By Frances Bula – courtesy of the Globe & Mail

A single storey retail building in the Point Grey Village area of Vancouver has sold for $3,108,000, or $1,120 / SF. The building has tenants including Burgoo restaurant and UPS. The frontage is 50 ft and the lot is zoned C-2. The price works out to $204 per buildable SF, indicating that the property was likely bought as a hold with redevelopment potential.

Retail continues to be in high demand in  White Rock as an investment, particularly due to the ongoing demand on behalf of investors to find buildings in well-established safe markets. In particular, White Rock has seen relatively little new construction over the past several years. This is a small market that is difficult to buy into and this has been reflected in increasing rental rates and values.

Retail assets that have traded over the past 10 years have typically been streetfront retail, with most sales occurring in the Marine Drive and town centre areas.

Current cap rates for retail tend to be between 5.0% and 6.0% in this market, and have exhibited gradually increasing average prices over the past 10 years as follows:

Source: Colliers Research