BlueSky Properties‘ project at 633 Main Street has been revised slightly. The proposal is now calling for more residential units (now 188) while reducing the project’s overall density from 9.29 to 8.86 FSR. The site is zoned HA-1A and was sold to BlueSky by Colliers in 2011.

We first told you about this project in May 2012.

Revised Project Rendering

Source: City of Vancouver

Bhandal Homes has submitted a revised application to the City of Vancouver to rezone 5658 Victoria Drive from C-2 to CD-1. The proposal is for a 6-storey, mixed-use building with commercial retail space at ground level and 28 residential rental suites on upper floors. The proposal includes a density of 3.65 FSR, a height of 62 ft., a total floor area of 30,221 sq. ft., and 22 parking spaces.

From Bloomberg:

Loblaw Cos. (L)’s planned real-estate spinoff is giving Canada’s largest grocery chain leeway to do acquisitions.

Loblaw plans to put more than C$7 billion ($7.1 billion) of property into a real estate investment trust that will be sold through an initial public offering by mid-2013. While Loblaw will still own more than 80 percent of the REIT, it may receive C$670 million from the deal, according to Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Buying Safeway Inc.’s Canadian unit is logical as Loblaw faces more competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  and Target Corp., said Veritas Investment Research Corp. Safeway, a grocer that got 15 percent of its $44 billion of sales in 2011 from Canada, is undervalued after falling 14 percent last year, Bank of Montreal said. Safeway trades at the cheapest price relative to revenue and earnings among North American food retailers larger than $1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Edward Jones & Co. said closely held Overwaitea Food Group, the western Canadian chain, is another option for Loblaw.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/loblaw-buying-canada-safeway-no-pipe-dream-real-m-a.html

To start off the new year, we have compiled a summary of Metro Vancouver’s most valuable commercial real estate assets. The summary is based on a survey of the top 25 commercial properties ranked by asssessed value.

While assessed values can often vary significantly from market values (take Bentall 5 for example, which sold for $400M last year), the survey provides a glimpse into who controls the larger commercial assets in Metro Vancouver and yields some interesting observations:

• Metrotopolis at Metrotown is by far Vancouver’s most valuable commercial property. The nearly 1.8M sq ft shopping centre is assessed at $725M ($406 per sq ft). This value does not include the adjacent office towers, also owned by Caisse de depot, which is Quebec’s largest pension fund manager.

• The top 25 are almost all retail or office, or both. One apartment and hotel property each cracked the top 25.

• Pension funds control the vast majority of these larger core/trophy assets. (76% to be exact)

• A group of 6 pension fund managers (some in partnership) control well over 50% of the top 25.

• While the top 3 are super regional shopping centres, 15 of the top 25 are Downtown office towers.

Where does Vancouver rank next to other cities in terms of commercial property valuations? While Vancouver valuations are among North America’s highest on a price/sq ft and cap rate basis, due to scale we’re not quite in the same league as others for total values… For reference, Scotia Tower in Toronto sold in 2012 for $1.27 Billion. The Bow office tower in Calgary cost $1.4 Billion to construct. Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a 50% stake in a 2.5M sq ft. Manhattan office tower in 2012 for $576M.

As 2012 wraps up, we’ve summarized the top deals of 2012 by total dollar value. While a number of $100M+ assets traded in 2011, 2012 has been a comparatively quieter year, with only one true core/trophy property sold – that being Bentall 5. The downtown Canada Post property, offered for sale in late 2012, will probably fetch over $100M when it closes sometime in 2013.

1. Bentall 5    Bentall Kennedy, acquired this premier ‘AAA’ class office building in May for a record $400 Million, representing $686 per sq ft, and a cap rate below 5%. The Vendor in the transaction, the German bank Deka Immobilien GmbH, had purchased the tower just three years ago for $297 Million. The acquisition by Bentall Kennedy re-affirms their confidence in the Downtown Vancouver office market.

2. Plaza 88 Retail    First Capital Realty acquired the retail component of the Plaza at New Westminster in May 2012 for $97,000,000, or $500 per SF.  The property consists of 194,000 square feet of gross leaseable area and a 422 stall paid parking garage.  The project is fully integrated with Skytrain and a bus terminal.  Tenants include Safeway, Landmark Theatres, Shoppers Drug Mart, Dollar Tree, CIBC, RBC, Starbucks and A&W.

3. Lougheed Village   The largest apartment deal done in 2012 was a large concrete highrise complex in Burnaby next to Lougheed Mall. The 548-unit complex sold in April for $90,000,000, or $165,000 per unit. Comprised of two 24-storey towers and two 8-storey lowrises, the sale is one of the largest apartment sales in Vancouver history, behind only that of Beach Towers and Langara Gardens in 2010. The buyer was Mayfair Properties.

4. Pacific Point  Bosa Development acquired this 227-unit strata building located in Downtown Vancouver in June 2012 for $79,000,000. The 20-year old project includes two phases over a common podium and is stratified but has been operated as a rental building since completion. It includes 11 commercial units on the ground floor. The building had been listed for sale by the Vendor, Concert Properties. The price per unit is approximately $350,000.

5. 401 West Georgia    Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a 50% stake in this A Class office building at West Georgia and Homer Street in March 2012 for $63,000,000, or $467 per SF for, representing a 5.1% cap rate.