Archive for March, 2012

$10,000 gift from the Provincial Gov’t for 1st time home buyers buying a brand new home – valid thru Mar 31, 2013

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Other

On February 21, 2012, the BC Provincial Government announced an exciting temporary bonus for first-time homebuyers who purchase a newly constructed home, effective February 21, 2012 through to March 31, 2013.

This bonus is calculated as 5% of the purchase price of a new home (condominiums are eligible as well) up to a maximum of $10,000! This bonus from the government is tax-free.

So what does this actually mean for first-time homebuyers? Let’s do some math:

Assuming you meet all of the applicable criteria and your annual net income is less than $150,000: If you purchase any suite in BC you will receive a $10,000 tax-free cheque from the government*.

You should keep in mind that if you qualify for this new Bonus you would also qualify for the existing New Housing Rebate. Click here to download and read more about the Enhanced New Housing Rebate.

Some fine print – Only one credit can be claimed per home and the credit will be reduced for high-income individuals and families earning over $150,000 net. Click here for full details. It should also be noted that this bonus has not been approved by the legislature yet, but the government is anticipating approval sometime this spring. The bonus would be retroactive to all purchases from February 21, 2012 and remain through to March 31, 2013. To qualify for the bonus you must make your new purchase your primary residence and you can’t have previously owned a primary residence before.

Vancouver House Prices Still Not Affordable: RBC

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Jennifer Harrison
Other

Despite registering the country’s most significant reductions in home-ownership costs in the final stretch of 2011, B.C.’s housing market remained the priciest in Canada, according to the latest Housing Trends and Affordability Report issued today by RBC Economics Research.

“Steady job creation, which spurred income gains and a further reversal of earlier significant spikes in home prices, alleviated a small amount of pressure on homebuyers in the province, but just barely,” said Robert Hogue, RBC senior economist.

“The housing affordability picture in B.C. remains quite poor due mainly to sky-high prices in the Vancouver area, and we expect this will continue to weigh on housing demand in the coming year.”

RBC’s housing measures capture the province’s proportion of pre-tax household income that would be needed to service the costs of owning a home at market values. In the fourth quarter, measures for B.C. dropped across all housing types (a decrease represents an improvement in affordability).

RBC’s measure for the benchmark detached bungalow in B.C. dropped by 2.5 percentage points to 67.7% (compared with the national average of 42.2%). The measure for the standard condominium apartment in the province declined by 1.3 points to 35.0% (compared with 28.5% nationally), while the standard two-storey home edged down by 0.7 points to 74.3% (compared with 48.1% nationally).

The measure for detached bungalows in the Vancouver area dropped 4.6 points to 86%. The measures for standard two-storey homes declined 2.0 points to 92.3%, while the standard for condominium apartments declined by 2.4 points to 44.8%.

“While affordability in the Vancouver area housing market continued to reverse some of the earlier sizable deterioration, owning a home at current prices would still take up the lion’s share of a typical household budget,” said Hogue.

“The ownership bar therefore remains extremely high in the area.” 

© 2011 REW. All rights reserved.

Marpole liquor store will sit on native burial ground

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Former Fraser Arms site renamed Luminaire Plaza

Stanley Tromp
Van. Courier

Store manager Eliana Bray stocks the beer cooler at a new liquor store at 1450 Southwest Marine Dr. Photograph by: Dan Toulgoet , Vancouver Courier

If you are in one of the 60,000 cars that drive past the old Fraser Arms Hotel at 1450 Southwest Marine Dr. every day, you may have noticed a new sign posted above a Budweiser beer banner: “Coming soon: 5,965 sq. ft. cold beer, wine and liquor store.”

The project is the brainchild of developer Amir Sadath, owner and director of the Imperial Hospitality Group, which will quietly open the new store in two weeks, and then two weeks after stage a grander launch with music, hot dogs and wine tasting.

The Fraser Arms property will be renamed Luminaire Plaza, and the hotel’s liquor store will be called Value On Liquor Store. Sadath, who took over the Fraser Arms 18 months ago, conceived it as a joint venture with the Musqueam Indian band. The Musqueam own the land in fee simple, which sits upon an ancient burial site or midden, land which the band will never sell.

The opening of the liquor store in the legendary but defunct Fraser Arms will likely impact another property a few blocks north. Last year, city council approved the massive redevelopment of the Granville Street and 70th Avenue corner, which will include a larger Safeway, a new government liquor store and a 16-storey residential highrise. In a few months, Safeway and its small liquor store will close for two or three years of construction, although a smaller temporary version of the liquor store will be housed at the corner of Granville and 68th Avenue during the construction period.

“I think there’s still enough room in Marpole for two liquor stores, and there are other cold beer and wine stores around the city,” said David Battistella, manager of the government store. During the Safeway construction phase, it will be a good time for the Fraser Arms, he admits, and he hopes but cannot predict that many of the government store’s customers will return when it reopens in the new development.

But Sadath thinks many customers will switch permanently to Value-On during the construction. “Value On Liquor Store will be the first large-scale private retailer liquor store in Vancouver to match government prices on all applicable products,” its publicity boasts. The store claims some items will be cheaper than at a government store and at other private liquor stores. Unlike the government store, Value On’s workers are nonunionized.

The redevelopment of the Fraser Arms, once home to an infamous strip bar, will not include its former coffee shop, pub and nightclub. The parking lot will remain, but there are other plans for the 12,000 square feet of buildings around the liquor store. “We are negotiating to close the lease on that space, a few months from now,” Sadath said. “We have two major actors in retail, very popular ones.”

One is a multinational, which Sadath would not name, looking at a 9,000-square-foot area. The hotel will be renamed the Luminaire Hotel, and will stay as a month to month furnished residential hotel. The changes at the Fraser Arms site are the latest developments to hit Marpole, a quiet working class and immigrant community of 23,000.

A handout for Luminaire Plaza reads: “It feels great to be part of a larger movement towards revitalization of South Vancouver and Marpole, Vancouver’s fastestgrowing community.”

As noted in a Courier cover story last Nov. 25, many local residents fear that Marpole is changing too fast, with the Safeway condo development being only one indicator.

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

Proposed tower twists from triangle to rectangle

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Plan includes 49 storeys at north end of Granville Street Bridge

Jared Gnam
Van. Courier

The proposed 49-storey tower at the north end of the Granville Street Bridge starts as a triangle at the base but twists into a rectangle higher up above the bridge. Photograph by: submitted , artist rendering

The collection of glass towers that make up Vancouver’s skyline may be given a dramatic facelift with the proposal of a unique 49-storey tower at the north end of the Granville Street Bridge.

The tower, which would lie at the corner of Howe Street and Beach avenue, starts as a triangle at the base but twists into a rectangle higher up above the bridge.

The developer group Westbank Projects Corp., who built Vancouver’s tallest building the Shangri-La, has brought in Danish architect Bjarke Ingels to add flare to the city’s skyline that has sometimes been labelled as monotonous.

“Vancouver has been criticized as having a beautiful city but the architecture is rather bland-the buildings all look the same,” said Vancouver architect James Cheng. “I think we have the nickname ‘the see-through city’ because so much glass is being used.”

In addition to condos, the project would offer rental space and feature commercial space that would provide amenities such as an under-bridge gathering centre, a childcare facility, beer gardens and shops-a space described as “Granville Island north.” The total site of the area would take up nearly 137,000 square feet.

Cheng, who wrote a letter to support the rezoning application to the city, said what excites him about the project is the chance to overhaul the mostly deserted space below the Granville Bridge into an area that offers locals places to gather and shop.

“One of the most important parts of this development is to provide an existing link between [the surrounding] neighbourhoods and provide all those services and amenities,” he said. “It would turn one of the most wasted landscapes under the Granville Bridge into a vibrant hub for the community.”

With the unique shape and design of the tower, Cheng said it would be the most structurally challenging project to date for Ingels, who has made his name through distinctive designs. “To put the heavier part of the building at the top it literally turns things upside down, which challenges the engineers to make it work in an earthquake zone,” Cheng said.

But Cheng said he has full confidence Ingels can pull it off.

“What I admire about Mr. Ingels is he really is probably the most creative architect I’ve met, anywhere. He can really think outside of the box.”

The $200-million project is in the pre-approval stage with the city and residents will have their say about the new proposed development at a community open house scheduled for early April. “I think the project has a very good chance because the developer has a very good track record,” Cheng said of Westbank, which developed Shaw Towers.

Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs said it might take some time for the proposal to reach city council, but he’s looking forward to the reactions from city staff and the public. “I think people have been saying that it’s time for a change of pace in terms of the appearance for some of the towers that are downtown,” Meggs said.

The design will also have to get the approval from a special panel of experts, which includes two international architects. The panel will evaluate the project April 11 to determine whether it meets architectural and sustainability standards. City council will use the panel’s advice when deciding whether to approve the project. Representatives for Westbank were not available for comment before press time.

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

Rize Alliance Properties to build a 19-storey condo town at the corner of Broadway and Kingsway

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Mount Pleasant businesses split on Rize high-rise proposal

Andrew Fleming
Van. Courier

The public hearing over the rezoning application by Rize Alliance Properties to build a 19-storey condo town at the corner of Broadway and Kingsway continued into its third day last Thursday, Feb. 29. By the end of the night, roughly half of the 205 registered speakers had spoken to council—with the vast majority so far firmly against the proposal—before the hearing continues March 27.

One of the recurring arguments cited by Mount Pleasant residents opposed to the proposed development is a fear it would devastate local businesses. Many residents expressed concern that mom and pop operations would be driven out by skyrocketing rents and replaced by corporate chain outlets with deeper pockets.

Not all Mount Pleasant business owners or their staff share this fear.

“I’m not opposed to it at all,” said Caleb Schroeder of Capstone Tattoos, located a stone’s throw from the proposed development. “My job entails people coming into my shop and, having more people in the neighbourhood, I can only see it will help with my profit. It’ll depend a bit on the demographic of people moving in, but tattoos are so popular now that I can’t see how it wouldn’t help me.”

Rodrigo Silva, owner of a Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu school on Main Street, said he hoped some of the tenants of the 241 new condos might become students.

“I think it is something that is good, not something that is bad,” said Silva, originally from Brazil. “I can’t see how we would be affected badly by it.”

The same sentiment was expressed by Dave Dove, co-owner of The Goods, an artsy retail clothing and silk screening shop on Broadway that was empty of shoppers when the Courier stopped by last week.

“I think the positives by far outweigh the negatives,” said the 33-year-old entrepreneur. “I have no issue with the structure at all. As for the height of it, hell, if it blocks a little bit of the sun here during the day, it makes it easier to see into my store.”

However, blocked sunlight is one of the main concerns for Arlene Kennedy, owner of mygoodness! gluten and wheat free kitchen on Broadway. Kennedy said she would rather her cheery bakery keep its natural sunlight than see hundreds of potential customers move in across the street.

“My feeling is that because I have such wonderful daylight coming in now and I think about that big block there and selfishly say it is going to affect my lighting,” said Kennedy, who opened the shop eight months ago. “I also think Broadway has become a high-rise corridor and so if that starts happening here, it takes away from the whole unique ambience of Mount Pleasant, especially here where it is just so funky.”

Peter Pratchett, owner of First Used Books on Kingsway, said he expects the tower would probably be good for his bottom line but he would still prefer not to see such a large structure built. “I don’t think it will be bad for business but I do see it being bad for the character of the neighbourhood and I would rather not have it. There are lots of nine, 10-storey buildings going up but I think 19 storeys is an imposition.”

 © Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

Surrey takes lead in office strata

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Other

Buying office space as strata, rather than leasing, is becoming a major market push in Surrey, led by the success of a new 150,000-square-foot office tower at Morgan Crossing.

And realtors close to the action say strata office space increasingly makes good sense to developers, lenders and owner-occupiers. Investors not so much.

“We have the Grandview Business Centre 95 per cent sold out of strata office space,” said Gord McPherson of Re/Max Commercial Advantage, referring to the Elkay Developments Ltd. project in South Surrey. It is the largest strata office project in Surrey and one of the biggest in Metro Vancouver.

The strata space at Grandview is selling for around $360 per square foot, and the typical office unit is 3,000 square feet, according to McPherson. As of press time, there was only one unit left unsold.

All of the strata buyers have been owner-occupiers, not investors, McPherson said. One key reasons is the availability of low mortgage rates. “Banks are willing to lend at rates under 4 per cent for five-year terms for businesses buying their space,” he said, with some highly-qualified owners even allowed 100 per cent financing.

Selling space rather than pre-leasing can prove a boon to developers, he explained. In most cases, developers need to have up to 30 per cent of space pre-leased before they can achieve construction financing. This can take a lot of time. But Grandview Centre had one-third of the space pre-sold quickly, which gave both Elkay and lenders a “level of comfort”, McPherson explained.

One floor of the Grandview Business Centre is leased to Royal Bank, at $18.50 per square foot net, a rate that may make investors take note.

But investing in strata space has limitations. First of all lenders are reluctant to provide investor funding without substantial downpayments, often as high as 35 per cent, and with higher mortgage rates, McPherson explained.

Also, investors must then contend with finding and keeping tenants in a market where office vacancy rates are in double-digits, as in Surrey and most of suburban Metro Vancouver.

“I can see the office strata trend growing,” said McPherson, who will be starting pre-sales soon on a new office tower adjacent to Grandview Business Centre. “Owners expect to see future appreciation of the asset and they like the security of knowing what their long-term costs are.”

New Strata Regulations regarding depreciation Reports & Form B Overview from Real Estate Council

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

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New Strata Regulations regarding depreciation Reports & Form B Overview from Real Estate Council

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

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Privacy Protected Listings – what you need to know

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

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Photos: Vancouver’s Strathcona one of Canada’s 10 Best Old House neighbourhoods

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Old House magazine recently compiled a list of the Best Old House Neighbourhoods in Canada, including Vancouver’s Strathcona.

Old House Magazine
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