June « 2004 « Les Twarog Vancouver Real Estate and Condo Blog

Archive for June, 2004

Ppty Transfer Tax charged only on original purchase price for new condos

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2004

Market values go up while buyers wait to move in, unfairly increasing transfer tax

Michael Kane
Sun

CREDIT: Peter Battistoni, Vancouver Sun

David Delusignan at the Aqua condo site. Current laws mean his transfer tax could soar by the time he moves in next year.

Finance Minister Gary Collins is offering a reprieve to buyers of pre-sold condos facing soaring property transfer tax bills.

Collins announced Tuesday legislation to apply transfer tax to the original purchase price of such strata units, rather than the market value when the units are registered with the Land Titles Office and ready for occupancy.

That’s welcome news to thousands of pre-sale buyers like David Delusignan, who bought “a hole in the ground” at Pacific and Seymour in Vancouver in June 2002 for $252,000.

His one-bedroom and den condo at Aqua at The Park is already valued around $350,000. If price trends hold his transfer tax could double under current rules by the time the home is ready in June, 2005.

“This announcement is great news,” said Delusignan, a sales manager. “I had the taxes all budgeted out when I bought, and I had no idea it could change by the time I moved in. I called my MLA and told him it was crazy and unfair.”

Collins acknowledged existing tax rules had “unintended consequences,” with many homebuyers required to pay significantly more property transfer tax than they expected when making their downpayment.

“This is especially hard on first-time homebuyers who, after saving enough of their hard-earned income to get into one of Canada‘s hottest real estate markets, receive a much bigger tax bill than anticipated.”

Extra property transfer tax bills of $4,000 and more were first reported in The Vancouver Sun in April.

“The way the system is now, people don’t know how much tax they will have to pay when they actually purchase their homes,” Collins said Tuesday. “This doesn’t make sense, it is not fair, and that is why we want to fix it.”

Buyers who have already paid the extra tax may be eligible for a refund under the new rules, Collins said.

That was welcomed as “thrilling news” by buyers like Sam and Randi Winter, who paid an an initial $11,600 in transfer tax, then were charged an extra $4,700 on their 1,500-sq.-ft. apartment at The Concord on False Creek.

“It is especially good news for the retired people who are on fixed incomes,” said Sam Winter, a dentist.

He said his luxury building also houses many “significant contributors” to the provincial Liberal party, “and they all said that they would deduct this property transfer tax increase from their contributions.

“The government also received a lot of letters from lawyers telling them they couldn’t get away with this.”

For buyers who have recently received an assessment notice, but have not yet paid the extra tax, Collins said the government will not pursue collection until the legislature has had a chance to consider the proposed changes in the fall.

“If the changes are passed, the assessment will be reconsidered under the new rules,” Collins said.

Houtan Rafii bought a two-bedroom unit at the Domus building on Homer about two-and-a-half years ago for $300,000 and moved in last November. His property transfer tax reassessment is pending on a value today that is more than $400,000.

Rafii, who works in real estate development, said the reprieve will not only help him as a homeowner but also “help to keep the market happy and healthy. We have gotten a lot of feedback from our purchasers saying this is an unfair law.”

Collins said the proposed legislation will be retroactive to Dec. 31, 2002, which the government believes will capture every buyer hit with significant tax increases. It will not apply to single-family dwellings, which generally are not sold on a sufficiently long pre-sale basis to generate a tax reassessment.

“We haven’t found a problem with single-family dwellings,” Collins said. “If it arises, we will review it in the same light.”

Nor will the legislation raise property transfer tax exemption thresholds for first-time buyers that have failed to keep pace with rising property values, resulting in a revenue windfall for the government.

The tax, which is charged at one per cent of the first $200,000 of property value and two per cent on the balance, generated about $520 million in the last fiscal year. That compares with $242 million in 1999-2000.

Subject to several conditions, first-time buyers can escape the tax if their unit is worth $275,000 or less in the Lower Mainland and Victoria, and $225,000 elsewhere in B.C.

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Real estate not always a great investment, new survey says

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004

In past 10 years, other cities have fared better than Vancouver

Sun

CREDIT: Graphic: Vancouver Sun; Source: Century 21 VANCOUVER: POINT OF LOW RETURN: A new survey by Century 21 Canada shows that a highly indebted Greater Vancouver homeowner might have actually lost money on his or her property investment in the last 10 years. The same highly indebted homeowner might have made money in Greater Vancouver in the last five years, but he or she would have fared better in any other major Canadian market in terms of percentage return on investment.

The way the housing market is going these days, homeowners in Greater Vancouver are feeling pretty good about their investments right now.

But if you take a look at the 10-year return the way you might look at a mutual fund’s performance, a home in the city has been a pretty lousy investment.

In fact, if you bought a home in Vancouver 10 years ago with $20,000 down, chances are you would have actually lost money — an average of 13 per cent — after paying all the interest on your mortgage, according to a survey released Monday by Century 21 Canada.

Even if you bought the home outright, the positive 60-per-cent return was the lowest of all 20 Canadian cities Century 21 surveyed, and less than half the 131 per cent you would have made investing the same amount of money in the Toronto Stock Exchange composite index instead.

The smart money was in smaller centres — would you believe Halifax-Dartmouth? With a $20,000 downpayment, someone who bought there in 1994 would have increased their equity 436 per cent. Or a homebuyer could have made 431 per cent on their investment in Peterborough, Ont.

The secret to investing in real estate is timing, especially when doing so with the bank’s money, explained Century 21 president Don Lawby. In 1994, Vancouver home prices were high, and falling in real terms (adjusted for inflation) off their 1989 peak. In most of Canada they were already beginning to turn around.

“The Vancouver market only started to turn four years ago,” he said. And later still in the rest of B.C.

As a result, a house or condominium in the city performed better as an investment over the past five years, with a 50-per-cent return for a buyer putting $20,000 down, or 49 per cent for someone paying cash up front.

A buyer in the Okanagan Mainline real estate district (which includes Kelowna and Vernon) would have done better still, earning a 203-per-cent return on $20,000 invested, or 71 per cent on the full value of the house over five years.

Of the big cities, Ottawa was the place to be, with an average 512-per-cent return on equity since 1999, and 287 per cent since 1994 for those carrying a mortgage.

While most real estate surveys look only at the change in average home prices, Century 21 decided to factor in the cost of financing because “that’s how most people invest in real estate,” Lawby said.

“People gather as big a downpayment as they can, and then they buy a house, leveraging their investment by borrowing money from the bank. So, when they sell the house, they don’t just earn a return on their downpayment; they earn a return on the full sale price of the house.”

The Richmond-based real estate company examined the growth of $20,000 invested in an average home as a downpayment, subtracting mortgage payments at prevailing five-year rates and adding in “imputed rent” (what the buyer would otherwise have to pay for a two-bedroom apartment in the same market) over the course of the five- and 10-year periods. Then it figured what would be left over if you sold the home today and paid off the remaining mortgage principal.

Vancouver was the only place where there was less than $20,000 left over at the end of 10 years.

In the low-interest-rate environment of the past few years, carrying a big mortgage could serve to increase the return on your original investment — the downpayment — faster than owning a home outright. But leveraging can work against homeowners when interest rates rise or when home prices decline. That was the situation for heavily indebted Vancouver homeowners in the mid-1990s.

The good news is that means the Greater Vancouver home prices have probably yet to reach their peak, Lawby said.

“I think there’s an upside” to buying a home in the city now, he said. Although long-term mortgage rates have begun to rise again, rates are still close to historical lows and the economy is growing. The conditions that led to a market bust in 1989 — speculative buying by investors, the onset of recession and the Bank of Canada’s raising the overnight rate three-quarters of a percentage point in one go — are nowhere in sight.

Lawby says home prices in B.C. will continue to rise for “at least the balance of this year.” The big question mark for 2005 is a provincial election, he said.

The time to reconsider carrying a big mortgage is when interest rates are rising fast or when you start hearing bad things about the economy.

“People start talking about recessions a lot sooner than governments come out with the numbers,” he said.

Prospective buyers should also understand that there is no such thing as an average home. Homes will appreciate differently depending on the neighbourhood, age and condition, and the supply and demand for a particular kind of property.

Lawby conceded he did not do particularly well buying a White Rock condominium, which turned out to have leaks.

“Other than that, I would have done okay,” he jokes.

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High Life in Coal Harbour – The Melville

Sunday, June 20th, 2004

The Melville will be the tallest residential tower in Vancouver

Jeani Read
Province

CREDIT: Jon Murray, The Province

Smart undermount sinks in the bathrooms (left) and the stylish, spacious bedroom.

CREDIT: Jon Murray, The Province

Smart undermount sinks in the bathrooms (left) and the stylish, spacious bedroom.

CREDIT: Jon Murray, The Province

This nice flex room has been outfitted as a study but could just as easily be used for storage.

CREDIT: Jon Murray, The Province
The European-style elegance of the dining area could also house more traditional decor tastes.

Coal Harbour is arguably the most upscale, definitely the most up-market area of the Vancouver core, which is going some.

Yowch! This place is hot. Where Yaletown and the West End, of course, have their champions — and many might prefer the slightly more laid-back ambience there — it’s hard to contest the advantages of a spot so urban and yet so close to park and harbour as well as shopping and business. The Melville, which will be the tallest residential tower in Vancouver, has been selling briskly for more than two months. It’s at Melville and Bute, the edge of Coal Harbour and the heart of the city: as they say, downtown!

Here, you’ll be steps (and a high-speed elevator ride) from the new Urban Fare or Robson Public Market, close to theatres and concert halls and tons of restaurants and cafes, and be able to cruise out to all our harbourfronts and seawall spots as well. For an extra, super-luxury touch, take advantage of hotel-style living, with room service and maid service available through the adjoining boutique hotel. Meantime, the rooftop is planned to be a gorgeous amenities area that includes outdoor pool and hot tub, fitness centre and attractive gardens.

The condominiums are conceived so that the higher you go, the “haute-r” your world. It begins with the Copper series levels to the 18th floor, moves up to the Signature series from the 19th to the 33rd floor (at this point the eight-foot ceilings become nine-foot) and then the Elite series from the 34th to 40th floors, where the homes are larger (four per floor), air-conditioned and all have been upgraded with complementary hardwood flooring.

There are three different takes on the interior finishes and colour schemes, a “west-coast modern” mix of warm sophistication, a lighter, paler minimalist palette and one that has a rich, European-style elegance that could easily house more traditional decor tastes — the three display suites give a good idea of the variety on hand. Granite counters and either stainless or black KitchenAid appliances are standard, as are full-height cabinets, smart undermount sinks in the bathrooms, big soaker tubs and glassed-in shower stalls. Trendy electric fireplaces are standard, and all homes have open-air balconies, while many plans include a “den” that is actually a glassed-in solarium-style deck, usable as an eating nook or comfortable view perch instead.

The floor plans are unique and imaginative — our favourite was the smaller two-bedroom which has lots of contemporary lifestyle potential. It has an open-plan kitchen and entertaining area, nice flex room that can be storage or study, privately sequestered master bedroom with big walk-through closet and ensuite, nice design details such as wall cut-outs between kitchen and hall to the second bedroom.

Storage locker, bicycle storage and one parking stall per unit is included. Occupancy is slated for year-end 2006.

WHAT: The Melville is 232 condominiums in a 42-storey tower

WHERE: 1167 Melville, Vancouver

DEVELOPED BY: Amacon

SIZES: Two-bedroom plus den to three-bedroom,

1,057 sq.ft. – 1,690 sq.ft.

PRICES: $434,900 – $905,900 ($5.4 million/5,800 sq.ft. penthouse)

OPEN: Daily noon to 6 p.m. except Fridays, 1139 Melville, 604-685-0838

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Economic optimism in BC is ‘stunning’

Sunday, June 20th, 2004

Brian Lewis
Province

A majority of British Columbians now say that the province’s economy is “good” or “very good,” according to new survey numbers that pollster Ipsos-Reid describes as “stunning.”

In fact, the six-in-10 B.C. respondents, or 58 per cent, who expressed new optimism over the province’s economy is the highest percentage measured by Ipsos-Reid over many polls over the past seven years.

“When I first got the numbers back I had to make sure they were correct — it was that big of a surprise,” says Kyle Braid, Ipsos-Reid’s Vancouver-based vice-president.

“It’s not only a major turnaround, but it’s a turnaround in a very short period of time,” he added.

In the last poll eight months ago, only 36 per cent described the B.C. economy as “good” or “very good.”

Braid said the sudden increase in optimism reflects the turnaround in B.C.’s economy.

For example, just before Friday’s release of the Ipsos-Reid poll, a housing outlook report by Credit Union Central of B.C. said that the province’s housing market is forecast to post further gains and won’t reach its peak until after 2005.

“A market peak is not yet in sight and unless mortgage rates rise substantially more than expected, a stronger economy and higher population growth will boost demand and keep the current upswing alive,” said Helmut Pastrick, Central’s chief economist.

The Central report supported the Ipsos-Reid poll finding that an increasing number of British Columbians are becoming more upbeat about the economy — thus making major purchases such as housing.

The poll also found that Lower Mainland residents are more likely the other B.C. residents to rate the B.C. economy as “good” or “very good” (62 per cent versus 54 per cent).

And it said that men (64 per cent) are more positive about the economy than women (53 per cent).

It also found that residents of non-union households (63 per cent) are more positive than residents of union households (48 per cent).

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Developer returns, with God’s help

Saturday, June 19th, 2004

Former Concord Pacific executive Henry Man is selling condos again

Sun

Henry Man plans to launch a 185-unit, $50-million building called Freesia at Seymour and Helmcken. Ending his retirement was pre-ordained, he says. Real estate executive Henry Man, once the overseer of billions of dollars worth of residential development in Vancouver and Toronto, has re-invented himself.

Man, who resigned “for family reasons” from his high-pressured position with Concord Pacific Group two years ago at age 42, has ended his brief retirement to form his own Vancouver-based property development firm.

Called Magellen Developments (20/20) Inc., Man plans to contribute 20 per cent of his annual profits to local charities, while earmarking another 20 per cent for an employee profit-sharing program.

“I’m not greedy, I’ve made enough money,” Man said in an interview Wednesday. “I want to leave some of it on the table.”

His private company is set to launch its first downtown condominium project, a $50-million, 18-storey, 132,000-square-foot 185-unit concrete building — called Freesia — at Seymour and Helmcken.

Prices there are to average about $400 per square foot, ranging from $198,000 for a 575-square-foot one-bedroom unit, to $780,000 for the three-bedroom 1,650-square-foot penthouse.

It’s a far cry from his days with Concord, whose latest luxury waterfront condo towers along the north side of False Creek — part of its $3-billion “master-plan” development — are now fetching $800 to $1,000 a square foot.

New condos in what is known as “Downtown South,” where Freesia is located, are currently selling at prices averaging $420 to $440 per square foot.

Man anticipates being able to keep his prices lower because of the floor plans designed to achieve “97.35 per cent” efficiency, so that very little space is wasted.

“This high efficiency will allow me to construct at a lower cost, so I can sell lower and still leave money on the table,” he said.

Other projects on Magellen’s drawing board include a residential building in Kerrisdale and another in Ocean Park, South Surrey.

Man joined Concord — the company originally founded by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing — in spring 1994, rising to executive vice-president and chief operating officer before quitting in October 2002.

A devout Catholic and family man, he and wife Patti were raising three young children — now ages eight, 10 and 12 — in Vancouver, while Man had to travel 12 to 15 times a year to Toronto, where he was spearheading Concord-Adex’s (an affiliated company’s) $2-billion CityPlace development near SkyDome.

In addition, he was required to fly to Hong Kong several times a year, forcing him to become an absentee father.

What really got him was the time he telephoned home and asked to speak to his son, Aaron, then six or seven, but he huffily refused to take the call.

“He said he had nothing to say to daddy,” Man recalled ruefully. “I had to reflect on what I wanted to do. I was never home, so I decided to resign so I could spend time with the family, coaching my son’s soccer team and attending the kids’ piano recitals and going to their school concerts and other events.”

After Concord, Man, who had graduated with an engineering degree from the University of B.C. in 1983, also volunteered to join the advisory committee for UBC’s dean of engineering.

(While working in the mid-1980s in the Albertan oil and gas industry as a field supervisor for British Petroleum, Man also obtained a master of business administration degree from the University of Calgary).

“From a career point of view, it was great working at Concord Pacific,” he said. “[Current owner and CEO] Terry Hui treated me well and gave me a lot of freedom. He’s a very creative person and constantly comes up with brilliant ideas.”

Following his departure from Concord, Man spent his time attending mass — “I only missed church once last year” — and was content to stay home, along with managing the personal portfolio of investment properties he had accumulated over the years.

Then Li’s son, Victor, who was previously president of Concord before returning to Hong Kong about 1994, offered Man an executive post with one of the Li family’s flagship companies if Man was willing to relocate.

He declined the offer for family reasons.

But Man’s fingers started itching, even if it wasn’t by design at first.

Early last year, over a “casual lunch” with a fellow church member — who turned out to be something of a land baron — Man agreed to provide the property owner with assistance in designing a condo building, along with working with architects and other consultants.

Gradually, Man grew more deeply involved in the proposed project.

“One thing lead to another and I wound up signing a contract to purchase the site in April,” he said. “I hadn’t planned on it.”

On reflection, Man said ending his brief retirement seems preordained.

“God had all this planned for me,” he said. “I certainly didn’t plan it myself. It was probably God’s way of saying, ‘you’ve got this tremendous amount of experience in the development area, so you should use them and take the rewards and share with others.’

“I go with God’s flow.”

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Living on the Edge: Soma Lofts

Saturday, June 19th, 2004

Michael Sasges
Sun

CREDIT: Stuart Davis, Vancouver Sun
A whole lot of storage in the kitchen is part of the SOMA attraction for buyers Shelley Mantei and Chris Huggins.

SOMA

Address: 2635 Prince Edward, Vancouver

Developer: Bogner Development

Architect: Rositch Hemphill and Associates

Interior design: False Creek Design Group

Size of project: Seven townhomes, 68 lofts (of which one-third are still available)

Price and size: A one-bedroom loft, 600 square feet, costs $189,900 ($316/sq.ft.) Townhomes start at $379,900, 1,200 square feet, two bedroom and den ($316/sq.ft.). Shelley Mantei and Chris Huggins paid $384,000 for their 900-square-foot, one-bedroom-plus-den ”with huge patio” ($426/sq.ft).

Rentable: Yes

Construction: Concrete, “rain-screen” technology

Warranty: St. Paul Guarantee 2-5-10

Presentation centre: 350 Kingsway (at 12th) and open daily from noon to 5 p.m.

Telephone: 604-879-4669

Website: www.somalofts.ca – and once there be sure to move the heater around the floor plans!

In her mind’s eye, Shelley Mantei can see the Sunday in Vancouver from which lifetime memories are created — she and future husband, Chris Huggins, snug in their SOMA loft thanks to one of the project’s options, a mobile electric fireplace.

“‘Chris thinks it’s a bit silly, but I had no doubt I would buy it — I am looking forward to rolling it into the bedroom on a rainy Sunday,” the 35-year-old marketing executive says of the fireplace.

SOMA is the latest invitation from a veteran Lower Mainland builder and developer, Leon Bogner, to make our homes in places and ways that might never occur to us until someone like him comes along and knocks on the door.

At 11th and Prince Edward, SOMA is a westside sensibility four blocks, officially, into the East End.

”When I was a kid, growing up here, Cambie was the eastern edge of the westside. Now it’s moved over, minimally, to Main,” says Bogner, a builder and developer for more than 30 years.

He attributes the crumbling of the city’s core east-west boundary to younger Vancouverites, native and newcomer, and the merchants and food-and-beverage purveyors who cater to them.

”What I’m finding is younger people, people my children’s age who are getting married and buying houses, think this whole area desirable now. Where in my youth this was not all that desirable. I find it very curious, this sort of evolution. We’re in a transition here,” Bogner says.

SOMA buyer Mantei, an Edmonton native and Vancouver resident for seven years now, may not share Bogner’s memories, but certainly shares his excitement about the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

”We chose SOMA because we wanted the loft lifestyle and all the creative-minded neighbours it attracts to form a community,” the marketing executive reports.

”At the same time we’re just as interested in the community developing outside of SOMA –on one side of SOMA will be Mount Pleasant’s new school, library and community centre, and on the other side are the boutique stores and cafes that make Main Street a growing shopping attraction. A community within a community.”

The new community centre city hall is planning will be located on the east side of Kingsway between Seventh and Eighth. At city hall, it’s called 1 Kingsway and will consist of the community centre, a library and rental housing owned by the city.

CREDIT: Victor Bonderoff, Vancouver Sun

Under the SOMA permit issued by city hall, Bogner is making a small contribution to the project: The sidewalk on the Prince Edward side of SOMA will be part of an expanded “Mount Pleasant Wellness Walkway” that will connect Mount St. Joseph‘s Hospital and 1 Kingsway.

The sidewalk will be wider than usual, its benches will have only one arm to make them accessible to wheelchair users, and the plants will be fragrant identifiers of location for the sight-impaired.

History, his and the city’s, and geography, the project’s and the city’s, have guided Bogner’s efforts at SOMA.

”When we took a look at this area, we decided we had to come up with a building that was edgy and trendy. We think this is an edgy area.

”So we thought, let’s go with a newer, refined version of a loft. Instead of being two-storey, we’ll do larger, open spaces.”

Bogner has built lofts before. Perhaps his most famous foray into “edgy” territory are the New Yorker lofts he developed in Yaletown, in his memory the first loft-conversion in the warehouse district. The New Yorker is one of the inspiration for SOMA, he says. The live-work studios down the Mount Pleasant slope (and to the north) are another. “They’re a simplified version of what we’re doing, rougher, not as refined.

”To zero in on something that reflects what people think when they think lofts,” Bogner has thought expansively, and included high ceilings and big windows and appropriately scaled cabinetry.

Walls in all the residences but those on the top storey are 10 feet floor to ceiling. On the top storey, the penthouse residences feature sleeping lofts and, as a result, some walls that are 18 feet floor to ceiling.

“What I thought would be very important, because a lot of our weather is dull and grey, are huge windows . . . almost 10 feet tall and, in some places, 20 feet wide, virtually a window-wall.

“If you take a look at a conventional condominium, you’re going to see a patio door or maybe a patio door and a smaller window, that generally provides light into perhaps a bedroom. Here, on the other hand, the windows are massive.”

No more than a parking lot when Bogner bought it, the SOMA site is about 46 metres up the Mount Pleasant slope from False Creek and rises about two metres between its northern and southern boundaries, between the lane that parallels East Eleventh and East Eleventh itself.

Owners’ views to the north and west, accordingly, will be consistently stunning, grey day, blue day, bad day, good day, wet day, dry day. The fifth-storey loft Shelley Mantei and Chris Huggins bought looks north and their patio north and west.

Ambitious floor-to-ceiling cabinetry in the kitchen display also impressed Mantei. “Most lofts are big on being airy and open — but short on storage space,” she says. “These roomy cabinets are a definite solution to having one without compromising the other.

“However, being on the shorter side I’ll be fully utilizing a step-ladder or calling for Chris’s help — well worth it.”

She may not need to buy a ladder. Bogner promises “something cute, which we haven’t disclosed” to assist owners to reach their top cabinets. “People are always looking for storage, especially people living in a condominium.”

And, if Leon Bogner promises “something cute,” it will be. The mobile electric fireplace that Mantei and Huggins bought is already warming the project’s presentation centre.

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Virtu good for shoppers, theatre-goers

Saturday, June 19th, 2004

South Granville tower ready for occupancy in spring ’06

Sun

CREDIT: Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
Virtu

CREDIT: Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
(Kitchen)

VIRTU

Address: 1650 West Seventh, Vancouver

Developer: Amacon

Architect: Larry Doyle Architects

Size of project: 63 residences in an 11-storey tower

Price and size: 525 square

feet for $239,900 ($457/sq.ft.) to 1,276 square feet

for $649,900

($509/sq.ft.)

Strata fees: $156 to $431

Rentable: Yes

Construction: Concrete

Warranty: St. Paul‘s Guarantee 2/5/10 Telephone: 604-731-7779

Website: www.virtu.ca

Presentation centre: 1775 West Second

Easy access to the amenity-rich South Granville shopping and entertainment district is one of the attractions of the 63-residence Virtu development, above and above right.

The development is located on West Seventh between Fir and Pine streets, Vancouver.

A short walk to the south is the Stanley Theatre; to the west, Fifth Avenue Cinemas; to the north, Granville Island; and to the east, Gallery Row.

Now just an empty lot, the site will see the concrete and glass 11-storey tower ready for occupancy in the spring of 2006.

On offer are one-bedroom units starting from 525 square feet; one-bedroom-and-dens from 690 square feet; two-bedrooms starting from 1,020 square feet; six townhomes starting from 1,039 square feet; and three penthouses starting from 1,145 square feet.

The project will include a private fitness facility, a space called The Studio for residents to create their own art works, and an area called The Lounge, which is located off a central courtyard for such things as entertaining large groups.

The developer, Amacon, is a family-owned company with over four decades of development experience. Its projects include The Melville, a tower located in Coal Harbour; 501, a downtown Vancouver tower; Liberta, 54 duplexes and townhomes on the University of B.C. endowment lands; Perla, twin towers in Richmond; and Brava, a two-tower project in Yaletown.

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Developer returns, with God’s Help – Freesia

Saturday, June 19th, 2004

Former Concord Pacific executive Henry Man is selling condos again

Wyng Chow
Sun

CREDIT: Vancouver Sun

Henry Man plans to launch a 185-unit, $50-million building called Freesia at Seymour and Helmcken. Ending his retirement was pre-ordained, he says.

Real estate executive Henry Man, once the overseer of billions of dollars worth of residential development in Vancouver and Toronto, has re-invented himself.