GBL Architects has submitted an application to rezone a City of Vancouver owned property at 508 Helmcken Street (Southwest corner).  The rezoning would change the designation from DD to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) District. The proposal is for a 36 storey mixed use building with 344 market residential strata units (including 5, 2-level townhouses at grade), 110 market rental units and a private school. The proposed building is 320 ft high with a floor area of 365,334 sq ft and a density of 17.4 FSR.

The current building, Jubilee House, is a non-profit facility containing 87 seniors housing units.

North Shore Outlook – Massive Squamish Nation mall may be coming to North Vancouver in 2014.

A lot has been said lately about the Squamish Nation and its government’s land development plans.

But amid all the talk about condo towers beside the Burrard Bridge and new high-rises at Park Royal, one project coming quietly down the pipe may well trump them all.

It concerns 30 acres of land on the Squamish Nation’s Seymour Creek reserve near the Second Narrows Bridge, bracketed by Mt. Seymour Parkway, Dollarton Highway and Seymour Creek.

Currently home to the Real Canadian Superstore, Seymour Creek Golf Centre, an automotive yard and the Squamish administrative offices, the reserve may soon house a massive mixed commercial-residential development unlike anything the North Shore has seen.

Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/191066181.html

The Monterey Apartments at West 10th Avenue and Hemlock Street in the South Granville area has sold. The 17-unit heritage ‘C’ class building had been listed for sale in 2012 with an asking price of $4,800,000. It sold in January for $4,497,000, equating to a 3.6% cap rate and a price per unit of $265,000. The building was built in 1925. The buyer was Premier Pacific Properties.

Despite the Bank of Canada’s continued warning that interest rates should rise in the next couple of years, it is now suggesting that a move is “less imminent” due to slower household credit growth. According to BMO: “Modest growth, below-target inflation (0.8% in December), tighter credit rules, easy Fed policy, and a strong loonie argue against a rate hike. We expect the overnight rate to stay at 1% until the spring of 2014, before rising gradually to a more neutral 3½ % in 2016.”  Likewise the bank’s forecast for bond yields is a rise of 100 to 150bps over the next 18-24 months.

This indicates that barring a shock to the system, 5-year money for commercial mortgages will continue to be readily available at near historic lows in the near term, with spreads of 200 to 200 basis points coming in around or under 4.00%.

Source: Bank of Canada

In Metrotown, demand for new condo product appears to have quieted down somewhat over the past several months. But that’s not stopping developers and investors, who are betting on the success of this town centre area over the long-term.

The latest example came in December with sale of 5895 Barker Avenue, a potential tower redevelopment site.

There are now six 35+ storey tower projects under construction in the area, primarily in the RM-5 zone which allows a higher density. These include:

• Metroplace, 343 units by Intracorp.
• The Met, 295 units by Concord Pacific.
• Station Square (Phase 1), 269 units by Anthem/Beedie.
• Silver, 284 units by Intracorp.
• Moda, 249 units by Polygon.
• Sovereign, 202 units, by Bosa.

There are also an additional 2,000+ units in various stages of planning, including an additional 930 units at Station Square (phase 2, consisting of 35 and 57 storey towers) is planned to be released in the near future), as well as other projects planned by Polygon, BlueSky Properties, Boffo, Concord and Intracorp.

A number of apartment buildings that are currently zoned RM-3 have been selling to investors that see upside and future redevelopment potential. See below a list of recent sales. Apartments without immediate redevelopment potential generally trade at $170,000 to $180,000 per unit in this area. RM-5 zoned apartment properties that can be redeveloped as towers often trade for higher values (based on land value).

In addition, Ivanhoe Cambridge is nearing halfway completion of its Metrotower 3, the first new office project built in the area in several years, which speaks to the ongoing potential of the area not solely as a bedroom community.

Metrotown has long been viewed as Burnaby’s true town centre, and despite activity in the other designated ‘town centres’ such as Brentwood and Edmonds. Metrotown is continuing to show strong valuations for both development sites and existing income producing properties.