March 12, 2007
The following information was obtained from newspaper articles appearing
in the Globe and Mail and the National Post for the week ending
March 11, 2007
Calgary-based Huntingdon REIT will purchase three industrial properties in southern and western Alberta for $19.6-million. The properties, which total 94,960 square feet across six buildings, will be leased back to the seller, Winnipeg-based Leader Energy Services Ltd., for about $2.1-million a year.
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Sunrise Senior Living REIT has been told by an Ontario court judge to stop takeover negotiations with Health Care Property Investors Inc. The court ruled that Sunrise REIT must enforce a standstill agreement signed by HCP on January 14, 2007. In mid-February, HCP said it was prepared to make an offer of $1.4-billion, or as much as $18 a unit. A vote by Sunrise shareholders on Ventas Inc.’s offer of $1.1-billion, or $15 a unit, has been rescheduled for March 30.
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Royal Host REIT reported that annual profit rose 500% to $14.3-million. Profit from continuing operations climbed 155% to $4.7-million and the REIT booked a profit of $8.8-million on the Royal Private Residence Club in Kelowna. Annual revenue increased 3.1% to $144.3-million. Royal Host doubled its cash available for distribution during 2006 to $1.05 a unit, while boosting the payout twice during the year. The distribution was increased again in February to an annual payout of 66 cents a unit.
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Canada’s federal government plans to proceed with the sale of nine buildings in six cities, with the goal of leasing back the space from the purchaser. The buildings that will be put up for sale include 401 Burrard and the Sinclair Centre in Vancouver, the Harry Hays building in Calgary, Canada Place in Edmonton, the Joseph Sheppard Building in Toronto, the Thomas D’Arcy McGee Building and the Skyline Complex in Ottawa, and 305 René Lévesque W. and 4225 Dorchester W. in Montreal.
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MI Developments Inc. reported fourth-quarter profit of US$28.5-million, or US59 cents a share, compared with a loss of US$6.1-million, or a loss of US13 cents, a year ago. The consolidated results included Magna Entertainment Corp.’s added US$12.2-million in income from discontinued operations and a US$7.6-million loss on continuing operations. MI’s core real estate business earned a profit of US$23.3-million, up from US$19-million a year earlier. Real estate revenue rose to US$46.6-million from US$40.3-million. MI’s profit for the year climbed to US$59.9-million, or US$1.24 a share, from US$6.6-million, or US14 cents, in 2005 when MEC contributed about US$63-million in losses.
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Churchill Downs Inc. will purchase a 50% interest in Magna Entertainment Corp.’s Horse Racing TV network. The two firms also have created a joint venture, TrackNet Media Group LLC, which will offer each company’s horseracing content across various distribution and gambling networks.
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Magna Entertainment Corp. reported a loss of US$85.2-million, or US81 cents a share, in 2006, compared with a loss of US$102-million, or US98 cents, in 2005. Revenue increased to US$702.1-million from US$604.4-million.
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Kingswood Capital Corp. is developing the NorthWoods project in North Vancouver, which will have a total of 380,000 square feet of industrial space when fully built in 2009. The NorthWoods development is leasing space for $12.50 to $13.50 a square foot, compared with maximum rates of about $8 a square foot in Burnaby. An additional 135,000 square feet of office and retail space are proposed for two separate parcels. The 9.8-hectare NorthWoods site was purchased several years ago by bcIMC Realty Corp., which owns the NorthWoods Business Park.
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Toronto hotelier Steve Gupta’s Easton’s Group of Companies plans to add six more hotels to its holdings in 2008. Easton’s is currently working on a Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Toronto, near the 256-suite Marriott.
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According to Colliers International, 405,000 square feet of industrial space has been added to the North Vancouver market in the past two years, and all but 25,000 square feet of that has been absorbed. The current industrial vacancy rate is 2.3%, compared with 3% in 1999.
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According to Statistics Canada, the total value of Canadian building permits rose 11.3% to a record high of $6.3-billion in January from December. The value of nonresidential permits climbed 19.3% to a record $2.6-billion, led by gains in industrial and institutional permits in Ontario. Permits for single-family homes set a new record for January of $2.4-billion, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Permits for multifamily homes jumped 27.4% from December.
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According to Statistics Canada, investment in residential construction projects rose 8.5% to a record $79.8-billion in 2006 from 2005. Investment in new housing climbed 9.2% to $40.7-billion, renovation spending increased 8.7% to $32-billion and acquisitions were up 4.1% to $7.1-billion.
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According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s new housing price index had a 10.1% annual increase in January, compared with a 10.7% year over year gain in December. Alberta reported a 40.6% annual increase in January, compared with a 42% gain in December.
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According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., national housing starts fell 21% to 196,200 units in February from 248,500 units in January, on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. Housing starts dropped 32.8% in Ontario, 25.4% in the Prairies, 15.2% in Quebec and 18.6% in British Columbia. Housing starts were down 5.2% in rural and urban areas in the first two months of 2007, compared with January and February in 2006.
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According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., new-home starts in Ontario fell 36% to 51,500 units in February from 76,700 a year earlier. In Toronto, preliminary figures indicate 23,000 starts in February, compared with 39,700 in January. Starts for the first two months of 2007 were down 12% from the same period in 2006.
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According to the Toronto Real Estate Board, sales through the MLS increased to 6,772 homes in February from 6,756 a year earlier. Sales for the first two months of 2007 rose 5% to 11,855 units from 11,270 units in the same period in 2006. The average sale price climbed 4% to $368,687 in 2006. There were 11,880 listings added in February, bringing the total number of active listings to 19,359. The average number of days a home spent on the market was 35.
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According to the Realtors’ Association of Hamilton-Burlington, housing sales fell 10% to 1,071 units in February from a year earlier and sales are down 6% year-to-date. The average price of a single-family home rose 12% to $289,544 from February, 2006.
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Blackstone Group LP is purchasing the owner of Madame Tussauds waxworks museums in a US$1.9-billion transaction that will create the world’s second-largest theme park group. The merged entity will combine Tussauds, Sea Life aquariums, the London Eye Ferris wheel and theme parks in Britain operated by the Tussauds group with Blackstone-owned Legoland and Gardaland theme parks. Dubai International Capital LLC, which purchased Tussauds two years ago, will keep a 20% stake in the merged group.
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Earvin “Magic” Johnson and partner Canyon Capital Realty Advisors will provide US$12.4-million in financing for 130 condominiums in the Greenpoint neighbourhood of Brooklyn. Green Street Development LLC is building the six-story project and the Bank of New York is providing a US$41-million senior loan.
According to the U.S.-based National Association of Realtors, pending sales of existing homes dropped 4.1% in February.
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Novastar Financial Inc. and H&R Block Inc.’s Option One will no longer be making certain loans that finance 100% of a home’s cost. Fremont General Corp. has stopped making subprime loans and exited from the business under pressure from regulators.
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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, subprime mortgages made up about a fifth of all new mortgages in the U.S. in 2006. About 2% of subprime mortgages made in 2006 were more than 60 days late after five months, almost twice the rate for mortgages made in 2005.
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According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, the share of mortgages on which payments were at least 30 days late increased to 2.11% in the fourth quarter from 1.72% in the previous three months. Mortgage debt climbed by US$4.7-trillion from the end of 2000 through the third quarter of 2006.
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According to Credit Sights Inc., borrowers defaulting on mortgages could result in an estimated 533,000 additional homes coming onto the U.S. market. In January, there was an unsold inventory of 4.09 million homes in the U.S.
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Moor Park Real Estate will purchase 72 hotels in Germany and 19 in the Netherlands from Accor SA for €863-million ($1.33-billion). Accor will continue to operate the properties under 12-year variable rent leases and use the sale proceeds to reduce its debt by €612-million.
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Accor SA reported that net income rose 51% to €501-million in 2006 from €333-million in 2005. Annual revenue reached €7.6-billion last year. Accor plans asset sales worth €1.9-billion ($2.95-billion) by the end of 2008. The company also plans to buy back shares worth €700-million and return an additional €320-million to investor through a €1.50-a-share special dividend. Accor intends to open 30,000 more rooms by the end of 2007, following the addition of 22,000 rooms in 2006.
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China’s parliament has unveiled legislation that would give legal protection to private property and close a tax gap between local and foreign companies. The proposed property law would let individuals own and sell assets such as land-use rights for as long as 70 years.
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