The so-called International Trade Centre at Versante could bring 214,008 square feet of new commercial, hotel and office space to North Richmond, according to a report presented Tuesday at city hall.

Marketed as “Richmond’s next epicentre of business,” the proposed development consists of three towers—nine, 12 and 14 storeys—and a common five-storey podium. Included in the project is a 110-room hotel.

The proposal comes from Hotel Versante Ltd., which is seeking to rezone a 0.7-hectare (1.6-acre) triangular site at 8451 Bridgeport Rd. to build it. City council’s planning committee considered the project this week, 14 years after council approved a previous rezoning application that’s now being abandoned.

The site is located in Bridgeport Village, near the Airport Connector Bridge and next to Duck Island, where a multi-phase development of retail, entertainment, office, hotel and conference uses is in the early planning stages.

Read more: http://www.richmondreview.com/business/230718231.html

3108 Highland Boulevard, a 2-storey retail building in Edgemont Village has sold for $2,475,000. The building is at a prime corner in the village and is located on a 2,700 SF lot.

A single-storey retail building at 851-855 West Broadway has sold to a local private investor for $4,700,000, or approx. $800 per SF. The 5,800 SF building contains three retail units and over 5,000 SF of basement space.

The building was recently renovated and tenants include Cafe Artigiano and Uniform Central. A third space was being marketed for lease at $35.00 per SF net.

Sears Canada is closing its flagship location in Toronto’s Eaton Centre, as well as four other stores including Richmond Centre, in a move that will affect almost 1,000 employees.

The retailer says it’s selling the leases on five department stores, in a $400 million deal that amounts to the largest sale of leases since Sears (TSX:SCC) began shedding assets and cutting jobs in an effort to turn around its struggling operations.

The sale is especially notable because the Eaton Centre is one of the company’s most visible Canadian stores, located in a central tourist area.

About 965 employees across the company’s operations will affected by the move. Sears Canada says employees who are laid off from closing stores can apply for other jobs within the company.