Aria Pacific Development has submitted a rezoning application for a full city block site at Cambie Street between West 27th and West 28th Avenue in Vancouver.

The 40,444 SF site was acquired in 2022 for $34,000,000 ($284 per buildable SF based on this rezoning application).

The proposal is to allow for the development of a 7-storey concrete condo project that includes:

• 130 condo units;
  • 51 one-bedrooms, 63 two-bedrooms & 16 three-bedrooms;
• 10,700 SF of retail space;
• a total density of 2.96 FSR;
• A building height of 89 ft. with additional height for rooftop amenity space.

This application is being considered under the Cambie Corridor Plan.

The architect for the project is Rafii Architects Inc.

The application explains the rationale for not pursuing 12-storeys, 4.0 FSR in the TOA Rezoning Policy.

The site is located in the Tier 2 radius of the King Edward Canada Line transit station. It will allow a 12-storey building height and 4 FSR, rather than the 6-storey and 2.5 FSR guideline under the current zoning. Since there are numerous uncertainties associated with the proposed changes, this application is being submitted under the current zoning and design guidelines. However, some relaxations are being proposed.

Don’t let this year’s list of the Top 10 land deals in Metro Vancouver fool you; there were still some large sales deals completed, but 2024 was a very challenging year to put land deals together. Overall transaction activity and dollar volume were down significantly.

For deals of scale, the market was driven primarily by distress on the residential side, and users on the commercial/industrial side.

A cooling condo pre-sales market, the high cost of debt, stubbornly high construction costs and ever-increasing development fees continue to pose significant challenges for developers across Metro Vancouver. Our capital constrained market environment is leading many developers to sit on the sidelines, while larger well capitalized developers are content to work through their existing inventory rather than take on more projects.

Court ordered sales, particularly for larger scale residential development sites, continue to permeate the market. Notably, 3 of the 4 residential land sales on this list were court ordered sales. Foreclosure sales will almost certainly make up a bigger portion of this list as we look ahead to 2025.

Moreso than at any time in the past decade, there is a marked scarcity of buyers for land deals above the $30-40 Million range.

Of the 6 commercial/industrial land sales on the list, 4 were bought by users, two of these government users that might have difficulty outbidding private buyers in a more competitive market.

Here’s a look at each of the 10 largest land deals in Metro Vancouver this year:

1. 100 Forester Street, North Vancouver

• Price:                  $145 Million
• Site Area:            21 acres
• Vendor:               ERCO Worldwide
• Purchaser:          HTEC

The goods:        This industrial property near the Second Narrows Bridge in North Vancouver changed hands in April 2024. The transaction was originally announced in 2022 by Vancouver based Hydrogen Technology & Enerygy Corp. (HTEC)

HTEC has a development in the works for a $900 Million hydrogen liquefaction plant on the southwest portion of the site. The new facility will liquefy 15 tonnes per day of vented by-product hydrogen from ERCO Worldwide’s sodium chlorate plant in the area.

Ryan Kerr, Ian Whitchelo, Amir Pourmina and Terry Thies of Avison Young represented the Buyer. Chris MacCauley and Travis Blanleil of CBRE represented the Seller.

2. 1891 164^th Street, Surrey

• Price:                  $90 Million
• Site Area:           33 Acres
• Vendor:              Private
• Purchaser:          Costco

The goods:          Costco completed on the acquisition of this sizeable site in the Grandview area of Surrey, near the intersection of Highway 99 and 16 Avenue.

Preliminary plans for the site include a new 165,000 SF store as well as a gas station, and 989 surface parking stalls. The rezoning application process is ongoing.

3. West 4th Safeway Site, Vancouver

• Price:                   $90 Million
• Site Area:            2.2 acres
• Vendor:               Sobeys
• Purchaser:           PCI & Low Tide Properties

The goods:        Completed in June, this sale marks the beginning of an eventual redevelopment of the Safeway on West 4^th & Vine and Kitsilano to include 385 lowrise rental units and a new Safeway store on site under the Property’s existing C-2 zoning

The sale is the largest residential land transaction in Metro Vancouver in 2024.

4. 7678 132^nd Street, Surrey

• Price:                   $86 Million
• Site Area:            10 acres
• Vendor:            Belkorp
• Purchaser:           Translink

The goods:        Translink acquired two parcels in the Newton area of Surrey for the expansion of the Surrey Transit Centre, operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company.

5. 1045 Haro Street, Vancouver

• Price:                   $85 Million
• Site Area:            43,230 SF
• Vendor:              Harlow Holdings
• Purchaser:           Chard

The goods:        This well publicized court ordered sale was approved by the Supreme Court of BC in August 2024.

Amazingly, this site made #3 on the list of Top Land Deals in 2018, when it originally traded for $173 Million.  The site is currently occupied by a 7-storey, 160-unit apartment building and a 3-storey commercial building.

The deal was brokered by Jim Szabo, Tony Quattrin and Carter Kerzner of CBRE.

6. 1085 Tanaka Court, New Westminster

• Price:                  $74 Million
• Site Area:           13 acres
• Vendor:              Sycamore Partners
• Purchaser:          Beedie

The goods:          Beedie acquired this large-scale commercial/industrial property in Queensborough in June 2024. The property, formerly occupied by a Lowe’s Home Improvement store, is prime for redevelopment. No applications have yet been filed.

Darren Cannon, Stu Morrison and Sean Bagan from Colliers brokered the deal.

7. 7280 River Road, Richmond

• Price:                  $68 Million
• Site Area:           5 acres
• Vendor:              Ebco Industries
• Purchaser:          City of Richmond

The goods:        This sale completed in June, and the Purchaser was revealed to be the City of Richmond. According to an article in Storeys, the City of Richmond has so far declined to comment on their plans for the site.

8. 6862 153^rd Street, Surrey

• Price:                 $60 Million
• Site Area:          8.5 acres
• Vendor:             Conwest
• Purchaser:    KIG Properties     

The goods:         This site is a vacant and unimproved development site in the East Newton Business Park area of Surrey. The sale price equates to $7 Million per acre.

9. 1555 Robson Street, Vancouver

• Price:                  $58 Million
• Site Area:           16,350 SF
• Vendor:              Vivagrand Developments
• Purchaser:      GWL Realty Advisors

The goods:        This is second largest distressed land sale in Metro Vancouver in 2024.

The acquisition by GWL is a logical expansion of their existing site next door. A rezoning application by GWL for the combined site includes two towers with 393 rental units above retail space.

The site was listed and sold by CBRE.

10. 5815-5888 Cambie Street, Vancouver

• Price:                 $53 Million
• Site Area:           31,206 SF
• Vendor:              Vivagrand Developments
• Purchaser:         Private Investor

The goods:       Another foreclosure sale for a development property previously owned by Vivagrand Developments (aka Align Properties).

The site was listed and sold by Simon Lim, James Lang and Jessica Hathaway of Colliers.

Please contact me for further information on any of the above transactions, or if any questions, comments, or corrections to the article.

Happy Holidays!

Intracorp has submitted a rezoning application for 1110 West 10th Avenue, at the Southwest corner of West 10th and Spruce Street in the Fairview area.

The site is 100′ x 125′ for a total of 12,500 SF. It is currently improved with a 3-storey walkup apartment building with 23 units.

Broadway Plan’s Fairview South – Area A limits the number of towers on a block face to two. With a rezoning proposal already submitted for 1190 West 10th Avenue, this proposal now completes the tower maximum for this block. A variance is requested to allow the density above the Broadway Plan guidelines.

The proposal is to allow for the development of a 20-storey rental building and includes:

• 181 rental units;
• 20% of the units below market;
• a total density of 10.1 FSR;
• A building height of 199 ft. with additional height for rooftop amenity space.

This application is being considered under the Broadway Plan and requests consideration of density in excess of the existing policy.

The architect for the project is DYS Architecture.

The City of Vancouver, through the Vancouver Housing Development Office (VHDO) applied to rezone the block at the corner of Pacific & Hornby for a new highrise rental development.

The site is several parcels, including the former Kettle of Fish restaurant, and combines to form a total of 68,300 SF of land area.

The proposal is to allow for the development of 38-storey and 52-storey rental towers and includes:

• 1,136 market rental units;
• 11,000 SF of retail space;
• a total density of 12.11 FSR;
• Maximum building height of 534 ft.

This application is being considered under the Rental Housing on City-Owned Land – Public Benefits Pilot Rezoning Policy.

The architect for the project is Diamond Schmitt Architects.

The full application can be viewed here: https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/1402-1460-burrard-st

Third Space Properties has submitted a development application for a site at 10th & Discovery in the Point Grey Village area of Vancouver. The plan for the site includes a new 6-storey rental building with:

• 69 market rental units;
• 6,200 SF of retail space;
• a density of 3.50 FSR;
• a building height of 72 ft.;
• Two levels of underground parking with access off the lane.

Under the site’s existing C-2 zoning, the application is conditional so it may be permitted. However, it requires the decision of the Director of Planning.

From a media release: “Residents will have access to shared indoor and outdoor amenities, including a versatile lounge and coworking area designed to provide space for gathering, studying, and working. The building design seeks to fit into the existing village scale, while serving as a gateway to Point Grey Village. Streetscapes along both 10th Avenue and Discovery Street have been carefully planned, featuring active retail and residential frontages, alongside generous setbacks to encourage comfortable movement, adding to the vibrancy of one of Vancouver’s oldest village centres, Point Grey.”

Teh architect for the project is Integra Architecture.