A two acre property in Richmond’s City Centre area has sold for $24,550,000. The site, at 7100 Elmbridge Way, is currently occupied by industrial buildings, but is designated within the City of Richmond’s City Centre Area Plan for Urban Core T6 in the Landsdowne Village sub-area. This designation allows for redevelopment for mixed-use including residential up to 2.0 FAR.

The buyer was Xpec Development. Xpec has other projects on the go in Vancouver including sites on Fraser Street and Oak Street.

Concord Pacific is moving forward with plans for 89 Nelson Street, a 51,381 SF site at the foot of the Cambie Street bridge, across the street from their 435-unit “One Pacific” project, currently under construction.  As part of the rezoning approval last year, they are required to obtain approval of a preliminary development permit.  Francl Architecture designed the project, which has an interesting design. The proposal includes:

• a 29-storey mixed-use building containing commercial use on the ground floor
• 588 residential units
• overall height of approximately 287.8 feet  for the north portion and 275 feet  for the south portion; and
• four levels of underground parking, containing 520 parking spaces with vehicle access from Expo Boulevard.

An existing C-2 zoned strip retail building at the corner of Oak Street and Laurier Avenue (one block North of King Edward) is proposed for redevelopment to allow a 4-storey building with retail uses on the ground floor and 11 residential units above, all over two levels of underground parking. Details for this 12,819 SF site include:

• Total density of 29,100 SF or 2.27 FSR (less than 2.5 max due to site restrictions)
• Top floor has two 2,000 SF units targeting downsizers
• Each unit gets two parking stalls
• Concrete construction with high quality interior and exterior finishes

The site was acquired by Xpec Oak Holdings Ltd. in 2014 for $7,900,000, or $271 per buildable SF based on the proposed density.

A rare 2.34 acre piece of land located at Oak Street and West 18th Avenue has sold to Wesgroup Properties for $46,200,000. The property, which contains frontage on both West 18th and most of West 19th from Laurel Street to Oak Street,  is currently zoned RT-2 and is improved with 17 low-density rental apartment duplexes built in the 1950’s.

The site had been speculated for future redevelopment for some time and was only recently identified by the City as a potential rezoning location under the Cambie Corridor Phase 3 planning review given it’s current 0.75 FSR zoning and its proximity to transit. The scope or timing of a potential rezoning application remains to be seen.

Smart REIT (formerly Calloway REIT) has acquired Haney Place Mall, one of Maple Ridge’s largest enclosed shopping centres, for $57,600,000. The mall is 190,000 SF and is located in the town centre area of Maple Ridge. It was originally built in 1981 and renovated in 1993. Anchors include Thrifty Foods and a soon to be opened Walmart in the now vacant Target space. Rexall is one of the more recent tenants. The seller was Vancouver based Narland Properties.

Further detail regarding the sale can be found in this Maple Ridge News article.