The story behind one of my stories.
For The Globe and Mail, I recently profiled Telus and its burgeoning rental housing (with a little bit of strata) development operations, Telus Living, in addition to their commercial developments.
Their VP of Corporate Real Estate Manasweeta Bhatia told me that 40 sites have been eyed for development and that about 20 are in the planning process or under construction — two are set to complete this year. Most are proceeding via a 50/50 joint venture with Ledcor, but there will also be JVs with Omicron and Colliers.
They’re aiming for a portfolio of 10,000 rental units and hope to eventually expand the development program outside of BC and to 80 projects, with an estimated net asset value at full build out of $3 billion. Here’s the full story:
The big headlines.
I wrote the above story before Telus, Westbank, and the Government of Canada announced three planned AI data centres in British Columbia last week.
If you subscribe to The Realist, you already know about the two in Vancouver, as I’ve previously reported about Westbank’s plans for M3 in Mount Pleasant and 150 W Georgia in downtown Vancouver.
Westbank and Telus also have an existing relationship, partnering to develop Telus Garden in Vancouver and Telus Sky in Calgary, the latter of which they still co-own alongside Allied Properties REIT, which holds the mortgage on 150 W Georgia.
In a follow-up companion piece to my story for The Globe and Mail from earlier this month, about Metro Vancouver reducing its DCCs, I detailed what the working relationship between Metro Vancouver and developers has looked like these last few years and a communication lapse that occurred last month.
Metro Vancouver also announced a settlement with Acciona over the North Shore wastewater treatment plant that will see the latter pay $235 million.
Helen Chan Sun of Landmark Premiere Properties has been jailed for 40 days for contempt, according to CBC, after obfuscating her financials in a way the judge described as “reprehensible.”
UDI has joined the Union of BC Municipalities and several other organizations in raising concerns about the Province’s proposed changes to the Heritage Conservation Act, refusing to sign NDAs without better consultation.
The Realist is partnering with ULI BC’s Women’s Leadership Initiative for their Outstanding Leader Gala set for June 9. Here’s what the night will look like and the 17 nominees who are up for the award.
Other partnership news: Rennie is partnering with The Agency to export its expertise to the United States. For Storeys, I spoke to Rennie President Greg Zayadi about how the partnership came together and what it’ll look like.
Chartwell Retirement Residences is paying $382.5 million for a 30% stake in the 23-property Seasons Retirement Communities portfolio owned by Fengate. The portfolio includes two properties in Vancouver Fengate acquired from Concert Properties last year, as I reported by Storeys.
Outside of British Columbia: