The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 44

BUSINESS THE GAZETTE montrealgazette.com SATURDAY, MARCH 22, 2014 C6 Housing market crash unlikely, Conference Board report says nam. i f4 rrrn-r a GEOFF ROBINSTHE CANADIAN PRESS The sale of property will help troubled BlackBerry move forward, says CEO John Chen. BlackBerry sells off property in Canada 9 Wm PNG A new Conference Board report argues that apart from Toronto, housing starts in the past three years haven't been far from the 20-year average. as Android-based rivals. Under Chen who took on the CEO post permanently late last year BlackBerry has been working to turn around its business.

Chen said that BlackBerry is still committed to having a strong presence in Canada. It is keeping its headquarters in Waterloo, Ont. The company said that more terms of the transaction willbe announced once principal conditions are satisfied or waived. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of the company's 2015 financial year, which ends June 1, 2014. BlackBerry has been cutting costs and restructuring its business in a bid to stay alive including a plan to eliminate about 40 per cent of the company's workforce.

In December, the company sold a handful of buildings to the University of Waterloo for $41 million under an agreement that would allow the company to lease back some of them for up to five years. Blackberry is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and full-year results March 28. THE CANADIAN PRESS Waterloo, ont. BlackBerry has reached an agreement to sell a majority of its Canadian real estate holdings as part of an effort to improve its business. The company said Friday it will sell more than three million square feet of space and vacant lands and lease back a portion of the properties.

BlackBerry did not disclose the buyer or the purchase price as it said the sale was still subject to unspecified conditions. "The successful sale of property in Canada will help us move toward our goal of continued operational efficiency," CEO and executive chairman John Chen said in a statement. The company had announced in January that it planned to sell the majority of its Canadian real estate. BlackBerry pioneered the smartphone in 1999 and dominated for years, but since the late 2000s the company has been hammered by competition from the iPhone as well gage rates start crimping af-fordability, the Conference Board says, but even then it is likely to be a soft rather than a hard landing. In recent years, some economists and international organizations such as the OECD, the IMF, Deutsche Bank and The Economist magazine have described Canada's housing market in stark terms, characterizing it as among the priciest in the world based on historical averages and other metrics.

But the consensus of economists within Canada has tended to be more subdued. The Conference Board says fears of a housing bubble about to burst in Canada are Decline expected to be moderate JULIAN BELTRAME THE CANADIAN PRESS The Conference Board isn't buying the notion that Canada's housing market will suddenly crumble, saying the most likely outlook is for a modest decline nationally and in some specific markets. The Ottawa-based think-tank argues in a comprehensive new look at real estate in Canada that the conditions for a crash simply don't exist, despite numerous reports that the market is overbuilt and overvalued. Rather, the report argues that with the possible exception of Toronto, housing starts the past three years have been roughly in line with the 20-year average. Even in Toronto, there is only a "borderline" case that it could be overbuilt.

"At this point in the housing cycle, there is a risk that Canadian housing prices in some market segments are due for a modest correction," the report states. "Nevertheless, we believe that continued population growth, additional employment gains and modest mortgage rate increases will limit potential price declines in 2014 and 2015." There is a case for more dramatic price adjustment further out if higher mort- inspiration preserving its essence, architecture and history." After the residential buildings that need city approval, the next phase of the project involves the launch of two new office towers with 1.1 million square feet of leasable space at 750 Peel St. There would also be a new retail plaza facing St-Antoine St. Cadillac Fairview, which is working with Canderel Group on the Tour des Canadiens, is in talks with potential partners for future phases, Iacono said. Cadillac's $2 billion project was inspired by the development of lands around the Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto.

"Given the success that Cadillac Fairview had in Toronto we said 'You know what? There has to be somewhere else in Canada where we can hopefully do a similar he said. "We have the same exact conditions in downtown Montreal." alampert montrealgazette.com Twitter: RealDealMtl plan for 2013-2016: World Trade CenUe PROJECTS Toronto an www f'dr to slower advances in 2014. Calgary: A approaching sellers' conditions, noting strong price gains last year. Edmonton: Balanced, with brisk resale and price growth activity last year. Toronto: Balanced with healthy price growth.

A major correction is difficult to see given solid employment and population growth. Ottawa: Market cooling due to falling employment from the government sector, flatter sales and tempered prices. Montreal: Flirting with buyer's market conditions with sales and average prices having dropped somewhat last year. mm. Three residential towers at Peel and St-Jacques Sts.

Townhouses and more retail development of up to 1.5 million sq. ft. Public park to be integrated into the site. Windsor Station to be restored. Jacob Krause JackyLevi mm 4' i exaggerated.

It says some of the evidence cited by correction hawks, including comparing home prices as a multiple of rental costs, don't take into account historically-low mortgage rates that keeps affordability steady. "Mortgage costs, not just house prices, are the principal deciding factor for potential homebuyers," says Robin Wiebe, the think-tank's senior economist. The Conference Board provides an outlook on six major cities: Vancouver: Moved back into balance last spring. Recent price gains will give way 9 3 SJSSr HUP' aai Vt- p'' CONTINUED FROM CI The real estate arm of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec has already spent half of the allocated $1 billion on renovating Place Ville-Marie and becoming full owner of the iconic building. More than $200 million of its Plan Montreal funds to be invested by 2016 will go into a new 28-storey office tower that's expected to achieve LEED certification and open with 475,000 square feet of leasable space at 900 de Maisonneuve Blvd.

The remainder will be spent on the Queen Elizabeth renovations and the Eaton-LesAiles merger. The real estate arm of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Cadillac Fairview, is developing what it calls the "Quad Windsor district," an area south of the Bell Centre and Saint Antoine St. It has plans for seven new towers over the next 10 to 15 years. Two additional buildings, the Tour des Canadiens condo development and the Deloitte Tower, are already under construction. The developer has asked for city approval for two new 38-storey residential buildings that are to be connected by an aerial walkway across St-Antoine St.

Sal Iacono, Cadillac Fairview's senior vice-president of development and portfolio management, said he hopes to open a sales office this year. He downplayed concerns of oversupply in the Montreal condo market "There is always a market, regardless of whether it's strong or a bit slower, each developer considers his or her own project," he said. "We are at the heart of downtown, near public transit. It responds to a demand by customers to live and work in a mixed-use area." A "large urban public park" is also included in one of Quad Windsor's later phases. To complete the project, Cadillac Fairview said it will restore Windsor Station, "paying special attention to jComplexetesAiies I rput7 Wile-Marie I Mi est I Two 38-storey residential towers to be connected across St-Antoine St.

by an aerial walkway. Two office towers to be located at 750 Peel near a plaza with retail facing St-Antoine St. fZb Terraced gardens and public access to the underground network at the south side of the site along St-Jacques St. PLAN MONTREAL Ivanhoe Cambridge $1 -billion investment Iv-'IME-I KTI I SFJLrfl "-'V 7V.1. HI 11500 Universityi SO Eaton Centre Centre (DP Capital Jr" tairmontwueen I CA htfr Elizabeth Hotel CADILLAC FAIRVIFW CORP.

LTD.THE GAZETTE IT fffils mm r. 1 '7'T Place Montreal TrustJ ik i 900 de Maisonneuve W. Sun Life Building Properties owned by Ivanhoe Canbridge lOOOdelaCauchetiire P. PIERRE OBENDRAUF THE GAZETTE The Queen Elizabeth Hotel is to be modernized. 1 1 1 SOURCE: IVANHOE CAMBRIDGE COMPLEXE LES AILES The shopping complex is to be renovated.

FAIRMONT QUEEN ELIZABETH HOTEL Renovations to focus on attracting high-end business clientele. SUN LIFE BUILDING Ivanhoe is selling its 50 per cent stake in building. I 900 DE MAISONNEUVE BLVD. W. Plans call for a LEED-certified, 28-storey, 475,000 sq.

ft office tower valued at more than $200 million. PLACE VILLE MARIE A top-floor observation deck with restaurant and terraces will replace the former Club Altitude 737. The $500-million investment includes Ivanhoe assuming total ownership of PVM..