STELLARTON, N.S. — Empire Company Ltd. announced a plan Wednesday to sell 68 Safeway properties in a sale-leaseback deal with Crombie REIT for $990 million in cash.

The company, which owns the country’s second-largest grocer Sobeys Inc., said the properties involved in the sale are located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Metro Vancouver Properties Sold:

In early June, Empire signed an agreement to buy more than 200 grocery stores from Canada Safeway Ltd. in a $5.8-billion deal. At the time, it said that it intended to finance the acquisition with a $1 billion sale-leaseback that it would first offer to Crombie REIT.

“We are pleased to announce this sale leaseback transaction between Sobeys and Crombie REIT,” Empire president and chief executive Paul Sobey said in a statement.

“The sale proceeds will be used by Sobeys to assist in the funding of the Canada Safeway acquisition which provides Sobeys with a much stronger presence in Western Canada and allows them to benefit from increased economies of scale.”

Read more: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/07/24/empire-sells-68-safeway-properties-to-crombie-reit-in-990m-deal/

Thought Brentwood was already getting big with Shape Properties’ Brentwood Mall redevelopment and Appia’s Solo District? Add another large multi-phase tower project to the mix.

Concord Pacific has initiated a rezoning process for a massive 26-acre site at Lougheed Highway and Beta Avenue. Portions of the site are City-owned properties that will be sold to Concord, and much of the site are designated for high-density and medium-density residential development in the Brentwood Town Centre Plan.

While still very preliminary, the rezoning application anticipates a multi-phased highrise, mid-rise and low-rise residential development with a commercial component.The plan also includes a dedication of 7.7 acre portion of the property for a new elementary school and neighbourhood park at the Southern end of the property. The site is bordered on the South by the BNSF Railway. Dawson Street would be extended through the site to connect Beta Avenue to Douglas Road.

As we reported last week, the City decided to backtrack on proposed tower heights around Commercial and Broadway as part of the Grandview Woodland Community Plan. Now the City has responded further, by suggesting they will extend the timeline for the planning process by six months. Here is an excerpt from a motion of notice for next week’s Council meeting:

“As of July 15, 2013, 718 individuals have sent a message to Mayor and Council, noting that “the land use rezoning proposals in the ‘Emerging directions’ document and map…came as a complete surprise to the community when they were published in June 2013” and demanding at least six months more for the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan (“a reasonable period of time”) for “an open and collaborative process to discuss, debate and select preferred options with regard to these proposals.”

The site was sold in November 2011 for $15,750,000, which equates to $160 per builable SF on achieved density (assuming it is approved at public hearing).

An interesting note from the City regarding applicable CAC’s:

The Steveston “skyline” could have a slightly different look if a City of Richmond proposal gets the green light.

Changes to building height and density in the village core were due to be presented to city council’s planning committee Tuesday afternoon.

The proposal was based, in part, on public consultation, including 83 completed surveys in April and May.

According to the Steveston Village Conservation Strategy, one third of all buildings on Moncton Street are allowed to be three stories and have a floor area ratio 1.6 times the lot area.

The proposal would reduce the maximum building height to two stories and reduce the maximum density to 1.2, with exceptions granted on a case-by-case basis.