We are now in an upswing mode and it is finally good to see some positive reporting in the media. We need more good news stories like these:

"Office vacancy rates falling, survey says...Demand for office space is suddenly making a comeback..."It has really, really, really picked up...We haven't seen this level of activity in this decade...," said Ross Moore, (VP Colliers)... A lower vacancy rate may be good news for building owners but it often means that tenants will pay more... Moore thinks the strong market means new construction will begin sooner than most people think..."

-Toronto Star, June 20/97

" Industrial vacancy rate falls...Phenomenal first half of '97 sees biggest drop in more than 3 years... Canada's expanding economy has dramatically shrunk the supply of vacant factory and warehouse space, prompting a pickup in industrial construction. "Not only are these numbers promising from a real estate prospective, they are also a harbinger for job creation," said John O'Bryan,(Snr. VP, Royal LePage). Sherry Cooper of Nesbitt Burns Inc. agrees and says "The leading indicators for employment - hiring intentions and the help wanted index - have shown considerable strength."

-The Globe & Mail July 8/97

"There is no such thing as bad real estate any more"... good news for real estate investors because Lease prices and property values are climbing," said John O'Bryan. "This is the first recession we have ever come out of without any significant supply in the pipe." With top-notch space at a premium the real estate industry is trying to catch up to demand by building more space, which is creating jobs in the construction industry.

-Bloomberg News, CP &

Toronto Star, July 8^th, 1997

At Aldgate we had an amazing fall '96 and spring '97 in our leasing department. As stated in our previous newsletter, between June/96 and February/97 we completed over 55 deals at our major property, The Aldgate Corporate Centre.

Our total leasing activity during that period was in excess of 155,000 square feet. Not too shabby for a project of under 350,000 square feet. This activity is broken down as follows:

Renewals: 48,000 sq.ft.

Expansions: 40,000 sq.ft.

New Tenants: 68,000 sq.ft.

We are also seeing the net effective rents going up. ("net effective" = the actual net Rent after all leasing costs are deducted, i.e. leasing commissions and Tenant improvements)

Office Space

From an overall high of 24% vacancy registered back in October/96 for our office space, our current vacancy rate is holding just below 10%! However, we do have some space becoming available in the fall, which we are currently marketing. We are confident that with our network of brokers we will Lease this space quickly.

In addition to filling some larger blocks of office space, we continue to do quite a few smaller deals in the 400 to 2,000 square feet range that tend to add up quickly.

Our "Mini-Suites" have been very successful and we always have one or two of these flexible little suites available in our inventory. No deal is too small for us.

With the Province of Ontario not renewing their 45,000 sq. ft. lease at 1220 Markham Rd, this spring, we were faced with a major vacancy looming. However, we were very pleased to pre-lease the entire building to two tenants prior to the expiry of the old lease!

We are now faced with a large vacancy this September at 2245 Midland Ave. with two 15,000 square foot units coming available. One is a front unit with excellent street exposure and the other unit is fully air conditioned with 65 % finished dropped ceiling area. Please call for details.

Check it out - We have Space!

President, The Aldgate Group

Aldgate

on the Net

Well we finally did it. As you can see we're on the net. While we at Aldgate have been pretty technologically advanced since the first PC's were introduced in the early '80s, we've shied away from the net until just recently.

Now that we've found it though, we can't stop cruisin' around. We've also started working on our own home page which we welcome you to visit from time to time to see how it progresses. Try us at http://aldgategroup.com .

eSpace on Line

We can be reached at:

2100 Ellesmere Rd., Suite 200

Toronto (Scarborough), ON M1H 3B7

ph: 416-431-9622

fax: 416-431-9797