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Reliance Properties is partnering with The Jim Pattison Group, Canada’s second-largest private company, to build Burrard Place, a 1M SF mixed-use project boasting Western Canada’s tallest all-residential skyscraper.

The most significant project to date for either partner, Burrard Place will cover an entire downtown block and include two residential towers. The first, One Burrard Place (60 floors, 444 units), is being billed as Vancouver’s first true 5-star luxury condo. And at 550 feet, it will be the city’s third-tallest building after Shangri-La and Trump Vancouver. A second 35-storey tower will follow. “This is the largest active project downtown right now,” Jon tells us.

Burrard Place will have a three-storey Toyota showroom at the corner of Burrard and Drake, with service areas on five underground levels, the only full-service dealership in downtown Vancouver. This will replace the old Pattison Toyota, which had stood on the site for 42 years. Reliance, which owns the property adjacent to the dealership, is contributing 60% of the land holdings and equity to the Burrard Place JV. Integrated into the same structure as the dealership will be a 13-storey, 135k SF office building, and Jon says the JV partners plan to retain and manage it as a long-term holding asset.

Burrard Place will have 66k SF of additional large-floor plate strata office space across three floors in a seven-storey podium that will run through the base of both residential towers. “Strata office is a strongly emerging market in Vancouver,” Jon notes. The podium will also include a 45k SF Meinhardt Fine Foods and 35k SF amenity centre, with a pool, gym and dining rooms, and hotel-like services such as an on-demand caterer, sommelier, fashion consultant and event planner. All amenities will be available to commercial tenants (for a fee), not just residents. “We’re trying to mix people together in more of a collaborative way,” says Jon.

Jim Pattison Group, the country’s second-largest private company (annual sales: $8.4B), is a major commercial real estate player, with a portfolio of more than 12M SF of income-producing properties throughout North America. “Our goal is to own the real estate where our businesses are situated,” explains Michael. “That’s how we’ve been able to grow our portfolio.” Burrard Place is a “tremendous opportunity” for the company, he says, enabling it to maximize the value of a low-intensity auto-dealership property. “Integrating it into mixed-use development makes a lot of sense for us.”

Jon says the plan is to break ground on Burrard Place in January, and he expects the build to take 42 months. The podium of the second residential tower will include a full-size grocery store. Eventually there will be a fourth tower at the end of the block, at 902 Davie, where a 30-storey tower of mico-suites is planned. The Jim Pattison Group is a continental heavy-hitter, while Reliance is a family-owned regional developer. But the two companies have similar values, says Jon: they’re both conservative, customer-focused, prudent, cautious and measured. “So it’s a real good cultural fit.” 

© Copyright 2015 Bisnow

John Tenpenny
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An Ontario couple has been convicted of multiple counts under the Real Estate Business Brokers Act stemming from complaints in 2013 that they were acting as real estate agents without a licence.

William (Bill) John Denby and his wife, Gwen, of Cameron, Ont., were convicted of three counts each of trading in real estate without a licence and one count of holding themselves out as a broker or salesperson while not registered. Bill received a $50,000 fine and his wife received a suspended sentence.

“We are pleased with the court’s recognition of the need for consumer protection and for being registered,” Joseph Richer, registrar for the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) said in a statement. “The fines are reflective of the seriousness of the issues at hand. We hope this will serve as a strong deterrent for anyone who tries to circumvent being registered. Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest transactions most people will ever go through in their lives. It’s critical that the person representing you has the skills and knowledge to look out for your best interests in the course of a real estate deal.”

In final submissions in the case, Tim Snell, acting for RECO, said there were three complainants who claimed Denby had estimated a value for their homes and arranged for prospective buyers to contact him through his business, ‘The Negotiators.’

Snell said Denby’s actions violated the Real Estate Business Brokerage Act because he put up signs on the properties and advertised his services online through his business.

John Annen, acting for Denby, said Denby had not broken the law because no money had changed hands between Denby and any of the complainants, nor had any transfer of title to the properties occurred.

Copyright © 2015 Key Media Pty Ltd

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Concord Pacific promised more than 20 years ago to build Creekside Park

Mike Howell
Van. Courier

With less than two weeks before city council decides whether the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts should be demolished, city officials are unable to say how much a developer will gain from the removal of the hulking structures or provide a definitive date on when a long-awaited park will be built near Science World.

Those two issues were raised at a news conference Tuesday where officials revealed more details about city staff’s $200-million plan to knock down the viaducts and open up the swath of land under them for a new road network sloping up to Georgia Street, the development of condos, a 13.8-acre park, an elevated bikeway and possibly social housing.

Developer Concord Pacific, which owns the most parcels of land in the area, stands to make more money from removal of the viaducts because it would be allowed to build more condos than if the viaducts remained in place. A staff report to city council in June 2013 suggested demolition of the viaducts would free up 10 acres of land worth up to $110 million.

“There will be an increase [in density] for Concord,” Brian Jackson, the city’s chief planner, told reporters gathered under the viaducts next to Rogers Arena. He said more detail would be included in the staff report that goes before council Oct. 20. “More importantly, what this does is free up density for the city. The city is able to achieve a significant amount of new area for development, which will be going to housing, or can be sold off.”

The city released the staff report Wednesday but it does not provide a clear breakdown of how much density will go to Concord. The report does, however, state that previous agreements between Concord and the provincial government, which sold the lands to Concord, are a factor in future development of the lands.

“Staff will be undertaking extensive negotiations with the landowner and the Province over the coming year related to these matters, and may need to report to council for the appropriate authorities with respect to related transactions,” the report said.

Jackson said the city is preparing an amendment to the official development plan for the area and could allow Concord and other developers with land in the neighbourhood to build 2,500 new housing units —with the viaducts gone. Provincial Crown corporation PavCo and the Aquilinis, which own the Vancouver Canucks, also have property in the area. Another 750 to 1,000 units could be freed up on two blocks of city land near Main Street, the likely spot for social housing.

Concord is the same developer that owns a large piece of land that runs from the northern edge of Science World and wraps around False Creek to the Edgewater Casino, near B.C. Place Stadium. Over the years, Concord has leased the land to the Molson Indy, Cirque du Soleil and the Maison du Quebec during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

It is the same property where Concord promised more than 20 years ago to build Creekside Park, which would be an extension of the green space that already exists adjacent to Science World. But the developer has previously told council the property needs to be used as a dumping and sorting site of potentially contaminated soils from other land — that has yet to be developed — before it can proceed with the park.

Though Malcolm Bromley, the general manager of the park board, said the demolition project would speed up construction of the park, neither he nor Jackson could provide a definitive date when the entire 13.8 acres would be built. But Jackson said residents can expect to see small sections of the park and adjoining seawall developed within five years, if council approves the recommendation to demolish the viaducts.

“For all 13.8 acres, we cannot give a date when every single piece of the park will be available,” Jackson told the Courier after the news conference. “But we’re going to be attacking it on an incremental basis, which has never been contemplated before as part of previous agreements. But it’s something Concord is agreeable to.”

Bromley noted in his remarks that one of the first emails he received upon taking the job in 2010 was from the False Creek Residents’ Association, saying his legacy would be measured on the delivery of the park. Fern Jeffries, co-chairperson of the residents’ association, said she was disappointed city officials gave no assurances on a deadline for completion of the park but added she was glad Bromley remembered the email.

“We did welcome him to the city with an opportunity to make history with Creekside Park,” said Jeffries, who attended the news conference. “We’re really pleased that he hasn’t forgotten that and we hope that he will be able to feel good about that.”

If city council approves staff’s recommendation, the viaducts could be gone and a new road network built within five years. City officials said revenues and development costs gained in the demolition will make the project cost-neutral. More details can be viewed in the staff report posted today on the city’s website.

© 2015 Vancouver Courier

Jeremy van Loon
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James Hankle, a 50-something software engineer sporting blue jeans and a Green Party T-shirt, is trying to explain his fix for Vancouver’s runaway property prices when he’s interrupted by an eavesdropping passerby: “Stop allowing people from China to buy our houses and leave them vacant,” she says and walks away.

Despite British Columbia’s aversion to pipelines and affection for pot, housing affordability has pushed both aside as the number one issue raised by area residents in the run-up to Canada’s election this month. It’s not completely surprising given that Vancouver has become North America’s most expensive city.

Surging purchase prices have triggered protest movements like #donthave1million, started by a group of young professionals frustrated at being shut out of home ownership. They complain of having to delay starting families as they remain bunked in with roommates, often into their 30s and beyond.

The affordability issue speaks to broader campaign themes: the difficulty young people face getting established in the labor market, the economic anxieties of the middle class, growing concerns about income inequality, support for families with children. Residents also increasingly point fingers at wealthy Chinese immigrants and investors whose lavish embrace of the Pacific metropolis of 2.5 million has inspired reality TV shows with such gaudy names as “Ultra Rich Asian Girls in Vancouver.”

Vancouver, with its C$2.23 million ($1.7 million) average price tag for a detached home is playing an unusual role in the national election to be held Oct. 19. British Columbia is the only place where all four national parties are competitive — the Conservatives, Liberals, New Democrats and Greens — and, given the tightness of the race, its choices could spell the difference. As of now, the New Democrats and Liberals look likely to take some seats away from the Conservatives in the region, according to poll aggregator ThreeHundredEight.com.

Campaign Fodder

The top contenders for prime minister, incumbent Conservative Stephen Harper, Liberal Justin Trudeau and New Democrat Tom Mulcair, have all given voice on campaign stopovers to the city’s particular anxiety by promising they will, if elected, gather data on foreign ownership of its pricey condos and bungalows. “There are real concerns that foreign, non- resident real estate speculation is the reason some Canadian families find house prices beyond their budgets,” Harper said Aug. 12 in Vancouver. “That is a matter we can and should do something about.”

Though no expert on the subject, Hankle, like just about everyone else across the city, is obsessed with the topic and increasingly resigned to never owning a house himself. Standing in Yaletown, a one-time industrial site where nearby two-bedroom apartments can go for C$1.8 million, he calls on political parties competing for his vote to build more low-cost housing and introduce programs to guarantee people a livable minimum income.

He also picks up on the theme of the passing woman, saying governments need to begin collecting data on exactly who’s coming into the city and their impact on affordability. “There’s a huge concentration of wealth and it just isn’t sustainable,” he says.

Bubble Unburst

Unlike the U.S., Canada didn’t experience a housing price collapse with the global recession and has defied predictions ever since that the bubble is about to burst. With the exception of declines in 2009, 2012 and 2013, housing prices have risen in each of the past 15 years, with the cost doubling from Aug. 2005 to 2015, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, out-pacing wage gains.

The Economist Intelligence Unit has named Vancouver the most expensive city to live in North America and a 2014 study by consultancy Demographia cited it as the second-least affordable housing market in the world after Hong Kong. Rising prices in Vancouver pushed housing affordability to “risky levels” in the second quarter as the costs of owning a bungalow rose to an unprecedented 86.9 percent of household income, an August report by RBC Capital Markets said.

“There’s national trend on affordability and it gets especially bleak in Vancouver,” said Paul Kershaw, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia who studies the impacts of public policy on housing. “The dynamic is signaling a change in the standard of living and home ownership that has been the norm for previous generations.”

Record Debt

Vancouver’s 25-to-34 year old cohort earns less and carries more debt than a generation ago, Kershaw said, meaning it now takes 10 working years to save for a down payment versus two years back then.

Although harder pressed, Vancouver families are in good company in borrowing more and more to get ahead. The debt of the average Canadian household now stands at a record 165 percent of disposable income, according the Statistics Canada, about 30 points higher than before the recession and matching the levels of U.S. debt when its housing market crashed. Still, in Vancouver at least, prices are galloping ahead so quickly, they “make it a stretch” for a typical household to get into the market.

“It’s possible to live decently here as long as you’re single and don’t have dependents,” said Scott McFadyen, a 38- year-old audio designer in the video game industry who moved to Vancouver from Alberta. “Truthfully, I’m thinking twice about starting a family here.”

© Copyright (c) Bloomberg

 

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One of the tallest wood buildings in the world will soon be constructed at UBC, providing housing for hundreds of students. When completed, the $51.5-million residence building will stand 53 metres tall (about 174 feet).

“This beautiful, new tall wood building will serve as a living laboratory for the UBC community,” said Martha Piper, interim president. “It will advance the university’s reputation as a hub of sustainable and innovative design, and provide our students with much-needed on-campus housing.”

Construction of the 18-storey tall wood student residence will begin later this fall, and the building is set to open in September 2017. It will house 404 students in 272 studios and 33 four-bedroom units, and feature study and social gathering spaces. There will also be a ground-floor lounge and study space for commuter students.

“This project shows that when it comes to building with wood, B.C.’s innovation can’t be beat,” said Steve Thomson, minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. “By taking advantage of new building technologies, we’re also expanding our markets for B.C. wood products – and supporting jobs in the forest sector.”

In addition to its primary function as a student residence, the building will serve as an academic site for students and researchers, who will be able to study and monitor its operations.

The tall wood building will consist of a mass timber superstructure atop a concrete base. Wood is a sustainable and versatile building material that stores, rather than emits, carbon dioxide. UBC aims for the building to achieve a minimum LEED Gold certification, a rating system that evaluates how environmentally friendly a structure is in its design and energy use.

UBC’s Student Housing and Hospitality Services, the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, Forestry Innovation Investment, Natural Resources Canada and B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations are contributing funding for the building.

Any additional costs related to design and construction have been funded through external sources. Students will pay the same for rent at the tall wood building compared to similar accommodations at other student residences on campus.

UBC Properties Trust is managing the project. The project’s architect, Vancouver’s Acton Ostry Architects, is working in collaboration with tall wood advisor Architekten Hermann Kaufmann from Austria. Fast + Epp, another local firm, is the structural engineer.

The proposed location for the tall wood building is in an open area north of the North Parkade and adjacent to Walter Gage Road.

Other wood structure buildings on UBC’s Vancouver campus include the new AMS Student Nest and Engineering Student Centre, the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability, the Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility, and the Earth Sciences Building.

Earlier this year, the B.C. government passed the provincial Building Act, which enables innovation in building construction. The Building Act enabled the Province to develop a regulation to allow construction of UBC’s new tall wood student residence, with rigorous health and safety standards. The regulation was developed with the project design team, UBC’s chief building official and an independent building code consultant.

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John Tenpenny
Other

A move by the city of Vancouver to prevent the demolition of older homes in one of the city’s most desirable neighbourhoods has been met with resistance by owners, but one observer says there are pros and cons to the designation and that the market will eventually find its place.

City council recently approved a recommendation to designate the First Shaughnessy neighbourhood as a heritage conservation area to prevent the disappearance of its pre-1940 properties.

“By designating First Shaughnessy as Vancouver’s first Heritage Conservation Area, we are taking a balanced approach that will prevent the demolition of these historic homes while providing new opportunities to add very modest density where appropriate,” stated Mayor Gregor Robertson in a press release.

He pointed out that additional density, allowed under the designation in the form of secondary suites, coach houses, infill developments, and others, can “generate land value and would offset the impact of keeping the existing house.”

Matthew Lee, a real estate agent with Macdonald Realty Ltd. in Vancouver, wasn’t surprised by the move, saying, “the D-word – density – has been a lightning rod for some years now.”

“You can see why the city wants to protect these pre-1940s homes. We have a lot of neighbourhoods in Vancouver that are disappearing along with their character.

“Some owners in the area don’t want density, but with such a shortage of land and such a high demand for property in Vancouver proper, especially these well-established neighbourhoods, there is really only one way to go and that’s density.”

He also understands how homeowners in First Shaughnessy feel.

“They’re saying their property taxes have gone up as neighbouring homes sell for more and now they are left holding the bag because they can’t sell to a developer who wants to tear the home down and rebuild.”

Lee thinks a balance will be found, both in the market and the neighbourhood. “It’s going to take some time for these property values to adjust, but the market will find its place.”

Eventually, developers and architects will get creative and will be able to deal with and operate within the framework of this designation, whether that’s infill or strata-title coach houses and suites, he says.

Copyright © 2015 Key Media Pty Ltd