The Weekly Blend is your ‘weekly’ source covering real estate news that you just may have missed. Our hard at work Weekly Blend crew scours the web, newsgroups and forums looking for obscure, bizarre, interesting and informative real estate (or real estate related) stories. If you have one you’d like to share please feel free to share it in our comments section or tweet about it using the hashtag #WeeklyBlend. So brew yourself a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy these stories…maybe even share them with friends or colleagues. Happy reading!
Here are my weekly picks:
Halifax’s new library is up for an international architectural award and its CEO thinks there’s a good chance they can win.
Edmonton’s Ice District development is spurring new real estate projects.
Poor market conditions are causing REALTORS® in Fort McMurray to leave the area.
There’s plenty of opportunity but it will take a little cash and a LOT of work to make this house in Sainte-Sabine, Quebec (about an hour outside of Montreal) livable.
The shrinking household: Three ways Canadian society has changed over the past century.
An Ottawa food institution (well, at least one of their menu items) will now be available for hockey fans at The Bell Centre in Montreal.
After 57 years, Moe’s Diner, a fixture next to the old Montreal Forum, will be closing its doors on December 7th.
Meet the Ross Ferry, Nova Scotia couple living in this tiny home. (VIDEO)
Home renovation program approvals coming soon to PEI, says province.
A “net-zero” home in Calgary is open to the public this weekend. If you’re in the area, stop by and take a look.
Little Bay Islanders voted on whether to relocate. 89.47 per cent said “yes.” But, to pass the vote, they needed 90 per cent.
Kim Kardashian’s “push” present costs the same as a Toronto home.
Even the bathroom at this luxury Dubai hotel has a butler. See for yourselves.
Mentalfloss.com has 11 brilliant gift ideas for the newlyweds or new homeowners in your life.
Wired and Sports Illustrated take an eye-popping look at sports stadiums of the future. (VIDEO)
According to the New York Post, luxury entry doors are real estate’s newest obsession.
Only in London can the hulking iron remnants from a different age get a second life as industrial-chic living spaces.
To celebrate American Thanksgiving, I’m pulling this old chestnut out … the Century 21 Tryptophan Slow Jam.
Here is an update on the Taco Bell story from last week. Watch as they prepare to move “numero uno” from its current location to their headquarters in Irvine, California.
Some bungalows are worth celebrating. Here are 17 of the prettiest bungalows the world has to offer.
Leasing has begun for New York City’s first micro-apartments.
You might need to think about turning that “granny suite” into a “young adult suite” as more millennials are living with their parents now than during the recession.
In an attempt to crack down on dog owners who don’t pick up after their dogs, pet owners living in Harbour Landing in Destin, Florida have been asked by the condo association to provide doggie DNA.
Spend the night at the Stanley Hotel: one of the most terrifying hotels on earth. It seems nice.
An old shopping mall in Providence, Rhode Island has been converted into 48 micro-apartments with 17 boutique shops.
The New York Foundation for Senior Citizens is a non profit that helps seniors find subsidized housing and, in some cases, roommates.
TravelTHC is an accommodation service that offers the intoxicating blend of helping tourists to get high, legally, while on holiday.
Take a look at the entire list of iconic holiday movie homes and how much they would be worth today.
Same site, different article: here are the 10 best homes in some of your favourite Christmas movies.
In case you haven’t had enough of them, here’s another Star Wars-themed café. This one will only be open for a three-day event in December and it’s already sold out.
Everyone knows that Christmas is the most heavy metal holiday of them all … which is why this homeowner has not one but two heavy metal light displays (courtesy of Slipknot and Disturbed).
Fastcompany.com offers up 9 things you didn’t know about architect Frank Gehry.
Escape rooms are becoming increasingly popular and Fastcompany.com (really liking them this week) goes behind the scenes and discovers some of the best ways to design an escape room.
Open floorplans, exposed ductwork, concrete floors and other elements of industrial design are increasingly found in suburbia.
Vacant shops in malls and shopping centres have some landlords smelling opportunity.
Right now, in California only, Google is a licensed mortgage broker.
You’ll be saying “danke schoen” after taking a virtual tour of Mr. Wayne Newton’s Vegas mansion (or pay for a ticket and take a real tour the next time you’re there).
It’s a Miracle on 34th Street as Macy’s historic wooden escalators survive renovations.
NY Giant kicker Josh Brown has his post-NFL career planned out … and it involves commercial real estate.
Then there’s Shaun Draughn who’s gone from real estate salesman to 49er’s running back.
