Courtesy RoseFellow)

Saying the area is ripe for resurgence, RoseFellow has partnered with two other Montreal-based firms to acquire a portfolio of industrial buildings in the city’s centrally located Garment District.

The recent acquisition includes two adjoined two-storey industrial buildings at 9755 and 9775 Meilleur St. totalling 96,538 square feet, and a pair of one-storey buildings of 3,567 and 5,068 square feet at 9780 and 9800 Jeanne Mance St.

The 1950s-era buildings were owned by family-run textile firm Doubletex and were sold by Ernst & Young.

“We picked it up at a very aggressive purchase price (of about $50 a foot or about $5.25 million),” says Mike Jager, one of RoseFellow’s principals. “To pick up anything that has industrial zoning at that kind of price is incredible.”

Several groups bid on the properties which went through several rounds before being finalized, Jager says.

RoseFellow teamed up with HS Properties and the Drazin family, which controls Rester Management, on the deal.

Different kind of acquisition for RoseFellow

Jager says the three partners will acquire the balance of the Doubletex portfolio, which includes a parcel of land of about 400,000 square feet, after an environmental assessment is completed.

The properties differ from RoseFellow’s previous acquisitions which have consisted of vacant land or sites that will be redeveloped, he notes.

The reasoning behind the acquisition is simple, Jager says, explaining there will always be smaller businesses that require warehouse, industrial or flex space but cannot pay high rental rates and don’t require 32- to 40-foot clear ceiling heights.

“Sometimes that means buying properties where we can offer more aggressive rental rates.”

Depending on requirements, rents will “go anywhere from a $10 gross to a $15 gross rental rate. It’s significantly less than what we’re charging for brand new industrial class-A.”

The partners will spend “a few million dollars” on improvements at the currently vacant buildings, including roof and brick work, as well as tenant improvements once tenants are found.

Ahuntsic-Cartierville and the Garment District

9755 Meilleur is a concrete structure while 9775 Meilleur is a steel structure with concrete slabs. Clear heights average 15 feet in the warehouse spaces. There are two drive-in shipping and receiving docks and two exterior dock-level shipping and receiving doors.

Although the Jeanne Mance buildings are small, “we thought they’re real unique in the sense that trying to find a 3,000- to 4,000-square-foot freestanding building with its own parking area and shipping doors is extremely rare.”

Located in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, the area, which is also known as Chabanel or Cité de la Mode, is bounded by Autoroute 15 to the west, St. Laurent Boulevard to the east, Autoroute 40 (Metropolitain) to the south and Sauvé Street to the north.

This area remains the third-largest employment centre in Greater Montreal after downtown and St. Laurent. With the garment industry on the decline, start-ups and tech companies have rented vacated spaces in the area,

“For a long time, many companies moved out of the Chabanel district,” Jager says. “I think we’re going to see a resurgence of the area.

“We’re betting on the Garment District. I think people will come back due to the on-island location that people look for.”

Buildings offer central location, reasonable rates

The buildings would be ideal for tenants looking for central locations or last-mile delivery who do not require more lofty ceiling heights.

“We think there’s huge opportunity there. It goes back to industrial space users who don’t require the ceiling heights, who want to be on island, who are not willing to pay the $15, $16 gross rental rates. I think the Garment District is a great opportunity for that.”

Jager says RoseFellow is in talks with HS Properties and the Drazin family to buy additional properties: “The partnership is working out really, really well. There’s a great synergy.”

Family-run HS Properties (which stands for Howard Szalavetz) has been involved in real estate management in the Montreal area since 1965. The company entered the multiresidential industry in 1992 and recently entered the commercial and industrial market.

It has more than 1,000 units in its portfolio, plus an additional 809 senior home units under the Résidences Six Étoiles banner.

Szalavetz owns several buildings totalling several million square feet in the area and has been dubbed “the king of Chabanel” or “the king of the Garment District.”

“He has a good hold on and knowledge of who is in the area, who’s looking for space,” Jager says.

The Drazin family’s Rester Management owns, develops and manages several million square feet of office, retail and residential properties in the Greater Montreal area, across Canada and the Eastern U.S.

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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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