Joannah Connolly
Other

Sales of homes over $1 million in Vancouver rose 34 per cent year over year in the first six months of 2014 – and the market is expected to gain momentum through the second half of the year, according to a report by Sotheby’s International Realty released July 8.

Vancouver’s performance in this market was matched only by the Greater Toronto area, which also saw a 34 per cent increase in the 2014’s first half.

From January 1 to June 30, 2014, Vancouver property sales over $1 million increased to 1,664 units for condominiums, attached and detached single-family homes combined.

The largest increases were in the $4 million-plus property range, in which sales increased 49 per cent year over year. Homes between $2 million and $4 million increased 35 per cent and homes in the $1 million to $2 million range rose by 32 per cent.

When broken down by property type, the largest sales increases were seen in the single-family home sector, which increased 38 per cent year-over-year, followed by a 37 per cent increase in condo sales.

Sotheby’s said the sales increases suggested “no sign of a bubble in the market.”

The international real-estate group also said that, with many listings resulting in multiple offers, some segments of the Vancouver market have also seen an increase in the number of homes sold over asking price. It reported that 30 per cent of single-family detached homes and 19 per cent of attached homes in the $1-2 million range sold above their list price during the first half of the year.

To read the report summary and download the full report, click here.

© 2014 Real Estate Weekly

Construction delays hold up social housing on former Drake Hotel property

Bob Mackin
Van. Courier

The 10-storey Downtown Eastside apartment building under construction for women and children is almost a year behind schedule and only one of the parties involved would say why.

The Budzey Building, at Powell and Princess streets, is one of 14 sites for provincially subsidized social housing and will have 147 non-market units plus commercial lease space on the main floor. City hall bought the former Drake Hotel property in 2007 for $3.2 million from a numbered company connected to a member of the Hells Angels.

Coun. Geoff Meggs and Housing Minister Rich Coleman appeared at a Feb. 5, 2013 news conference to promote the project. At the time, completion was estimated for spring 2014. As of June 26, the website for construction company Stuart Olson Dominion continued to say it was “scheduled for completion in April 2014.” Last week, the Courier confirmed the new estimate for completion is February 2015.

RainCity Housing and Support Society will operate the concrete building, which is aiming to be LEED gold environmental and energy certified.

The charity’s acting executive director Greg Richmond did not respond to an interview request. Spokesman Bill Briscall said Richmond “is unavailable for an interview” and referred questions to B.C. Housing. B.C. Housing spokesman Fergus McCann said Shayne Ramsay, the Crown corporation’s chief executive, was not available for an interview.

“B.C. Housing estimated the building would be complete in spring 2014,” McCann said via email. “There were construction delays and it is now scheduled to open in early 2015.”

McCann was asked for further explanation about the delays, but he said, “You have our response.” McCann also claimed the project is “on budget,” but didn’t provide dollar figures or answer who would be liable for cost overruns, if any.

In a May 25, 2010 B.C. Housing news release, the estimated project capital cost (excluding the city’s land contribution) was $34.6 million.

By February 2013, the province said it would provide $37.1 million in construction financing and pay $891,000 for annual operations. The value of the city’s land donation was $4 million and the city agreed to waive development cost charges, reduce levies and contribute to the site cleanup, worth $902,000. BC Hydro was to provide $19,600 in equity and Streetohome Foundation $2.9 million, including $1.5 million from mining company Silver Wheaton and $500,000 from the Face the World Foundation.

Streetohome CEO Rob Turnbull said the Budzey Building had “several contractor-driven delays right from the start,” from concrete forming to elevator installation.

“It impacts us because we put out our numbers and we like to be as accurate as we can with our donors,” said Turnbull, whose charity updated its website with the February 2015 estimate after the Courier’s initial query.

A request to interview city general manager of community services Brenda Prosken was denied and city hall refused to comment on the delays.

“[B.C. Housing] is the lead on this project, so you will need to speak to them about it, we will be declining your interview request on this occasion,” said Tobin Postma of the city hall communications office.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson promised in 2008 that his Vision Vancouver party would end street homelessness by 2015. Robertson is running for re-election in November, but in April he admitted that the promise that defined his first mayoralty campaign is unlikely to be fulfilled.

Terra Housing is the project manager, but chief operating officer Simon Davie did not respond to an interview request.

Terra co-founder Jim O’Dea was a Portland Hotel Society director from 1993 until 1997 when he was named chair of B.C. Housing by the NDP government. He was replaced when the B.C. Liberals came to power in 2001 and B.C. Housing undertook a special audit of PHS.

The April 17, 2002 report by Staley, Okada, Chandler and Scott chartered accountants has never been released in full. In 2003, the Courier appealed to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, which found in favour of B.C. Housing in 2005 because it contained policy advice and third-party business secrets.

A heavily censored version of the report said auditors examined “the integrity of the financial and management controls in place at the society.”

In March, nearly 12 years after that 2002 audit, PHS’s four top managers and its entire board were forced to resign because of damning July 2013 B.C. Housing and February 2014 Vancouver Coastal Health investigations found widespread misuse of taxpayer funds by PHS.

© Vancouver Courier

Other

Download Document

Other

Longtime residents of a family-oriented neighbourhood face massive change

Christopher Cheung
Van. Courier

Stan Carr has lived on east Marpole’s stretch of Cambie Street for almost half a century. The 89-year-old former fisherman and mechanic likes living there. He enjoys mowing his own lawn as he has done for years. He sits by the front door when the weather is nice.

His property has an open view of the neighbourhood, and these days also a view of new towers rising at the Cambie Street and Marine Drive intersection.

Carr doesn’t like to talk about the development, which promises a future of shops, offices and crowds, bringing rapid change to neighbourhoods that have long remained residential. “My opinion doesn’t matter,” he said. “It won’t change anything.”

The Canada Line was completed in August 2009 and the Marine Drive Station at the foot of Cambie brought more people to the neighbourhood, highlighting the area for development potential.

That’s when the offers from buyers first came in.

“I get many,” said Carr. “Knocking on the door, by mail, by phone.”

Carr’s parents purchased the duplex in the mid-1960s because his mother liked the area. He and his brother moved in not long after.

Carr remembers how quiet it was due to infrequent transit and the comparison with their previous home. He is Croatian and prior to Cambie Street lived in Grandview-Woodland near Templeton secondary with his parents and brother.

“Most of Croatian people that came [to Vancouver] were in East Van and we all knew each other,” said Carr. “It was like a family.”

On Cambie, Carr only knows a few neighbours. The land in this area is zoned for two-family dwellings, hence the abundance of duplexes, and many rent out one or both sides.

Carr remembers residents next door never stayed long. “They were moving out like it was Grand Central Station.”

As a result, many duplexes on Cambie have lawns with tall grass and weeds. “That’s how you know it’s a rental property,” said Carr.

Carr is predeceased by his parents and brother. He lives alone but still tends to the family house with care. He does less today but for many years took care of the plumbing and roofing.

Carr has received good offers for the house but has rejected them all. There are many family memories here.

“They’re paying some crazy prices for these houses. Anywhere between three and four million. You could buy a much nicer house than this one, but I just don’t like to move.

“At my age, money doesn’t matter.”

Vanishing charm
The Marpole Community Plan, adopted by city council April 2, promises to “minimize change to single-family areas… about 85 per cent of existing single-family zoned areas will not change.” The remaining 15 per cent that will change is “near major streets where transit, shops and services are available”.

This happens to be Carr’s neighbourhood.

The three towers under construction at Marine Landing are PCI Group’s Marine Gateway, Intracorp’s MC2 and Onni Group’s Northwest.

In April 2012, all of Marine Gateway’s 415 residential units sold within four hours.

Jonathan Tsang, a Burnaby resident, comes to the area often to visit his mother. Tsang is a friend of Carr and always stops by for a chat afterward.

Tsang has noticed the rezoning of properties along the Cambie Corridor over the years. “It has already started happening near Oakridge,” he said. “All the local people are forced to move away.”

Buffalo Investment’s Aperture and Mosaic’s Cambria are apartment projects near Oakridge Centre situated on rezoned single-family dwellings.

Joanna Teja comes to Vancouver every year from Zanzibar to visit her daughter who lives in a duplex along the corridor. She has watched the neighbourhood change over the years.

“Prices keep going up and highrises keep going up,” said Teja. “Just because these are old areas doesn’t mean they have to be torn down.”

Teja likes the familial, neighbourhood charm of the cul-de-sacs and schools in the Marpole and Oakridge areas. She worries about their future with Vancouver’s increasing density. “People looking for smaller neighbourhoods can’t find them anymore. The increasing population is dictating the changes.”

Hot market
Eddy Chan owns a duplex near Carr and has also received many offers and inquiries about selling. He and his wife have decided to stay for now. Chan is indifferent to the changes and hurried turnover of real estate as he understands he lives in a prime location.

“It’s development,” said Chan, “and development needs houses.”

Johnny Tse, a renter, also understands the area’s desirability.

“It’s just business,” Tse said of the rezoning and development. “Whatever the government decides goes.”

His rent is affordable, despite having gone up a few times during his seven years in the area. But Tse said he will move away if changes prove too extreme.

Houses that are on the market do not have typical realty signs. They are advertised as multi-family development sites on massive boards with stakes driven into lawns. Some properties have a pair of signs to face each direction of the road. They are often accompanied by equally large notices displaying rezoning applications.

Amex Fraseridge Realty lists 7638 Cambie St., a duplex, with “investors/builders alert” and “potential six-storey apartment.” The sale price is $3,898,000.

Marine Gateway plans to support the density with retailers and services including restaurants, banks, pharmacies, a supermarket and theatre to be completed in 2015.

“The area will not be good for families with children,” said Chan. “There’s just too much traffic.”

Even with the new conveniences at Marine Gateway, Carr will not benefit. “It’s far for me because I can’t walk that far anymore.”

As Carr and Tsang enjoy each other’s company sitting in front of Carr’s green lawn, both know open yards and wide, flat homes like this one won’t be around for long.

“Vancouver is getting bigger with no space to go but up,” said Carr. “What can you do?”

Rezoning applications on the Cambie Corridor:

6311 Cambie St. (Enacted March 2012)

• six-storey building
• 4 commercial units
• 51 residential units

516 W 50th Ave. and 6629-6709 Cambie St. (Approved December 2013)

• two six-storey buildings and two two-storey townhouses
• 128 residential units
• 132 underground parking spaces

7645 Cambie St. and 506 W 60th Ave. (Proposed)

• one six-storey residential building
• one six-storey mixed use building
• 138 secured market rental units
• a church assembly space
• underground parking spaces

7790 Cambie St. (Proposed)

• six-storey building
• 27 market housing units
• 23 underground parking spaces

8175 Cambie St., 519 SW Marine Dr., and 8180-8192 Lord St. (Approved January 2014)

• one 31-storey tower, one 12-storey tower, three-storey building with daycare and community amenity space
• 368 residential units
• 1,365-square-metre commercial retail space
• 387 underground parking spaces

© Vancouver Courier

Gardens, sheds and vehicles must be removed from rail right-of-way by end of July

Naoibh O’Connor
Van. Courier

Canadian Pacific is posting signs and sending notices to residents along the Arbutus Corridor asking that they remove “encroachments” along its property by July 31.

The list includes sheds or other structures, vehicles, storage containers and gardens.

CP stopped using the line in 2001. Pedestrians, cyclists and community gardeners have since used the picturesque route.

The corridor, which covers 45 acres from the Fraser River to False Creek, has been the subject of a dispute between CP and the City of Vancouver for years.

But as the Courier reported in early May, CP told resident groups along the line that it’s taking steps “to use the property in support of rail operations.”

“CP engineers are now assessing the track infrastructure as part of the process to allow our railway to return the line to federal regulatory standards for when a decision is made on the type of train operations for the line,” CP spokesman Ed Greenberg said Wednesday.

“The recent survey determined that there were a number of encroachments along the corridor that lie within CP property, including gardens, small structures and other items. So in order to complete this assessment work, CP employees and contractors must be able to cut back vegetation and work with no encumbrances.”

CP says any unauthorized encroachments that lie within the rail right-of-way after July 31 will be removed “as warranted by our track maintenance work.”

Anthony Smith, who’s on the executive committee for the Cypress Community Garden, said the group has not received a formal notice yet but he’s expecting some sort of future notice since the new CPR official survey maps show the gardens as “unauthorized encroachments.”

“We look forward to working with the city and CPR to resolve this tension and find a sustainable land use model that brings more certainty to the future of all community gardens along the Arbutus Corridor,” Smith told the Courier in an email.

Greenberg said anyone who has questions or comments about CP’s plans should contact CP’s community connect line. He added that survey stakes are being erected along the Arbutus Corridor to mark CP property, but anyone who’s confused about the borders can consult the detailed survey map on CP’s website.

The City of Vancouver, meanwhile, objects to CP’s plans and council passed a motion mid-May calling for Mayor Gregor Robertson to write a letter to CP on behalf of council outlining the city’s opposition “to the proposed reactivation of cargo trains along the Arbutus Corridor, and encourage them to respect the city and neighbourhood wishes of maintaining the Corridor as a greenway for public use, until a light-rail transit line can be implemented.”

For CP’s part, Greenberg says: “For many years, CP was involved in conversations to convert the corridor for a number of combined public uses… [a] greenway, community gardens and eco-density development were recommended options but the various participants in the visioning process were unable to achieve a plan. CP remains open to continued discussions with the city but we are continuing to do our assessment of the corridor.”

© Vancouver Courier

Other

Residential real estate investors are giving Metro Vancouver’s suburbs a “warm embrace” of late, market analyst David Goodman tells us. (Like a grandmother or the sun at the beach.)

They’re drawn to the larger lot sizes, unused densities and higher cap rates on offer in the hinterland. (Plus the lines at the bank are usually shorter.) Of the estimated 3,100 rental apartment buildings in Metro Vancouver, David tells us, 1,300 of them are located in suburban centres like Abbotsford and Surrey. “And it’s these suburban areas that are getting all the activity [from investors] for the most part.”

The recent $10.3M purchase by Calgary-based REIT Mainstreet Equity of Abby Glen Apartments, a 108-unit low-rise apartment complex in Abbotsford—is a case in point. This is right up Mainstreet’s alley, David says of the deal, which closed in mid-May. The 1977-built apartment was sold by Prestigious Investment & Management, which acquired the property in 2009 for $8.5M. “Mainstreet likes going into lower-tier markets and taking buildings that are tired and revitalize them. So it’s a perfect acquisition for them.”