We have been very surprised and encouraged with the response we have received from our first newletter. YES you can forward the newsletter to your clients, friends and even our competitors (well maybe not them). The more people who receive this and read it, the better.

The newsletter is not only being provided to highlight our firm but also to highlight the level of activity in the Ottawa market. Ottawa is still viewed as a secondary market by many investors. Additionally, they believe that we are only a government town. I hope that this newsletter will help to change this perception. Don't get me wrong, the federal government is still the major employer in the region and their decisions do have an impact on the real estate market. However, the total number of people employed by high-tech companies is 70,000 as compared to the 105,000 that are employed by the various levels of government. The federal government accounts for only 18% of the area's employment. This is down from 20.9% in 1991, 23.5% in 1986, 29% in 1981 and 32.3% in 1976. This trend clearly shows the federal government has less of an impact on Ottawa's economy that it did 20 years ago.

Ottawa's growth is now tied into world class high-tech companies such as Nortel, JDS Uniphase, Newbridge (and its many affiliates), MDS Nordion, Cognos, Corel, DY4 Systems, Compaq and many others. Ottawa has also become home to a number of call centres including MBNA, Bank One, and Compaq. Ottawa's bilingual educated population was the main reason these companies chose Ottawa.
I guess that is enough cheerleading for one month. We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, survives Y2K and has a very prosperous New Year.

SALES

Sales activity in October was very slow with most of the sales that did occur under $1,000,000.

There were no major OFFICE OR APARTMENT TRANSACTIONS for October 1999.

A numbered company purchased two INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS from Canada Life under power of sale. The buildings are located at 1257 and 1283 Algoma Road and have a total leasable area of 89,314 square feet. The buildings were purchased for $750,000 or $8.40/sq.ft. Compare this to the previous purchase in 1989 at $6,100,000.

The Royal Bank sold a 9,100 square foot industrial project (2 buildings) on Carp Road for $340,000 or $37.36/sq.ft. This sold under power of sale to a numbered company. Eric Schultz of Royal LePage was the listing agent.

The former Bytown Lumber building at 163 MacFarlane Road in Nepean was sold to Roofmart Canada Inc. for $690,000 or $30/sq.ft.

A two-storey RETAIL plaza was transferred from Loretta Man Lui Ling to Marbel Management Ltd. for a consideration of $380,000 or $34.48/sq.ft. The plaza is 11,020 square feet in size.

101 York Street was tansferred from a numbered company to Todd Brown and Stephen Monuk for a consideration of $910,000. This is an older three-storey renovated building at the northeast corner of York and Dalhousie Streets in the Byward Market. The building is 4,430 square feet in size not including the basement area of some 930 square feet. The purchase price was $205/sq.ft. above grade.

Wendy's Restaurant sold their new restaurant at 1170 Place d'Orleans to the operator for $1,247,122.13 or $320/sq.ft.

NEWS

According to Stats Canada the November unemployment rate for Ottawa was at 6.1%, the second lowest rate of any major city in the country. The unemployment rate in the rest of the country was at 6.9%. So far this year 20,800 jobs have been added to the region's economy.

CMHC released the rental apartment market survey this past month confirming what many apartment owners and investors already knew, that the Ottawa market has the lowest vacancy rate in the country at only 0.7%. The tightest markets are in the Downtown, Sandy Hill and Lowertown areas where the vacancy rate is only 0.4%. The survey also noted that rental rates have increased between 2.4% to 4.1% in the past year.

New home sales are at a record pace with sales totaling 3,520 so far this year. This is 28% more than last year.

The former Caplan building at 135 Rideau Street is to be converted into a five-screen theatre aimed at more mature audiences. The tenant will be Alliance Atlantis Cinemas and the developer is Canril Developments Inc. The total cost of the project is estimated at $7,000,000.

vAccording to the Ottawa Citizen, two properties that the Ontario Government might be selling in the Ottawa area include the public health lab at 2380 St. Laurent Boulevard and the Ministry of Transportation yards and district office at 530 Tremblay Road.

Craig Callan-Jones is purchasing 95 Beech Street to convert it into 30 loft apartments. Sales have been very successful with more than half of the units already sold.

The Ottawa region now has more than 1,000 local high-tech companies. This should ensure the continued growth of the industry.

Nortel has leased most of Kanata Research Park's third tower on Legget Drive in Kanata North for a ten year term. They have also leased the Pinecrest office tower.