An air space parcel at Robson and Denman containing 3 retail units has been sold by Canada Safeway. ‘The Shops on Robson’, 1716-1798 Robson Street was offered for sale by Safeway in the fall of 2012. The 13,203 sq ft property was built in 2008; is fully leased to Vancity, BC Liquor and CIBC, and is shadow anchored by the Safeway store located above. The $23,500,000 purchase price represents a 5.8% cap rate and a 6.3% cash-on-cash return. The buyer was a local investor.

Cressey Development has applied to the City of Richmond to rezone 5640 Hollybridge Way in the Oval Village area of Richmond to build 244 residential units. The development includes:

• Two market residential buildings of 14/15 stories facing Lansdowne Road with a total of 218 units, located above commercial space on the ground and second floors.
• A 5-storey block facing Elmbridge Way with a 5,000 SF childcare facility and 15 affordable housing units located above street-oriented commercial space.
• Street-oriented commercial space with two levels of parkade located above.
• A block of 13 townhouses and street-oriented commercial space facing Hollybridge Way.

The site’s designation within the City Centre Area Plan allows for 2.0 FAR residential, with a requirement for 5% affordable housing and 1.0 FAR commercial. The total density proposed is 2.67 FAR (0.67 FAR commercial).

Source: City of Richmond

After multiple offers were received late last year, it has been learned that bcIMC has been the successful purchaser of the 2.98 acre Canada Post site located at Homer and Georgia Streets in Downtown Vancouver. Udpate: the purchase price was $159 Million.

Here is the press release from bcIMC:

“bcIMC is pleased to confirm that we have purchased the Canada Post site at 349 West Georgia, a 2.98 acre city block in downtown Vancouver from Canada Post.

We see the Canada Post site as a long-term investment that provides a unique opportunity for a large-scale mixed-use development in a desirable and strategic location in downtown Vancouver. The purchase of this property is consistent with our strategy to invest in prime real estate with the potential to provide steady and attractive long-term returns for our pension plan clients.

A redevelopment of this scale requires extensive and careful planning. Redevelopment will commence once sufficient planning has been completed, required approvals have been received and market conditions support it. We look forward to working with the City of Vancouver as we move forward with our planning.

bcIMC is one of Canada’s largest institutional investment managers and is responsible for investing the assets of public sector pension plans within British Columbia. bcIMC invests more than $95-billion of managed gross assets. bcIMC has a long and successful track record of property ownership and real estate development.”

Vancouver planner sets sights on four areas.

Brian Jackson “hit the ground running” when he joined the city as its general manager of planning and development in September, but he said his familiarity with Vancouver helped his fast start.

Jackson lives in Yaletown and typically walks to work across the Cambie bridge or takes the Canada Line. (He owns an Acura, but he noted its mileage was at 31,000 kilometres at the beginning and end of 2012.)

Over the past few months, he’s gotten to know staff, functions of departments, issues in more details, developers and community groups.

Asked about this year’s priorities, Jackson listed several: “We have four area plans coming up in 2013 — Marpole, Downtown Eastside, Grandview Woodlands and the West End. So we’re going to be bringing those forward by the end of the year. Those processes are well underway. We have three implementation strategies we have to follow up on — previous plans that have been adopted — in Norquay, Mount Pleasant and Cambie. We have special studies that are underway for the Pearson site on Cambie and Oakridge at Cambie and 41st. We have policy studies that are underway for the viaducts, Northeast False Creek, We have to respond and to provide a regional context statement in association with the new regional growth strategy that’s been approved by Metro Vancouver and a new sign bylaw for the city. And then we have our applications — a lot of applications.”

Topical article in the Globe & Mail stemming from the sale of the Waldorf Hotel site: