From the Globe and Mail:

Hudson’s Bay Co., whose third-quarter loss widened, will consider spinning off its valuable real estate into a real estate investment trust, borrowing a page from the playbook of grocery giant Loblaw Cos. Ltd.

“We’ve always believed that some time in the future we could have the opportunity … to create a REIT, similar to what Loblaw is proposing,” Richard Baker, the U.S. real estate magnate who controls HBC and is its governor (chairman) and chief executive officer, told an analysts’ conference call on Tuesday morning.

“It’s nice to be invested in a retailer that owns a lot of real estate and the type of real estate we w own would fit very nicely into a REIT.”

HBC isn’t working on a REIT plan currently, he added. “But it is something we often talk about and foresee some day in the future getting more involved in. “ Last week, Loblaw unveiled its intention to unlock its real estate value by setting up a REIT by mid-2013, prompting the grocer’s share price to surge. Loblaw will keep a more than 80-per-cent stake in the real-estate company, which is expected to own about $7-billion worth of property, most of it housing its supermarkets.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/hbc-eyes-spinoff-for-real-estate-holdings/article6189388/

Kevington Building Corp. is seeking approval from the District of North Vancouver today to build a 3-storey commercial and office building at 3053-3059 Edgemont Boulevard, at the corner of Queens Road. The project, named Edgemont Commons, is on the site currently built as a strip retail plaza occupied by North Shore Credit Union. NCSU will be the anchor tenant in the new development. Three more retail units are proposed on the ground floor and twelve office units are proposed for the second and third storeys. Vehicle access will be provided via the rear lane west of the property. 46 parking stalls in two levels of underground parking are proposed.

The total building height to the top of the roof is 44.5 feet in compliance with the CD-65 zone.

Courtesy CBC

Ian Gragtmans of Colliers Toronto joins Kevin O’Leary and Amanda Lang on CBC to discuss REITs.

View the discussion HERE.

New Westminster News Leader – Restaurant eyed for new building.

An open house will be held next Thursday for a proposed restaurant patio at the Queen’s Park West office complex under construction in New Westminster’s Uptown district.

It will be held Nov. 29 from 5 to 8 p.m., at 300-601 Sixth St.

Uptown Property Group are the owners of the building, which is on Sixth Avenue at Fifth Street.

Read more: http://www.newwestnewsleader.com/news/180187751.html

200 West Esplanade, the Esplanade Theatre building, a 5-storey retail and office building in the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver has been sold by Colliers for $12,350,000 to First Capital Realty.

The building has a net rentable area of 38,628 SF, of which about 30,000 SF is cinema space and the balance is retail and office. The building was built in 1990 and is on a 17,928 SF site.