The Sutton Place Hotel in Downtown Vancouver has been sold to Northland Properties Corporation for $163,625,000. The transaction includes the La Grande Residence building that had been operated as long-term stay units. Those units will likely be sold as strata-titled hotel units.

The hotel was built in 1986 and renovated in 2005. It comprises 561 units overall including 350 hotel rooms and 47 suites. The overall price per room is $291,667.

There has been significant land transaction activity in the Surrey City Centre area recently which led us to question where current concrete residential values are today, and where they are heading.

Recently, several highrise residential projects including Park Place and Ultra have been in pre-sales (Park Place is nearing completion, while Ultra is in the excavation stages). Several more tower projects are in various stages of planning and approval, with many developers taking a long-term view of the area and it’s growth potential.

New concrete residential highrise projects are typically averaging $380-400 per sq ft with a focus on price points that indicate value for both first-time buyers and investors.

An analysis of all concrete resales for buildings less than 10 years old suggests that concrete residential unit prices are moving up closer to new sales and the spread between new and old product is being reduced. A reduced spread is present in more mature markets such as Vancouver and Burnaby. The current average for resales is now over $350 per sq ft.

Source: MLS

Allied REIT has acquired 948 Homer Street, a 4-storey office building located in Yaletown. The building is 45,321 square feet and was built in 1931. It features high ceilings and openable windows. The purchase price was $18,500,000, representing $408 per sq ft.

This is Allied REIT’s second office building acquisition in Vancouver after acquiring 840 Cambie Street earlier this year.

Source

520 10th Street, a 3-storey, 50 unit walkup apartment building in New Westminster has sold for $5,500,000, representing $110,000 per unit and a capitalization rate of 5.6%. The building is woodframe and was built in 1967.

The City of Vancouver held open houses June 9-12th to provide an update on planning work for the Plaza of Nations site. Topics on which the City is seeking feedback include the general form of development and land use, as well as the inclusion of sports centre (ice rink that could double as a Canucks training centre, and indoor sportscentre) and potential public benefits including a public plaza.

The current proposal by Canadian Metropolitan Properties is to provide:

• 1,405,000 sq. ft. of Residential Space (approximately 2,400 new residents)
• 352,000 sq. ft of Commercial Job Space (approximately 1,000 new workers)
• Dedicated public open space of 70,062 sq. ft. which includes a public events plaza of approximately 48,000 sq.ft., 10,613 sq. ft. of additional dedicated public space and semi public space of approximately 24,000 sq. ft.
• A Plaza Sports Centre, to be constructed in partnership with Aquilini Development as a Canucks training facility and sports science centre as well as a publicly accessible community space, including an ice rink, community meeting rooms and daycare centre.

City of Vancouver staff will now issue a report to Council that primarily deals with the Sports Centre proposal and civic plaza location.

Proposed sports centre

It is anticipated that a rezoning submission will be forthcoming in July 2011 with open houses in the Fall of 2011, and a public hearing in 2012.

Further information can be obtained here.

Source: City of Vancouver