2013 was a relatively quiet year for multifamily sales. After some fairly large deals over the past few years, there were relatively few large deals this year, save for a pending portfolio of 5 buildings in the West End and North Vancouver that were marketed by CBRE.

Why so few large deals? Chalk it up to a lack of sellers and values that have reached unsustainable heights. Buyers continue to be well-established owners looking to slowly build their portfolios, or local and offshore private equity simply looking to place capital in safe locations.

Here are the top 5 apartment deals of 2013 (ranked by purchase price):

1. 1952 Comox Street – a building known as “The Breakers” sold to well known landlords Hollyburn Properties in August for $16,350,000. The 10-storey, 61 unit building was built 1964. The cap rate was reported to be 4.8%. This was an off-market deal.

2. 1929 West 3rd Avenue – This 53-unit Kits lowrise apartment was put on the market with the Goodmans in 2012 and sold in January of this year for $15,200,000; equating to a 3.8% cap rate and $286,000 per unit. The building was built in 1973 and contains 47 one-bedrooms and 6 two-bedrooms.

3. 1715 West 11th Avenue – Granville Villa, a 65-unit apartment building located at West 11th Avenue and Pine Street in the South Granville area of Vancouver sold in July for $14,867,000; equating to a 3.3% cap rate, and $228,000 per unit. The 3-storey building was built in 1973 and contains mostly one-bedrooms and bachelor units. The building had been listed for sale for $16,500,000. The buyer was local private equity.

4. 990 Bute Street – this 36-unit apartment building at the corner of Nelson and Bute was sold off-market to well-known apartment owner Belmont Properties in May 2013. The building had been fully renovated by the previous owner. The $13,000,000 purchase price represents a 4.1% cap rate and $360,000 per unit.

5. 30 East 11th Avenue – This 66-unit highrise was purchased by local investor Raymond Heung in August. The 10-storey concrete building was built in 1976 and was formerly owned by The Baptist Housing Society of B.C.

A public hearing on a residential towers proposal with arts amenities for South Surrey could take place as soon as Feb. 3, if the project passes first and second readings in January.

That’s the target date, according to Shawna Nickel, marketing director for Cotter Architects Inc., designer of the multi-purpose project proposed for co-developers the Reifel Cooke Group and the Surrey City Development Corporation.

The target date for first and second readings of the project is Jan. 13. If both readings are passed, the project would be able to proceed to public hearing on Feb. 3.

The two-tower proposal – which, in addition to around 328 residential units, would provide building shells for both a 350-seat theatre/performing arts centre and contemporary arts cafe and gallery – would be located at the corner of 152 Street and 19 Avenue.

Read more: http://www.peacearchnews.com/news/236475391.html

An application by Staburn Property Group for a site at 101-149 Lonsdale Avenue was moved forward at City of North Vancouver Council.

The rezoning application seeks to rezone the 101-149 Lonsdale Avenue lots from their existing LL-2 Lower Lonsdale zoning to a site-specific zone to permit a six-storey mixed-use building containing 69 residential units, 10,825 SF of commercial office space, and 12,589 SF of retail space at grade.

The application further proposes dedicating the “Beasley Block” (also known as the “McDowell Block”), at the south end of the site, as a Municipal Heritage Site. The project includes five non-market residential units proposed to be owned and operated by the Vancouver Resource Society. The development includes a mix of unit sizes and types, with three junior 1-bedroom units, 36 1-bedroom units, 27 2-bedroom units and three 3-bedroom units. The net density is 3.5 FAR.

The North Vancouver School District is making inroads with the disposition of its surplus lands.

At a public meeting on Nov. 26 the school board voted 5-2 in favour of selling long-shuttered Monteray elementary to Morningstar Homes for at least $6.38 million.

Morningstar, which specializes in building single-family homes, is now in the process of filing a development application with the District of North Vancouver for the decommissioned school property situated above Montroyal Boulevard.

Monteray school officially closed in June 2004. The building was then leased for several years, but has been vacant since the spring of 2011.

Board chair Franci Stratton said selling to Morningstar was the right decision for all concerned parties, including the Monteray school neighbourhood. “I think in terms of where it was located, this particular piece, the community was hoping it was something the board would approve,” said Stratton.

Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/235790881.html