After months of speculation about a potential sale, Morguard has officially completed the sale of 1500 West Georgia Street to Bosa Properties (1500 Holdco) Inc. for a reported $120,500,000.

The 193,000 SF A Class office building sits on a very valuable and partially underutilized 43,320 SF, full-block site at the Southeast corner of West Georgia and Cardero and has been a landmark in Vancouver since it was built in the late 1970’s.

Any future redevelopment plans of the plaza area are not known at this time.

Aerial View of 1500 West Georgia

By ChangingCity

This ‘mystery’ application appeared on the Development Permit Board schedule a few weeks ago. 308 West Hastings today is a single storey former bank, alongside Victory Square. Here’s the render of the projects, intended to be “a new 6-storey mixed-use building containing commercial uses (ground floor), institutional uses (second floor), and residential rental units (third to sixth floors) under the Rental 100 Program”. The image shows it’s for Simon Fraser University, and there will be 52 rental units (aimed at post-graduate students) designed by Raymond Letkeman Architects.

…read more

Source: Changing City

Earls has sold its long-held property on Marine Drive to a development group led by Darwin Construction for $20,000,000. The 2.06 acre site is currently built out with the restaurant itself, which Earls has occupied since 1984, and surface parking. No word on redevelopment plans yet, though based on the purchase price, redevelopment is surely on the horizon.

Interestingly, the site straddles two municipalities, with one legal lot located in West Vancouver, and the other located in the District of North Vancouver. The lot on the North Vancouver side is designated for 1.75 FSR.

The site appears to have excellent development potential with recent rezoning approval for two residential towers with 262 units at the Grouse Inn site further down the block at Capilano Road.

With office space vacancies across Metro Vancouver increasing at the highest rate since 2005, building owners are developing innovative strategies to attract and retain office and commercial tenants.

Office vacancy rates have continued to climb this year, reaching 9.3 per cent in Metro Vancouver in the second quarter of 2014, the highest rate since 2005, according to a recent report by Colliers International.

A lack of demand from large, traditional industries that have largely opted not to renew leases, combined with a surge in the amount of new space coming on stream around the region, is to blame for the high rate of vacancy, according to the report, which also suggested many prospective tenants are waiting before inking major office deals.

Serracan, the developer behind the FiveTen building at the corner of Seymour and Pender in Vancouver, is trying a flexible approach. The 10-storey, 70,000-square-foot building is set to have its ground broken by early winter.

Owner Gino Nonni, who has 30 years of experience in the real estate industry, is well aware many of Vancouver’s commercial landlords are struggling to fill their buildings. With that in mind, he said, Serracan is offering tenants the chance to meet with the design team ahead of signing leases to discuss customizing their spaces. The building is slated to open for occupancy in spring 2016.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/commercial-real-estate/Commercial+real+estate+Developers/10091911/story.html?__lsa=f7bd-85ad