Martello drives Vancouver food bank fundraiser

For the month of November Vancouver based Martello Property Services Inc. will bring the community together to fill an entire Martello service van with non-perishable food items for The Greater Vancouver Food Bank (GVFB).

For the first time in the GVFB’s history they held an emergency food drive this year. On top of their empty shelves they’ve also seen a rise in children using their services and Martello wants to help combat this issue.

“There can be detrimental, long lasting effects on a child when they are lacking nutrition. We want to bring awareness and help prepare The Greater Vancouver Food Bank for their busiest season. We’ve partnered with local businesses and several of our clients to help us meet our lofty goal,” said Warren Smithies, vice president of Martello.

Martello is encouraging clients and vendors to re-direct their usual office Christmas gifts and instead bring non-perishable items to donate to The GVFB. The company will also have donation boxes set up in the lobby of Martello’s head office at 808 West Hastings Street along with having them set up in the lobby of each building in Vancouver that they manage. The GVFB most need items include nut butters, canned fish, soup, chillies and canned fruit. Join Martello in helping to make sure surrounding communities have a warm, hearty and balanced holiday meal – regardless of their circumstances.

Today the GVFB provides assistance to over 26,500 people weekly, 20 per cent are children, 19 per cent are seniors. https://www.foodbank.bc.ca/

Langley Concrete earns CSA certifications

The Langley Concrete Group of Companies have announced that their Chilliwack Production Facility has been certified to two of Canadian Standards Association’s (CSA) recently introduced certification programs related to products:

Class C808306 PRECAST CONCRETE: Reinforced Circular Manhole Sections and Catch Basins – Certified to ASTM Standards for Canada
Class C808305 PRECAST CONCRETE: Reinforced Circular Manhole Sections and Catch Basins – Certified to CSA A257 Standards.

These certifications cover the manufacturing and performance requirements of products used for the assembly and construction of circular vertical precast reinforced manholes and structures used in sewer, drainage, and water works.

The following products manufactured to ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and CSA standards within the Chilliwack production facility are covered by these two certifications:
1. Grade Rings
2. Flat slab tops
3. Risers and Conical Tops
4. Base Sections
5. Steps and Ladders

“Our production, engineering and quality control teams have worked hard to achieve this very important milestone in our companies’ and Canadian CSA history as the first production facility to achieve both the ASTM and CSA Classes of Certification that were introduced in late 2015,” said Mark Omelaniec, president of The Langley Concrete Group of Companies.

“To be able to meet the requirements for literally hundreds of different manhole components that we manufacture on a daily basis in the largest size range in British Columbia, it is much more difficult than attempting this certification in a small-scale production facility. The amount of inspection, record keeping and continual upgrading of equipment and technology used to gain these certifications is a significant undertaking and cost to ensure that the best quality of manhole components are available to our customers.”

The Langley Concrete Group appreciates the support of their contractors, the engineering community and municipalities, and believes that this is an important step in raising the bar on the quality that can be expected when projects are designed to these standards.

Seasonal preventative maintenance tips

Although heating systems are probably the last thing on a property manager’s mind during the warmer temperatures of summer and fall, there are some very important preventative maintenance measures that must be completed to ensure system efficiency and longevity.

Mark Kesseler, Vice President, Construction & Physical Operations at Greenwin, provides the following expert tips.

Essential preventative maintenance: when to begin

In my experience, each summer, we task our mechanical service providers with the strip down maintenance of in-suite heating and domestic hot water boilers. This essential preventative maintenance provides the main cleaning scope of work for all of our heating boilers. The equipment is completely opened, inspected and cleaned, and all of the deficiencies are identified and repaired. The same inspections should be conducted on all gas-fired duct heaters, usually located on rooftops that supply heated air to the corridors. With the typical life span of these units ranging between 15 and 20 years, you’ll want to stay on top of their upkeep to ensure a long life.

Now that fall is in full swing, suite heating will be required at night. According to bylaws, suite heating must be available after September 15, and particularly if your property is unable to maintain a consistent temperature of 21°C inside of the suites. It is imperative that your indoor/outdoor suite heating controller is set properly to provide a low supply temperature to the suites (but not sweat tenants out of their homes). On days where the mercury lands above 15C, site staff can inspect the systems to see if heat is still being distributed to the suites.

Underground parking maintenance

Heated parking garages should have their unit heater fans inspected and controls calibrated. Typical garage heating set-points for the winter months should range from 8° to 12°C. To get more granular, you will need to ensure that all pipe heat tracing systems are tested at the electrical source, while heat tracers with built in thermostats must have proper on/off operation. Additionally, fan coil heaters require washing of the coils and testing of the fan motors and thermostats. For non-heated parking garages, fall is the ideal time to drain the condensate that has accumulated within your dry sprinkler system.

Heating pumps

Probably the most important preparation you need to make this fall is to ensure your heating systems are ready to provide heat to the suites. The heating pumps need to be inspected, greased, oiled and turned on. In buildings that have controls, you must ensure the pump starters are in the auto position for the controls to turn them on and off. Check with your property’s service provider to ensure the closed loop heating system is properly pressurized. They’ll test the water make-up to the heating system and ensure that the expansion tanks for the heating system and are not flooded. Expansion tanks should be drained down to 1/3 capacity to allow for expansion when the heating system turns on.

Exterior considerations

Last but not least, winterization of lawn sprinklers, exterior hose connections and snow melting products should be arranged within the next 60 days. Don’t let last year’s late start to winter fool you—in Canada, it can start snowing as soon as Halloween arrives (or even earlier). In fact, the Farmer’s Almanac for this year is predicting a very cold and snowy winter. Whether you choose to believe their predictions or not, it’s certainly better to be safe than to be sorry.

GTA luxury home sales nearly double year-over-year

Third-quarter sales of luxury homes priced over $2 million in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) nearly doubled when they increased 92 per cent year-over-year in Q3 2016. According to realtor Barry Cohen, 759 luxury homes were sold between July 1 and September 30, up from 394 sales during the same period one year ago.

This comes as a 15 per cent property transfer tax on foreign entities was implemented in the Greater Vancouver Regional District effective August 2, 2016. “Foreign investors were transitioning into the GTA within weeks of the tax introduction in Vancouver,” said Cohen, in a press release. “The impact on the market has been significant.”

Year-to-date, there have been 2,356 luxury property sales over $2 million in the GTA, an increase of 80 per cent compared to the 1,312 units sold in 2015. This segment represents about 2.6 per cent of the overall marketplace and continues to demonstrate how in-demand luxury properties are. Homes priced over $5 million have also been experiencing heated activity this year, with sales up 41 per cent compared to last year (79 in 2016, compared to 56 in 2015).

Inventory levels may pose a challenge for affluent home buyers in the GTA, especially in the $2 to $3 million price point. There are currently less than 200 luxury properties listed for sale in Toronto, resulting in fierce competition for high-end homes, especially along the Yonge St. corridor. Multiple offers remain commonplace, causing prices to escalate.

Over the $5 million level, however, there is more supply available. Although sales are still strong at this level, there are some consumers that worry a market correction will occur in late 2017 or early 2018.

“Government intervention is already underway at a federal level to soften the potential impact,” added Cohen. “Last week’s changes to mortgage qualifications primarily affecting first-time buyers ensures that borrowers can withstand future increase in mortgage rates. It’s likely the first of many pre-emptive measures that will be put in place to reduce overall risk in the marketplace.”

Although Cohen believes that it is unlikely Toronto will follow in Vancouver’s footsteps, there are fears that the provincial government will levy a transfer tax of some sort on foreign entities sometime soon. Alternatively, the Chinese government may enforce an investment limit. Cohen says that either scenario would have far-reaching implications for the Canadian housing market.

Meanwhile, demand for high-end properties is continuing at a high rate, which may amount to another record year of home-buying activity in 2016.

GTA new home prices continue to climb

Prices across all types of new homes continue to set records in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as sales of new high-rise homes remain on pace for an exceptional year, says the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).

According to Altus Group, BILD’s official source for new home market intelligence, this year has already seen a record 20,596 high-rise homes sold across the GTA. High-rise units account for nearly 60 per cent of the GTA’s total 34,736 new home sales as of the end of September. In the same period, there were a total of 14,140 low-rise homes sold.

The average price for both low-rise and high-rise homes continued to climb and set new records across the GTA. For new low-rise homes, including detached, semi-detached homes and townhomes, the average price has increased by over $60,000 in one month to reach a record $992,231 in September. This is 22 per cent higher than the average last year.

The average price of a new detached home rose to $1,194,771 in September, while the price of a new high-rise home in the GTA also broke records, climbing 10 per cent year-over-year to $486,605 in September.

“We have a serious housing supply challenge in the GTA due to a significant shortage of shovel-ready land and long and uncertain project approval timelines,” said Bryan Tuckey, BILD president and CEO, in a press release. “These factors are severely restricting the number of new homes being brought to market and are causing prices to surge month after month.”

The supply of new homes available for purchase dropped by more than 10,000 homes over the last year. There were 15, 421 new homes and condominiums available for purchase in September in the GTA, compared to the 25,848 available during the same time last year.

The supply of low-rise homes showed a slight increase month-over-month in September, but the 1,604 homes available still represented a 64 per cent decline compared to last year. The slight increase is due to a strong number of new project launches, which is a typical occurrence in September.

There were just 764 detached homes available for sale in the GTA during the third quarter, which is less than one month of supply, based on recent sales trends. Meanwhile, high-rise inventory in September was 13,817 homes, a slight decrease from August and 35 per cent less than September 2015.

“The recent increase in high-rise prices can be attributed to the rise in average suite size, combined with a growing price per square foot,” added Tuckey. “This year we have seen the introduction of larger suites aimed at purchasers who have been priced out of the low-rise market.”

The average size of a high-rise home in the GTA was 809 square feet in September, up from 767 square feet during the same period last year. The price per square foot also increased, up $26 from last year to $601.

September often features project launches for both low-rise and high-rise development. There were 2,468 high-rise units sold of September; 1,839 of those were in the City of Toronto.

Low-rise sales in September increased four per cent year-over-year to 1,200, with more than half of the sales occurring in York Region. So far in 2016, there have been 14,140 new low-rise home purchases in the GTA, eight per cent below the same period in 2015.

Low scores in infrastructure benchmark debut

The inaugural Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) assessment for infrastructure reveals that the asset class generally lags real estate’s offerings of environmental, social and governance (ESG) evidence for investors. Results show a higher degree of commitment at the fund management level, while measuring and reporting the environmental performance of individual facilities is less common. This is expressed in divergent average scores for the two separate but complementary streams — funds and assets — reporting via the benchmark.

Alberta Investment Management Corporation and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are among 10 founding members of the GRESB infrastructure benchmark. The group, comprised of some of the world’s largest pension funds and fund managers, approached the metric developers in 2014 with an eye to tapping into GRESB’s established and steadily gaining endorsement from institutional investors. Many of the first-year respondents also participate in the real estate survey, which was launched in 2009.

“The GRESB infrastructure assessment has been embraced by almost 200 infrastructure assets and funds,” reports Nils Kok, GRESB’s chief executive officer, in the introduction to the October release of the 2016 results. “The new assessment provides unprecedented transparency for investors to make more informed decisions, and infrastructure companies and funds to improve their ESG performance.”

The 51 participating infrastructure funds achieved an average score of 54, derived from 10 indicators focused on the ESG policy, risk assessment, analytics and disclosure embedded in investment criteria and protocol. Drilling down, an average score of 28 for individual assets somewhat camouflages the range of performance among the 134 participating entities in 53 countries.

This includes assets held by 23 of the funds also reporting fund-level ESG actions, and covers a broad range of asset types — renewable and conventional power generating facilities, airports, ports, toll roads, energy transmission and distribution, telecommunications, water and waste facilities and social infrastructure — with differing degrees of environmental impact.

Similar to the scoring system for real estate, infrastructure scores are derived from 32 indicators across eight differently weighted aspects of sustainability. Assets are scrutinized for explicit ESG policies, risk assessment and mitigation measures, and actual performance in six categories: energy; GHG emissions; waste; water; air pollutant emissions; and biodiversity and habitat protection.

Also similar to real estate, the 21 participating infrastructure assets in Australia and New Zealand topped the field with an average score of 35. Europe’s larger share of 73 infrastructure assets collectively scored 26 to under-perform the global average, while 38 North American assets were in sync with the global average, achieving an average score of 28.

Results highlight some areas of weakness. Notably, the report advises that funds could improve disclosure practices, including backing up ESG performance reporting with third-party validation. At the asset level, the report notes that actual measurement and reporting of performance indicators “is still in its infancy” and that biodiversity and habitat protection particularly tends to be overlooked.

On the plus side, overall performance at the fund level was deemed “strong” and there is broad recognition of environmental risks and the need for risk assessment, management and mitigation.

“Interestingly, while 81 per cent of assets reporting to GRESB have formally adopted a policy or policies on environmental issues, even more (94 per cent) conduct environmental assessments. This shows that even some assets that have not formally adopted policies on environmental issues, in practice, take these into account,” the report states.

GRESB proponents suggest risk management is at the core of the metric’s appeal to investors and the capital market at large given the multi-decade or even multi-generational lifespan of infrastructure assets. Plus, as real estate is already experiencing, benchmarking for sustainability is simply in line with the evolution of the economy.

“The development and operation of infrastructure projects will play an important role in achieving the ambitious carbon reduction goals set out by the COP 21 agreement in Paris,” observes Emke Bus, GRESB’s managing director, ESG and infrastructure. “The involvement and engagement of institutional investors such as banks, insurance companies, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds in infrastructure investments that are low-carbon, climate resilient and socially inclusive is particularly important.”

Link Condominiums construction nearly 50 per cent complete

Fortress Real Developments and Adi Development Group have announced that construction on the Link Condominium project is nearly 50 per cent complete. Construction commenced earlier this year with Caliber Structures hired as a contractor on this multi-phase Burlington project.

The Link and Link 2 developments are over 90 per cent sold. These projects consist of four main buildings linked by enclosed walkways and includes a mix of condominium suites, lofts and townhouses, as well as a building dedicated to amenities.

“We are thrilled to report on the substantial construction progress at the Link Condominiums in Burlington,” said Jawad Rathore, president and CEO of Fortress, in a press release. “This is the second of three projects we are partnered on with Adi, the first being Mod’rn where residents are now enjoying their new homes. The Burlington real estate market has been steadily one of the strongest in Ontario and we witnessed its strength through the rapid sales experienced in this project.”

Natura, the building located on the southwest corner of the community, has been topped off and framing has started on the interior hallways. Window site measurements are complete, and installation has already begun. The Terra building, located on the North East corner of the development, is currently formed to the fourth floor, with two floors to go.

The excavation stage for Link 2 is now complete and work is now beginning on this phase of the development. The vert, Wellness Center and Solara buildings will begin construction in the coming months. Occupancy is expected to begin in the spring of 2017.

GTA condo rents increase as supply falls to five-year low

According to Urbanation Inc.’s report on Greater Toronto Area real estate during the third quarter of 2016, the number of condo apartments rented in the GTA through the MLS system fell by nine per cent from a record high last year to 7,651 units.

Activity slowed due to a 13 per cent drop in listings as the number of units in new projects registered during the third quarter fell by 30 per cent year-over-year. The leases-to-listings ratio reached a new record high of 89 per cent, while available listings at the end of the quarter fell to 930 units, a five-year low.

Market conditions became very tight during this quarter, as the average condominium for rent spent about 12 days on the market, while the number of units renting for above the asking price more than doubled from one year ago. This resulted in a nine per cent annual price increase to a record $2.71 per square foot, or $1,986 per month.

“The rental market has become severely undersupplied, which is likely to worsen following the latest round of mortgage insurance rule changes,” said Shaun Hildebrand, Urbanation’s senior vice president, in a press release. “Notably higher qualification standards for first-time buyers and reduced credit availability for investors should put even more pressure on the market, even as more rental units are being built.”

The average monthly rent surpassed $2,000 in the City of Toronto for the first time, reaching $2,044 in the third quarter of 2016 based on an average unit size of 717 square feet ($2.85 per square foot). In Toronto proper, average rents jumped 10 per cent year-over-year to surpass $3.00 per square foot for the first time, reaching $3.10 per square foot or $2,145). Growth in the 905 region was nearly as strong, as rents increased by seven per cent year-over-year to $1,749 per month or $2.14 per square foot.

Urbanation’s survey of purpose-built rental apartment projects completed across the GTA since 2005 found the vacancy rate sits at just 0.6 per cent, which is unchanged from one year ago. Rents across the sample averaged $2.45 per square foot, up five per cent annually. There were 25 purpose-built projects and 5,678 units under construction in Q3-2016, down 676 units compared to Q2-2016 as four projects began occupancy. The total proposed inventory increased to 20,226 units, which is double the number from one year ago.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities announces award recipients

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating outstanding contributions to the green roof and wall industry in North America, has announced the recipients of its annual Awards of Excellence. The winners were announced in advance of CitiesAlive: 14^th Annual Green Roof and Wall Conference, taking place in Washington, DC, from November 1 to 4, 2016.

Awards in 12 categories celebrate achievements in design, research, policy development, advertising and corporate leadership will be presented to the most engaging projects and individuals in the industry. Recipients fell into this year’s theme, Rising to the Stormwater Challenge, by highlighting cutting-edge designs, new technical performance research, innovative policy work, a trade show featuring industry leaders and informative professional training and exclusive tours.

The Awards of Excellence winners are:

Extensive Industrial/Commercial Award
Project: Alberta Ecoroof – Calgary, AB
Award Recipient: Green T Design

Extensive Institutional Award
Project: Bridgepoint Active Healthcare – Toronto, ON
Award Recipient: Stantec Architecture / KPMB Architects / HDR Architecture / Diamond Schmitt Architects / PFS Studio / MBTW Group

Extensive Residential Award
Project: Williamsburg Condominium – Brooklyn, NY
Award Recipient: New York Green Roofs

Intensive Industrial/Commercial Award
Project: Tech Deck – Mountain View, CA
Award Recipient: Bionic Landscape

Intensive Institutional
Project: Urban Farming at the Trent – Peterborough, ON
Award Recipient: ZinCo Canada

Internal Green Wall Award
Project: Edmonton Federal Building – Edmonton, AB
Award Recipient: Nedlaw Living Walls

Small Scale Residential Award
Project: Edgeland Residence – Austin, TX
Award Recipient: Ecosystem Design Group/Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Special Recognition Award
Project: The Javits Center Green Roof – New York, NY
Award Recipient: FXFOWLE Epstein

Advertising Design Award
Award Recipient: Architek Sustainable Building Products, Inc

Civic Award
Award Recipients: Hamid Karimi, PhD, Deputy Director, Natural Resources Administration, DC Department of Energy & Environment and the DC Department of Energy & Environment

Research Award
Award Recipient: Richard K. Sutton, PhD

President’s Corporate Award
Award Recipient: Oscar Warmerdam, Sempergreen/Purple-Roof

The awards will be presented at the Awards of Excellence Luncheon, taking place at the University of the District of Columbia on November 3 during the CitiesAlive conference.

Smart tech developers rate restroom satisfaction

To help facility managers monitor restroom satisfaction and detect potential customer loss, VisionState, a smart technology company, collected data on customer feedback through WANDA, a smart device that tracks cleaning and maintenance activities in public facilities.

The feedback was gathered while customers were still in the restroom. According to VisionState, “if there is no mechanism in place to express their level of satisfaction, customers typically walk out the door never to return.”

“The mere fact WANDA is on the wall in the first place demonstrates the fact that the facility is serious about restroom cleanliness,” added John Putters, president of VisionState. “Now facility managers will be able to ask patrons to share their experience, and if that experience was negative, what caused it to be that way.”

The feature was designed to run on the existing WANDA device, a 10 or 15 inch industrial tablet that is mounted at the entrance of restrooms and prominently displays the time and date of the last cleaning. Facility staff use the device to log in and enter cleaning activities performed and supplies used, providing an audit trail for managers to track who cleaned what, and when.

Customers can rate their experience with a range of happy to sad faces. To provide context to the responses, a bad experience will prompt the customer to indicate what aspect of the restroom experience was negative.

Collected data is accessed through the content management system, which provides detailed reports on the use of WANDA, as well as an analytics dashboard that highlights an overall view of how well areas have been maintained.

Skyline named finalist in prestigious award

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Grant Thornton LLP announced the 2016 Top 10 Finalists for the national Private Business Growth Award, a list the includes the Skyline Group of Companies. This distinguished award pays tribute to the integral role that Canada’s private businesses play in growing our country’s economy.

The following Top 10 private businesses were selected by an independent Jury of business leaders, for their successful, sustainable and holistic growth strategies (in alphabetical order):

• Agnora Inc., Collingwood, ON
• Aspin Kemp & Associates, Montague, PE
• BioScript Pharmacy, Moncton, NB
• Cows Inc., Charlottetown, PE
• Everest Clinical Research Corporation, Markham, ON
• Klick Inc., Toronto, ON
• Nicola Wealth Management, Vancouver, BC
• Reliance Foundry Co. Ltd, Surrey, BC
• Skyline Group of Companies, Guelph, ON
• StarTech.com, London, ON

The Private Business Growth Award finalists will be celebrated at an awards gala at The Design Exchange in Toronto on November 16, 2016, where the official first place winner will be announced. The evening will be hosted by Canadian business journalist, Deirdre McMurdy.

“The goal of this annual award is to showcase business success stories — when Canadian businesses strive to be innovative and embrace strategic thinking, they create jobs and build prosperity for communities across the country,” said Kevin Ladner, CPA, CA, CBV, CEO and Executive Partner, Grant Thornton LLP. “I commend these finalists for their outstanding growth and success.”

“This year’s finalists are on unique and engaging growth pathways,” says Hon. Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of The Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “We need to celebrate their accomplishments – collectively they are helping to drive our Canadian economy forward, paving the path for a prosperous future.”

In selecting the Top 10 Private Business Growth Award Finalists, jury members used the following five criteria to assess strategic growth across various aspects of the nominees’ businesses:

• Innovation: Developing new products and services, bringing old products to market in a new way, as well as improving the efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes.

• Market development: How they go to market and expand into new domestic or international markets.

• People and culture: Investing in their people by helping employees learn and develop as a critical part of overall growth.

• Strategic leadership: How they interact with partners, stakeholders, their succession planning and community involvement.

• Improvements in financial measures: Ensuring revenue growth and improvements in profitability.

About the Private Business Growth Award

The Private Business Growth Award recognizes Canadian-owned, privately-held businesses that have been in business a minimum of three years, have $5 million or more in revenues and have demonstrated outstanding strategic growth. A partnership between The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Grant Thornton LLP, 2016 marks the fourth year this national business award has recognized and celebrated the successful growth of private businesses in Canada. A jury of high-profile Canadian business leaders selects 10 finalists and one winning company based on the following criteria: innovation, market development, people and culture, strategic leadership, and improvements in financial measures.

Canadian home sales slightly higher in September

According to recent statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales recovered slightly in September 2016 compared to August.

The number of homes sold via Canadian MLS Systems was up 0.8 per cent month-over-month in September 2016. Since sales have been falling over the past four months, national home sales in September were 5.6 per cent lower than the record set in April 2016.

Continuing recent trends, sales climbed further in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), while they fell further in and around the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Much of the decline since April 2016’s national sales peak reflects the rapidly falling activity in and around the Lower Mainland of B.C.

“The Finance Minister’s recent changes to regulations affecting mortgage lending has added to housing market uncertainty among buyers and sellers,” said Cliff Iverson, CREA president, in a press release. “For first-time home buyers, the stress test for those who need mortgage default insurance will cause them to rethink how much home they can afford to buy.”

“First-time home buyers, particularly in housing markets with a lack of affordable inventory of single family homes, may be priced out of the market by the new regulations that take effect on October 17th,” added Gregory Klump, CREA chief economist. “First-time home buyers support a cascade of other homes changing hands, making them the linchpin of the housing market. The federal government will no doubt want to monitor the effect of new regulations on the many varied housing markets across Canada and on the economy, particularly given the uncertain outlook for other private sector engines of economic growth.”

Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity in September climbed 4.2 per cent year-over-year. The number of transactions were up from one year ago in almost two-thirds of all Canadian markets, led by the GTA region.

The number of newly-listed homes grew by 0.5 per cent in September 2016 compared to August. Meanwhile, the sales-to-new listings ratio sat at 62.1 per cent, only 0.2 per cent higher than it was in August. This ratio indicates a sellers’ market.

The Aggregate Composite MLS Home Price Index increased 14.4 per cent year-over-year in September 2016, down from August’s 14.7 per cent. This is the first time the MLS HPI has fallen since March 2015.

In townhouses and two-storey single family homes, year-over-year price growth was highest, at 16.4 and 16.3 per cent, respectively. In single-storey single-family homes, price growth was still significant at 14 per cent, while apartment units had the slowest growth at 11.1 per cent.

Home prices showed year-over-year increases in 9 out of the 11 markets tracked by the MLS HPI. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in September increased 9.5 per cent year-over-year to $474,590.

The national average home price reflects sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which are two of the country’s tightest, most active and expensive housing markets.

However, since new rules on foreign ownership have been put into place in B.C., Greater Vancouver’s share of national sales activity has fallen recently, causing it to provide less of an impact on the national average price. However, when removing Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto areas from calculations, the average price drops to $358,884.

Sealed Air plans Diversey Care spinoff for 2017

Sealed Air plans to spinoff its Diversey Care division and the food hygiene and cleaning business within its Food Care division (New Diversey) by the second half of 2017.

Under the plan, the remaining Sealed Air business (New Sealed Air) and New Diversey will be able to focus on a distinct set of strategic objectives as independent companies, able to better pursue future growth opportunities globally.

“Our Board and management team continually evaluate options to enhance shareholder value and we believe this spinoff will allow both New Sealed Air and New Diversey to realize their full potential,” said Jerome A. Peribere, president and chief executive officer of Sealed Air. “Following the spin-off, each company will be well-positioned for profitable growth through a proven business model and enhanced strategic focus, improved operating efficiencies and optimized capital allocation to enable investments in new disruptive technologies.”

Each will benefit from leaner, more streamlined operating structures to enable more efficient management decision-making. New Sealed Air will continue to provide food, product and medical packaging, and knowledge-based solutions for waste reduction, resource conservation and product security. New Diversey, to be led by Dr. IIham Kadri, will be a hygiene and cleaning company, offering floor care machines, tools, chemicals and services.

Peribere will continue on as president at chief executive officer of New Sealed Air. Additional members of New Diversey’s management team and Board of Directors will be named in the months leading up to the completion of the spinoff.

Sealed Air will discuss the spinoff during its Q3 earnings conference call and webcast at 11 a.m. EST on October 27.

Sealed Air has approximately 23,000 employees who serve customers in 169 countries. In 2015, the company generated about $7.0 billion in revenue. Diversey Care is developer of various technolgies including, the Internet of Clean, Intellibot robotics, unmatched plant-based biodegradable chemistries and AHP disinfection technologies.

Architectural completion of Studio Bell

The National Music Centre (NMC) of Canada celebrates the architectural completion of Studio Bell, its new home designed by Allied Works Architecture.

Located in Calgary, Alberta, this state-of-the-art cultural centre is a museum, performance hall, live music venue, recording facility, and broadcast studio. The 160,00 square-foot structure is the firm’s most ambitious project to date, and is the first facility of its kind in North America and first dedicated to Canada’s musical history.

In his design for the new institution, AWA founding principal Brad Cloepfil drew inspiration from the curvilinear shapes of musical instruments. The NMC spans two city blocks, and is connected by a fifth floor skybridge, which offers sweeping views of the Bow River and surrounding landscape. The new facility is an architectural and cultural focal point for the region, incorporating and revitalizing the neighbouring historic 1905 King Edward Hotel, one of Calgary’s oldest buildings, a former home of a legendary blues club.

Marking Allied Works’ most ambitious building project to date, Studio Bell rises in nine, interlocking towers, clad in glazed terra cotta. Its subtly curved design references acoustic vessels, while allowing for sweeping views of the Stampede Park, Bow River and surrounding cityscape. The project encompasses 160,000-square-feet of new construction, including a 300-seat performance hall and 22,000-square-feet of exhibition space. The masonry building of the “King Eddy” has been fully refurbished and integrated within the NMC’s program in Studio Bell’s west block, which features a radio station, recording studios, media center, Artists-in-Residence spaces, and education classrooms.

“In its many diverse spaces, Studio Bell echoes the variety of musical performance,” said Cloepfil. “Uniting audience and performer, student and teacher, the building creates instances of immersion, when the visitor is transported from daily life, and moments of transition between spaces, providing an opportunity for quiet contemplation. In our designs, we seek to create transformational spaces. For the National Music Centre, Studio Bell’s nine towers are modeled by gravity and acoustics, and together create a silent and powerful instrument that emanates music and light.”

Studio Bell opened to the public on July 1, 2016.

Milestone Apartments REIT acquires U.S. portfolio

Milestone Apartments REIT announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio containing six garden-style rental properties, comprising 1,460 units, in attractive U.S. Sunbelt markets (for approximately US $242.2 million. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close no later than December 1, 2016.

“The portfolio acquisition reflects our ongoing strategic acquisition approach to growing the REIT’s portfolio and improving its operating margins and cash flow,” said Robert Landin, CEO of Milestone. “This acquisition will also increase our scale as we continue to diversify our portfolio in high growth U.S. Sunbelt markets, which benefit from strong underlying demographic trends and higher than national average employment and population growth.”

To partially fund the acquisition, the REIT also announced that it has reached an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters co-led by BMO Capital Markets and CIBC Capital Markets to issue 9,490,000 trust units of the REIT at a price of C $18.45 per unit, on a bought deal basis, for gross proceeds of approximately C $175 million (the “Offering”).

The REIT also announced today that its Board of Trustees has approved a 10.0% increase to its unitholder monthly cash distributions. The increase to cash distributions is expected to be effective for the January 2017 distribution, payable on February 15, 2017, to unitholders of record on January 31, 2017.

Acquisition highlights:

• Milestone will acquire a portfolio of six high quality garden-style multifamily properties comprising 1,460 units for a gross purchase price of approximately US$242.2 million;
• The properties have a weighted average year built of 2005 and upon acquisition will further decrease the average age of the REIT’s portfolio;
• The acquisition is in line with the REIT’s growth strategy to continue to high-grade its portfolio and improve its operating margins and cash flow position;
• As part of the acquisition, the REIT will further geographically diversify its U.S. Sunbelt property portfolio, which benefits from strong underlying demographic trends and higher than national average employment and population growth, by increasing scale in four existing markets and entering two new markets, establishing greater critical mass to drive operating efficiencies and growth;
• Following completion of the acquisition and the REIT’s proposed property disposition described below (the “Proposed Disposition”), the REIT is expected to have eight unencumbered assets, further enhancing the REIT’s liquidity and balance sheet flexibility;
• Following the completion of the acquisition, the REIT’s investment properties’ value is expected to increase by more than 10 per cent to approximately US$2.72 billion, from US$2.42 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2016; and
• As of September 30, 2016, the properties had average monthly rents of approximately US $1,175 and average occupancy of 95.5 per cent.

Other key facts:

As part of the acquisition, the REIT will further geographically diversify its U.S. Sunbelt property portfolio, which benefits from strong economic fundamentals, favorable underlying demographic trends and higher than national average employment and population growth, by increasing scale in Charlotte, NC, Denver, CO, Orlando, FL and San Antonio, TX, while entering two new markets, Colorado Springs, CO and Oklahoma City, OK, establishing greater critical mass to drive operating efficiencies and growth.

The properties located in Colorado Springs and Oklahoma City will be managed from the REIT’s closest regional offices, allowing Milestone to efficiently manage the properties while providing a foothold to drive potential growth opportunities in these desirable new markets.

The properties are located in major metropolitan markets in the U.S. Sunbelt and represent a good fit within Milestone’s existing geographical footprint. The Properties are similar to the REIT’s established portfolio, featuring extensive amenities and located in close proximity to shopping, dining, and entertainment options, as well as major transportation corridors and employment centers. The properties are being acquired at an average year one capitalization rate of approximately 5.8 per cent. As of September 30, 2016, the properties had average monthly rents of approximately US $1,175 and average occupancy of 95.5 per cent.

Guard patrols get digital back-up

The act of performing a “guard patrol” has a long-standing history and how it’s been completed has changed over time. At a basic level, a guard patrol is simply a routine check of locations that have been deemed valuable or classified as requiring an inspection for whatever reason — due diligence, preventative maintenance, regulatory.

In the security and life safety industry, security guards are responsible for patrols, hence the name guard patrol. To fulfill this duty, security guards conduct frequent checks of specified locations such as mechanical/electrical rooms, stairwells and floors under construction.

Documenting guard patrols is just as important as the patrol itself. Technology has come a long way to simplify these processes. To understand where the future of guard patrolling is heading, it’s helpful to step back and recall how it has evolved.

The most primitive form of conducting a patrol is when the security guard goes to each location and uses his or her senses to complete the inspection, and then writes results down on a paper template/checklist.

This style of reporting takes time because the guard has to note each location, when it was visited and its status. A manager would need to collect all records of guard patrols to review and verify that all areas have been routinely patrolled and to escalate problems to the appropriate personnel.

In addition, manually documenting guard patrols with pen and paper can leave room for human error and requires storage/indexing. Over time, technology has evolved to help automate the guard patrol process.

In the 1990s, a cylinder-shaped tool that uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology became available and popular. The guard had to insert the cylinder into a puck affixed at each stop on the patrol to document that he or she had been there. At the end of the patrol, the location results would be downloaded and available upon request.

More recently, technology has advanced to where any modern mobile device can be used to scan an affixed tag or barcode at each location to document that a guard has been there. This technology also provides extra features such as checklists and the ability to add a note or photo, to report locations as requiring attention or service, and to see outstanding patrol stops.

In addition, the technology automatically alerts the right people to deficiencies and allows managers to identify trends and see whether patrols are completed on time and if there are any repeat areas of concern.

This technology is just becoming popular in the market now. There are several emerging technologies that guard patrols will be able to leverage in the future.

For example, virtual reality, a computer-generated 3D world, will be used to provide a two-way real-time assistance channel for locations that require immediate attention. If the guard identified extraordinary conditions during the patrol, he or she could connect with an expert staff member, such as an engineer or manager, who could remotely walk them through how to rectify the issue.

Technology like this would dramatically reduce risk and costs by eliminating the need to have experienced staff members on standby at all properties at all times.

Another example of emerging technology is the use of unmanned vehicles also known as drones. Instead of guards conducting patrols, drones would complete a majority of inspections.

Each drone would be programmed to know what and when to inspect. If the drone identified a problem, the drone would be able to document and notify the right staff members to ensure deficiencies are corrected.

Regardless of the method used, guard patrols must be completed for a variety of reasons, including compliance, due diligence, preventative maintenance and to lower insurance premiums. Conducting guard patrols can be repetitive and mundane at times but is an essential part of protecting properties and people.

As technology advances, the documenting and post-patrol review process will continue to become more efficient so that time can be spent on revenue-generating tasks and other assignments deemed important.

Paul Amendola is chief executive officer of Tap Report, a Toronto-based firm that specializes in creating safer workplaces through software.

Copeman Healthcare Centre opens in Vancouver

The new Copeman Healthcare Centre at 1128 Hornby Street, centrally located near St. Paul’s Hospital in downtown Vancouver, has officially opened. Designed by Kirsten Reite Architecture (KRA), the new 20,000 sq ft private medical clinic reflects Copeman’s patient-centred collaborative healthcare model, strengthening their mandate to provide individual care to support health and wellness.

Their former centre consisted of a number of offices scattered over several floors. The new consolidated facility supercedes the previous arrangement, successfully addressing issues of wayfinding, flow inefficiencies and communication between staff.

“Along with Copeman Healthcare’s new upscale location we also wanted to enhance the collaboration between our inter-disciplinary team – collaboration is something that is extremely important for our staff and clients. KRA understood this importance and worked with us to meet our clinical and client experience needs. Their experience and expertise helped us make our vision a beautifully designed reality. The new office fully supports our culture of teamwork and collaboration,” says project manager of Copeman Healthcare Sarah Lall.

The project accommodates a wide range of state-of-the-art treatment and administrative spaces, including a physiotherapy + exercise medicine Centre, psychological health Centre, a brain health Centre and a stroke + brain injury Rehabilitation Facility.

Employing an evidence-based approach, KRA worked with Copeman Healthcare practitioners and staff to design solutions focused on health and healing to improve quality of care, attract more patients, recruit and retain staff, and enhance efficiency and productivity. As leaders in healthcare design, KRA brought their understanding of the importance of creating healthcare facilities that respects and balances the highly technical and service related requirements of lean design healthcare while creating a healing, relaxing and stress-reduced environment.

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