Apple is reportedly planning on taking over two storeys of a tower at 400 West Georgia

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

Slated for completion by 2020, the building would see the latest in a spate of tech giants taking roost in major Canadian cities.

The phenomenon has intensified over the past few years, not the least because of strong anti-immigrant sentiment south of the border.

“Lately, Canada has been seen as more attractive by some in the tech sector because of political issues in the United States,” NEWS 1130 business editor Richard Dettman explained.

“Canada has looser immigration laws that the United States and so it’s easier if you’re a tech talent person from another country to get into Canada.”

Another major player that is expected to move to Vancouver is Amazon, which has acquired the old Canada Post building – in fact, at very close proximity to the expected Apple office.

The structure is currently being revamped into The Post, a mixed-use building that will play host to the e-commerce leader’s largest office in Vancouver. Renovation is expected to be completed by 2023.

With the launch of the much larger office, Amazon is predicted to boost its employment in Vancouver from the current 1,000+ technical specialists to approximately 5,000 employees.

“We don’t want to be someone who just takes,” Amazon Web Services Canada director Eric Gales said in an interview with the Georgia Straight earlier this year. “We want to contribute back to continuing to develop Vancouver as a great technology hub.”

Copyright © 2019 Key Media

What are the rules for Airbnb?

Mark Weisleder
REM

What are the rules for Airbnb?

Every city will set its own rules for renting out all or part of a property on Airbnb or other short-term rental websites. In Toronto, for example, it is expected that only a principal residence will be able to be used for Airbnb. You can either rent out up to three of your bedrooms, or you can rent out the entire home, up to 180 days per year. You will also have to pay $50 to register the unit with the city and charge a four-per-cent tax.

Are guests considered tenants under the Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario?

This is not a simple answer. If you are living in a home or condominium and you just rent out rooms to guests on Airbnb, they are not tenants and can be treated as a guest and must leave when you ask them to leave. You do not have to use the Ontario Standard Form Lease. However, if they are renting your entire home, even for a few days, an argument can be made that they are in fact tenants and you need to sign the Ontario Standard Form Lease, which will govern the relationship. It will make no difference if this is a furnished apartment or not.

Can you evict a tenant to turn the unit into an Airbnb?

The likely answer to this is no in Ontario. While an eviction is possible if you are converting the unit to a commercial use, it is not permitted when the business will be for Airbnb. It will also likely not be possible to evict someone using the personal use family reason and then trying to rent all or part of the home on Airbnb before one year after the eviction. This could lead to penalties under the act.

Can you evict a tenant who is renting your unit on Airbnb without permission?

The answer is likely yes. This would be considered either an illegal sublet if no permission was granted in advance and a violation of the act, in that the tenant would be subletting for more money than they are paying in rent. However, the landlord would have to start eviction proceedings regarding any sublet within 60 days of finding out.

Will insurance cover any damage caused by guests?

Airbnb and similar sites offer insurance coverage, but it is recommended that you also inform your own insurance company if you are planning to rent it out, since the risk of damage will increase. For example, if the guest and owner privately agree to extend their stay without going through the short-term website, the website insurance policy will likely deny any claim. Further, if damage occurs that was not caused by the guest, the owner’s insurance claim to their own company will likely be denied if they were not advised about the new use of the property.

© 2019 REM Real Estate Magazine

High-profile real-estate legal battle may not be over

Chuck Chiang
Western Investor

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has sided with site owner Oei Hong Leong in a lengthy legal battle between the Singapore-based magnate and Vancouver development giant Concord Pacific Group over the Plaza of Nations site.

In a judgement released on July 19, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Voith dismissed Concord Pacific’s claim that Oei and his company violated an agreement on how to develop the site and acted in bad faith. Voith awarded Oei the costs of the legal proceedings in the case.

Concord Pacific attorney J. Kenneth McEwan said in an e-mail that the developer is considering an appeal. Oei could not be reached for comment as of July 22.

The case is one of the highest-profile real-estate disputes in downtown Vancouver in recent years, pitting two significantly wealth entities at odds with one another over one of the most precious developmental land in the city. The Plaza of Nations was purchased by Oei in 1989 for $40 million, and the magnate had stated in recent years his desire to develop the location.

Concord was in discussion with Oei at one point for a $500 million redevelopment for the site, but negotiations on the details of the deal broke down after an initial “heads of agreement” reached in 2015. 

When issues of payment from Concord Pacific and working with other developers for Oei arose, both sides took legal actions against one another, with Oei suing Concord Pacific in Singapore court and the Vancouver-based developer returning the favour in B.C., both in 2015.

In the B.C. lawsuit, Concord Pacific argued that the “heads of agreement” deal is a binding contract that Oei violated. McEwan said that, despite the decision, Concord Pacific notes that “the court accepted that both parties intended to enter and believed that they had entered into a binding contract” and that “if there had been a binding contract, the defendants breached it.”

But Voith said in his judgement that one of the key deciding factors was the fact that the “heads” agreement was not an enforceable deal.

“Concord argues that the parties entered into a ‘binding contract to negotiate the share transfer and other terms of the proposed development,’” the judgement read. “That proposition is generally regarded as inimical to the nature of a contract… ‘Agreements to agree’ lack certainty and do not give rise to contractual obligations.”

Copyright © Western Investor

Benchmark interest rate for stress test lowered

Canadian Real Estate Wealth

A key Canadian interest rate used by lenders to determine who can qualify for a mortgage has dropped for the first time in almost three years, potentially giving the country’s housing market a near-term boost.

The Bank of Canada lowered its 5-year conventional mortgage rate on Wednesday to 5.19%, from 5.34%, where it had been since May 2018. It’s the first decrease since August 2016. The rate is an indicative measure based on average price quotes from financial institutions.

Lenders must use the benchmark, which is usually higher than the contract mortgage rate, to determine who can qualify for a mortgage. Borrowers are required to prove they can afford monthly payments at the benchmark rate or higher.

The so-called stress tests are part of tougher guidelines imposed by Canada’s banking regulator to ensure the quality of new loans after sharp price increases in some cities such as Toronto and Vancouver. The guidelines have come under fire for causing an outsized slowdown in the housing market.

The lower rate means someone who earns C$50,000 ($44,400) a year can afford to pay C$2,800 more for a home, assuming a 5% downpayment, according to Rob McLister, founder of RateSpy.com, a mortgage comparison website which first flagged the drop in the rate. With a 20% downpayment, someone earning C$100,000 a year can afford to pay C$8,300 more, he said.

“Will this buying power stimulus turn the housing market around?” McLister wrote on his blog. “Hardly. But it’s an incremental psychological boost for buyers that adds a modicum more support for home prices.” 

Copyright Bloomberg News

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd

A Richmond developer has pulled the plug on a 15-storey mixed use residential tower

Nono Shen & Alan Campbell
Western Investor

A Richmond developer has pulled the plug on a 15-storey mixed use residential tower in the city centre, leaving more than 100 pre-sale buyers in the lurch.

Andersons Square Holdings Ltd., run by former city council candidate Sunny Ho, notified its customers last week that it’s cancelling the pre-sale contracts for the Alfa development at Anderson Road and Buswell Street, with a full refund of deposits, plus interest.

It’s not clear why the contracts have been cancelled, but in last week’s notification to buyers, there is a reference to the developer being sued for $4.6 million by a construction company.

One of the buyers left hanging is Jeremy Hsu, who shelled out a $36,000 deposit in 2015 for a 650-square-foot, one-bedroom condo at Alfa, where construction began earlier this year.

Hsu and his wife, who live in Richmond, were planning to use the condo as an investment.

He has now rallied together a total of 25 pre-sale buyers on the Chinese-language social media platform WeChat and is considering launching a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation.

“My wife and I have been waiting for four years to close the house deal, but the message from the developer has left us saddened and frustrated,” Hsu told the Richmond News on Thursday.

“If we bought other condos back at that time, the home value would have already doubled.

“But the developer has suddenly terminated our contract and only refunded us the deposit and interest, which is unfair.”

Originally, Hsu, and the other 100 or so pre-sale buyers, expected to close the deal in the fall of 2018, but the developer postponed the date until September this year.

“The square-foot cost in 2015 was around $500 dollars, now the housing price in that area has increased to $1,000 per square foot,” said Hsu.

“We have (suspicions) that the developer might sell the land to another developer at a higher price, so they kicked us out by only paying us deposits and interest rates.”

If the developer is in some kind of financial difficulty, Hsu said he would rather wait it out, than lose out on his potential investment.

Another couple affected by the dead deal is a former Richmond resident, who moved to Calgary in 2012, but was planning to move back with her husband to her home city to retire.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said she paid a $40,000 deposit in 2015 for an 800-square-foot condo, which was set to cost around $490,000 at the time.

“We felt so upset that can’t return back to the community we love,” said the woman, who is also part of Hsu’s WeChat group.

The Richmond News made several attempts to get in touch with the Sunny Ho, who has yet to return our calls.

Ironically, last September, Ho helped form a Richmond-based organization which claimed to have a solution to the city’s housing affordability problem.

The Lower Mainland Affordable Housing Foundation, founded by Ho, announced it was seeking funding from BC Housing to create more affordable rental units in the Lower Mainland.

He also set up in 2017 the Richmond Business Association, where he is president, and twice ran unsuccessfully for city council in the 2018 and 2014 municipal elections.

The Alfa development was to be a 15-storey, mixed use residential tower, with 12,000 square feet of retail space at the ground level plus 111 condos.

In May of 2018, the News reported how Alfa was going to be built with geothermal energy — found beneath the Earth’s surface — as the main power source for its homes.

Copyright © Western Investor

Monument is intended to be an architectural statement: a contemporary aesthetic with a meaningful nod to West Coast design

Kathleen Freimond
The Vancouver Sun

As Epta principal Chris Tsakumis notes, that history provided the developer an opportunity to build a legacy project in the area.

“The Greek community is inextricably linked to the fabric of the neighbourhood; it makes this endeavour as a family business — as a Greek family — all the more special and poignant,” Tsakumis says, pointing out that the scarcity of land along the West Broadway core limits the opportunities to build infill projects.

“So when a project like this comes along you tend to jump on it. We’re very eager to execute something remarkable with Monument.”

The building is intended to be an architectural statement: a contemporary aesthetic with a meaningful nod to West Coast design. Yamamoto Architecture was tasked with designing a modern building, but using exterior elements that relate to the character of the neighbourhood.

“The exterior was a culmination of putting together those West Coast elements that you would traditionally see in a lot of Vancouver architecture: so the concrete, metal cladding, longboard and natural stone are all components of the building exterior, and then softening that up with landscape elements, including the communal rooftop area, which is partially a green roof,” Tsakumis says.

The building will be a concrete-hybrid – the ground-floor level is concrete and levels two to four are constructed using cross-laminated timber, or CLT.

“Locally, CLT is being celebrated as a more sustainable alternative to concrete with all the performance benefits that we’ve become accustomed to with concrete, as it relates to noise, seismic performance and energy rating,” he says.

The amenities for Monument’s residents are on the common rooftop where green thumbs can garden. There is also a sitting area where residents will be able to enjoy summer days, and a barbecue and dining area.

The building is designed for discerning buyers who are interested in a lock-and-leave home, says Tsakumis, citing its access to local shops and amenities and future rapid transit, all in a premium location.

“Kits is Vancouver’s most attractive urban village,” he says. “I believe that we’re going to attract a lot of people who are looking to ‘right size’ locally. And again, given the fact there’s such limited supply of product, new product in particular, in Kits, I think there’s also going to be those [people who are currently in] older apartment buildings in the neighbourhood who are looking to stay in the area but want the benefits of new [homes].”

The interior design reflects the focus on buyers who don’t want to compromise on features like high-end appliances just because they are moving to a smaller home.

 “They want the comforts that they’re accustomed to and that means delivering on an interior package that’s going to be consistent with the lifestyle that they currently have,” Tsakumis adds.

In the display kitchen at the sales centre at 2094 West 41st Avenue, the high-end Gaggenau appliances – including a five-burner gas cooktop, wall oven, speed oven, integrated refrigerator with bottom freezer and dishwasher – enhance the design with their clean lines.

The white cabinets have Shaker doors with a very fine rail to support the modern look and feel, while also including a gesture to the character homes in the area. The flat-panel doors in the island are a warm taupe-grey that pick up the grey veining in the marble-look sintered stone backsplash.

 “The sintered stone backsplash will perform so much better than a real marble,” says Allisa Karvonen, associate at Insight Design Group. “It doesn’t have to be sealed, will never discolour and does not scratch – great if you want the gorgeous look of stone without the headaches and maintenance.”

Karvonen also had function top of mind when she dedicated a cupboard in the island as a recycling centre to enable residents to fulfil Vancouver’s requirements to separate recyclables like compost, paper and glass.

In the ensuite bathroom at the sales centre, marble-look 12-by-24-inch porcelain tiles clad the wall and floor, while a recessed kick gives the impression of a floating double vanity, contributing to the spacious feel in the room which is also enhanced by the shower’s frameless glass enclosure. The pulls on the cabinets were custom designed to add a refined touch to the space, which also has a large linen cupboard. Main bathrooms will include a tub.

Most laundry rooms in Monument will include a side-by-side washer and dryer and a countertop for sorting and folding laundry, Karvonen says.

While the stone-look material choices and cabinetry will be consistent throughout the units, buyers can change the look of their condo by selecting either a light oak hardwood floor, or a darker, warmer oak hardwood floor, Karvonen says.

Each home includes a parking stall and buyers of the larger units can purchase a second parking stall.

“This is a very vibrant community, and it’s all right there at your doorstep. If you’re lucky enough to live in the Kits neighbourhood, it’s easy to see why people remain ensconced here. It’s hard to give up this lifestyle,” Tsakumis says.

MONUMENT

Project address: 2485 Larch St., Vancouver

Developer: Epta Development Corporation

Architect: Yamamoto Architecture Inc.

Interior design: Insight Design Group

Project size: 22 one-, two- and three-bedroom homes

Unit size: 895-1,510 square feet

Price: $1,199,900 — $2,599,900

Construction: Fall 2019

Sales centre: 2094 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver

Sales centre hours: noon – 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs or by appointment)

Phone: 604-336-9350

Website: monumentbyepta.com

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

Orchard Park takes a site next to green space, but close to shops and services

Simon Briault
The Province

A useful measure of the quality of a product is whether those selling it to would buy it themselves. That’s absolutely the case when it comes to homes built by StreetSide Developments, according to Jennifer Wilson, the company’s sales administration manager.

“We’ve had employees purchase homes at all our developments,” Wilson said. “That’s something that really tells you a lot about us as a company. I own and live in one of our homes. Our vice-president has also bought one in the past, our director of development and our construction managers, as well

StreetSide’s latest project is Orchard Park, an 80-unit townhome community in South Surrey, and once again, StreetSide employees are among the purchasers.

The Orchard Park homes are tucked in behind 26 Avenue, across the street from a row of single-family homes and right next to a park.

“It’s such an incredible location because even though you feel tucked away in a nice little enclave, you are so close to all those amenities at Morgan Crossing and Grandview Corners, as well as the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre,” Wilson said.

The location has been attracting a diverse range of buyers, according to Wilson.

“Typically, our buyers have been up-sizers or what we like to call equity builders,” she said. “Many of them are engaged, recently married or have young children and they want to move from their condo or small townhouse into something bigger and newer that they can build their equity on. We’re also seeing empty nesters and downsizers.”

Holly Harrison, marketing and sales coordinator at StreetSide Developments, said that the company’s commitment to building vibrant communities is another thing that sets it apart and has helped to attract buyers to Orchard Park in particular.

“For example, we include amenity buildings and community spaces in our projects and we build them close to local shopping areas, parks, restaurants, gyms and schools,” she said. “Orchard Park is a prime example.”

“The amenity building at Orchard Park will be three storeys with lounge spaces, a kitchenette, a games room and a rooftop patio with a barbecue and communal space,” Harrison added.

Homes have nine-foot ceilings on main and upper floors, powder rooms on the main floors and front-load washers and dryers. Kitchens include brushed nickel hardware and soft-close doors and drawers, polished quartz countertops and marble-style porcelain tile backsplashes. The stainless-steel appliance packages are by Blomberg, Faber and Panasonic.

“We have high-end appliances and luxury finishes throughout the homes,” Wilson said. “When you walk in, it’s that wow factor when you see how these homes are designed and the specifications we’ve used.”

Bathrooms have solid-slab thick polished quartz countertops, widespread double handle faucets and undermount sinks. There are oversized porcelain floor and wall tiles, two-piece elongated, dual flush toilets and soaker tubs in the main bathrooms. Ensuites feature frameless glass showers and porcelain tile surrounds, multifunction hand showers and his-and-hers raised counter sinks with wall-mounted faucets.

Orchard Park

What: 80 townhomes with two or three bedrooms

Where: 16650 25A Avenue, Surrey

Residence size and prices: 1,333 to 1,558 square feet; priced from the low $600,000s

Developer: StreetSide Developments

Sales centre: 16650 25A Avenue, Surrey

Sales centre hours: noon — 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Sales phone: 604-535-2221

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc

Presale condo-project sales rate hits new low

Joanne Lee-Young
The Province

The sales rate for presale condos hit a low of 14 per cent in June, with buyers signing sales contracts for only 73 out of the 519 units on the market in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

“It’s the lowest number for a long time,” said Suzana Goncalves, a partner at MLA Advisory, the research arm of real estate marketing company MLA Canada.

It’s a far cry from when the market was hot, when many projects sold contracts for 90 per cent or more of their units within a month or two of starting marketing.

Some developers, including established ones with deep pockets, say they are holding back on presale launches because they aren’t confident they can sell contracts for even 50 per cent of the units, which is the minimum needed to get bank financing for construction.

And that threshold is low, a level reserved for developers with a strong relationships with their financier and a track record. Most projects need to secure presale contracts and down payments for 75 to 80 per cent of the units to qualify for construction loans.

Presales have been dropping for the past year. But in recent months, even as developers have rolled out all kinds of incentives to spur sales, the drop has accelerated. In May 2019, the sales rate was 22 per cent with 120 out of 539 available units sold.

Between January and June of 2018, the sales rate for presale projects across Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley was 74 per cent. For that period in 2019, the rate was 36 per cent, according to MLA Advisory.

However, in Central Surrey, over 1,500 units were released in the first half of 2019 and about half of these, mostly concrete highrises near the SkyTrain station, were sold, making it the most active Metro market, MLA Advisory reported.

Goncalves said one has to go back to 2012 to find a sales rate as paltry as June’s 14 per cent.

“Now, success (for a project) is being able to sell out about 65 per cent of units over nine months,” said Goncalves. Developers have a window of nine months in which they must hit the sales rate required by their bank.

Some projects with cheaper, smaller units are faring better, said Goncalves.

For example, some projects involving wood frame condos and townhomes, which are less expensive to build than concrete ones, have an easier time hitting the targets required for financing, she said.

One reason for that success is that it’s easier to split such projects into several smaller phases, each sold and financed separately, rather than aiming for the required percentage in a single highrise of 300 units, especially in an area with many similar large projects.

“Sometimes it’s not about being a large developer with deep pockets,” said Goncalves.

“Brentwood is an example,” she said of the neighbourhood along the Millennium SkyTrain line in Burnaby. “It’s in a great location, but (the area) has had a lot of activity in recent years and there is still more activity to come.”

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

The City of Richmond Hill is in negotiations with Canadian digital currency platform Coinberry

Steve Randall
REP

The City of Richmond Hill is in negotiations with Canadian digital currency platform Coinberry about potentially accepting Bitcoin for property tax payments.

Earlier this month, the City Council voted in favor of entering into an agreement with Coinberry, to provide an option for property tax payment in Bitcoin for residents and businesses of the City of Richmond Hill.

It is the second agreement that Coinberry has reached with a Canadian municipality this year, the other was with Innisfil.

“We believe that the demand for a digital currency payment option is only going to grow in the coming years, especially amongst millennials”, said Richmond Hill Deputy Mayor Joe Di Paola who moved the motion. “Our Council was aware of Coinberry’s successful implementation of a digital currency payment service with the Town of Innisfil, and since there was no cost and no risk to the City of Richmond Hill to do the same, it made the decision that much easier for us.”

The new partnership also gives the City of Richmond Hill the opportunity to leverage Coinberry’s technology for other blockchain and digital currency payments and services.

“We are very happy to be entering into a partnership with our second Canadian Municipality,” said Andrei Poliakov, Coinberry CEO and Co-Founder. “Leaders of government and enterprise organizations are realizing that, with the right partners, they can innovate with blockchain and digital currencies. We’re pleased to be working on additional innovative solutions with leading enterprise and municipal partners, and have a number of very exciting initiatives we will be announcing over the next several months.”

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd