“Given investors’ exceptionally strong interest in apartments, it was only a matter of time before that interest extended to brokerage firms that specialize in bringing buyers and sellers of apartment properties together, and perhaps providing them with financing at the same time.

In a deal that closed on the last day of 2012, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage acquired Phoenix-based Hendricks & Partners, a national multifamily sales brokerage firm with 37 offices in the U.S. Berkadia is a commercial real estate lender and special servicer that was formerly part of Capmark Financial and is now owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment firm.”

View the full article HERE.

Dava Developments has acquired a 4-lot assembly located at 4412-4488 Cambie Street. The total property size is 39,180 SF, represents a partial city block with no direct neighbour, and is designated under the Cambie Corridor Plan for 2.5 FSR residential. The site sold for $14,840,000, or $151 per buildable sq ft. The properties had been listed for sale for a combined value of $19,552,000.

This will be Dava’s second project in the Cambie Corridor. They have submitted a rezoning application for a site they acquired at Cambie and 26th.

From the Globe and Mail:

H&R Retail Real Estate Investment Trust believes now is the time to take over Primaris Retail Real Estate Investment Trust, with Target Corp. about to kick off an invasion of Canada by foreign retailers, H&R’s CEO says.

By way of its bid, H&R is seeking to get bigger and stronger at a time when the mall ownership game is changing, Tom Hofstedter, the CEO of H&R, told analysts on a conference call Thursday morning.

In a note prior to the conference call, Royal Bank of Canada analyst Neil Downey wrote that executives at H&R would be under pressure Thursday to show investors how the firm would benefit from the takeover.

It appears that H&R is banking on the size of the merged businesses and organic income growth from Primaris’s portfolio, but “the story is complex, and at least initially, it will require some “selling” to the market,” Mr. Downey wrote.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/hr-ceo-says-time-right-for-primaris-bid-as-target-invasion-looms/article7460599/

An 8-storey, 43-unit apartment building located at Alma and West 5th on the Westside of Vancouver has sold for $12,800,000, equivalent to a 2.9% cap rate and $298,000 per unit. The building was built in 1966. 2121 Alma Street had been listed for sale in November 2012.

The Janda Group has launched registration for their project at 1255 West Pender Street in Coal Harbour. The 14-storey, 27-unit project has been named ‘The Views at Coal Harbour’.

The project is being built to a density of 5.7 FSR and includes approximately 3,500 SF of office space on the lower floors. A development permit has been in place since 2007.

More information can be found on the project’s website.