A West Vancouver waterfront home has sold for $17 million — the highest price ever paid for a residential property in B.C.

The five-bedroom house, at 3330 Radcliffe Ave., took only three days to sell after it hit the market with an asking price of $18 million.

However, the identity of the purchaser remains a mystery, amid real estate industry rumours the new owner could be someone like entertainer Justin Timberlake or rock star Bryan Adams, who has a house nearby on Mathers Avenue. One person who does know is realtor Malcolm Hasman, who represented both the vendor and purchaser in the sale, but he isn’t talking.

Allan Angell, co-owner of Angell Hasman & Associates, said Thursday Hasman is bound by a confidentiality agreement to keep mum.

“I have no idea who bought the property,” Angell said. “Everybody’s speculating, but Malcolm can’t even tell his own partner.”

Hasman — who bills himself as the “realtor to the stars” — has previously sold homes to such celebrities as Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

The 3 1/2-year-old Radcliffe house was put on the Multiple Listing Service on June 16 and sold June 19, when an all-cash, no-subject offer was accepted. However, when The Vancouver Sun first inquired about the listing on June 23, Hasman did not return calls, while Angell said he was told by Hasman that no offer had been made up to that point.

On his website, Hasman described the view property as being situated on almost one acre on a private, cul-de-sac setting, with about 200 feet of natural shoreline, offering approximately 11,000 square feet of “world-class” living space.

Designed and built by Russell Hollingsworth, the fully-gated and secured residence makes extensive use of concrete, giant timbers, stone and glass, with an open spacious floor plan, featuring Italian limestone floors, high ceilings and walls of floor-to-ceiling glass.

There are five full bedroom suites and maids’ quarters, a media room, office and wine cellar. Other amenities include an outdoor pool with waterfall, boat house and ramp and four-car garage.

Previously, the most expensive property ever to change hands in B.C. on the MLS was a Whistler estate home on a 4.8-acre lakefront site that sold in December 2001 for about $9.346 million.

The priciest home ever sold in Vancouver was a six-bedroom Shaughnessy mansion that fetched $8.3 million.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

CREDIT: Les Bazso, The Province Squamish natives arrive at Portside Park in support of Millennium proposal.

The war canoe arrived, the drums rolled and the battle to rebuild the old Woodward’s sitebegan.

Yesterday was the deadline for proposals and three developers are now in the running to redevelop the former department store.

One of the bidders, the Millennium Group, symbolically wrapped its proposal in an old Woodward’s box and bag. Members of the Squamish First Nation paddled from West Vancouver to Portside Park in Vancouver with the proposal, then ceremonially delivered it to City Hall.

The $100-million redevelopment includes social and low-cost housing, retail and community space — and possibly a Simon Fraser University arts campus.

Millennium has enlisted numerous community groups — for natives, the elderly and disabled — in support of its proposal.

All proposal details will remain under wraps until they’re unveiled on July 9 at the Woodward’s site.

The Westbank Group says it has the Portland Hotel Society as part of its support network.

“[The proposal] is green. It’s inclusive of the community,” said Westbank spokesman Damon Chan. “We have tried to preserve as much as we can of the heritage.”

Paul Williams of the Concert Properties/Holborn Group was dotting the i‘s on what he called “an absolutely spectacular” proposal.

“It’s going to blow your socks off,” he said. “To lobby in advance is not what the city wants us to do.”

City staff will recommend one of the proposals to city council on July 20. Area residents will then be able to comment at open houses and meetings.

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THE SHORTLIST

– Concert Properties/Holborn Group: Powerhouse alliance of two giant Vancouver developers. Pension-funded Concert worked on the Arbutus condos and has been hired to redo the downtown YMCA. Holborn has real estate in Vancouver and Whistler valued at $250 million.

– Millennium Properties: Building condos on the University of B.C. Endowment Lands and at Simon Fraser University. Has built a seven-tower complex in Burnaby, as well as apartments in West Vancouver.

– Westbank Projects/Peterson Investment: Westbank is building the 42-storey Shaw Tower at Coal Harbour. It was behind the Palisades highrises in the West End and has a 57-floor highrise planned for Georgia and Thurlow.

Ran with fact box “The Shortlist”, which has been appended to the story.

© The Vancouver Province 2004

VANCOUVER – Three proposals for re-developing the former Woodward’s department store were delivered to Vancouver city hall before a Wednesday afternoon deadline, including one proposal that aboriginals carried across Burrard Inlet in a war canoe.

The competing proposals for the West Hastings landmark are still not public, because of a confidentiality agreement. The developers’ architectural models and other details are to be released July 9 during a ceremony at city hall.

But that didn’t stop one of the proponents from seeking publicity. The proposal by Millennium Properties was carried in a native war canoe from West Vancouver to Portside Park in Vancouver in a “vintage Woodward’s box.”

This October, after a series of workshops, meetings and reports, council is to select the company that will develop the old brick building. Other proponents are Westbank Properties and a coalition of two developers, Concert Properties and the Holborn Group.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

When Korean immigrant Hye Jin Kyung moved to Coquitlam from Toronto last fall, she couldn’t bring herself to buy a home.

Certain that what goes up must come down, she decided to wait and watch. But prices defied gravity.

“I watched the market for a few months and I bought it in April,” she said. “I wanted the market to slow down, but it never did.”

Kyung and her family follow a rising migration trend that is expected to fuel the hottest housing market in Canada until at least the end of next year.

The improving economy is a magnet for migrants and can only help maintain the strong market, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

According to B.C. Stats, the province gained 7,417 people as a result of immigration and interprovincial migration in the first quarter of 2004, up 23 per cent over the first quarter of 2003.

After Ontario, B.C. remains the most popular destination for immigrants, with the bulk hailing from Asia, particularly China and India.

Young Jeon, a realtor with the Sutton Group who specializes in the Tri-Cities, said his clientele is now split 50-50 between locals and new immigrants.

The average B.C. home is forecast to cost $288,000 this year compared with $259,968 last year. By 2005, the average B.C. home is expected to reach $305,000.

© The Vancouver Province 2004