Courtesy Globe & Mail:

“Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has struck a deal for its first real estate investment in the Nordic region.

Another innovative architectural design will soon be dotting Surrey’s cityscape with plans to build a new Coast Capital Savings head office to be located next to the King George Skytrain Station.

B.C.’s second largest credit union has signed a contract with PCI Developments Corp. for the construction and leasing of about 70 per cent of the approximately 180,000 square foot, nine-story property, with a targeted late 2015 completion date. Coast Capital’s “Help Headquarters”, as the new head office will be known, will join buildings like the Central City Tower and City Centre Library that have established Surrey as the home for some of the province’s most groundbreaking modern architecture and an attractive location for businesses.

Read more at Newswire: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1091297/coast-capital-s-new-head-office-to-boost-surrey-city-centre-revitalization

SmartCentres has submitted an application to the City of Richmond to build a open-format shopping centre on a 17-acre site in the West Cambie area of Richmond. The project, known as Central at Garden City, is located on Garden City Road between Alderbridge and Alexandra Road. The site is proposed to be developed with a 3-storey, 162,000 SF Wal-Mart, a 4-storey retail/parkade structure, and several 1-2 storey retail buildings centred around a High Street running through the site. There will be 20-70 CRU’s and a total leasable area of 372,000 SF.

SmartCentres had initially made a rezoning application in 2003, but was delayed due to a variety of issues including assembly of lots and the development of the West Cambie Area Plan by the City of Richmond.

Source: City of Richmond

Paul Adornato, REIT Analyst, BMO Capital Markets, shares his thoughts on how 2012 REITs performed and what we will see in 2013.  Specifically, Paul sees growth in Industrial focused REITs citing a lack of significant development in this sector.

To view the video click HERE.

CMHC has just released their 2012 rental market report for Vancouver. Some highlights:

• „The average vacancy rate rose to 1.8 per cent in October 2012 from 1.4
  per cent in October 2011.
• „„The average rent increase for two-bedroom  apartments between October 2011 and October 2012 was 2.3 per cent. The general rate of inflation for this period was 0.7 per cent.
• Areas close to Vancouver City, such as Richmond, North Vancouver, and West Vancouver, reported similar low vacancy of around 1%. In contrast, Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Port Coquitlam, where home prices are relatively lower, recorded average vacancy rates of 3.2 per cent.
• A supply increase of 3,724 rental condominium apartment units helped to keep the rate of rent increase contained.
• The Vancouver rental market is forecast to remain stable next year with vacancy rates expected to remain below 2.0%.

CMHC 2012 Vacancy Rates

CMHC Average RentsSource: CMHC

Source: CMHC