A federal Crown corporation and three Lower Mainland First Nations announced Wednesday a long-awaited and “historic” agreement to acquire and develop some of the most valuable real estate in the country.

Canada Lands Company and the three First Nations will be 50-50 owners of three properties, including the 21-hectare Jericho Lands in Vancouver’s exclusive West Point Grey neighbourhood.

While financial details of the sale weren’t immediately available, realtors speculated earlier this year that the re-development and sale of the Jericho Lands alone could fetch $1.1 billion to $1.7 billion, depending on how the city re-zoned the land for development.

The other two properties are the 8.5 hectare “Heather Street Lands” between West 33rd and West 37th avenues, and a former fisheries department-owned property located on two hectares of land in West Vancouver on Marine Drive near Burkehill Road.

The announcement was made by Canada Lands, a federal government-owned entity that buys and develops surplus federal properties, and the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Jericho+Lands+Vancouver+finally+sold+deal+develop+high+real/10252565/story.html

Intracorp has submitted a development application  to develop a townhouse project on a 6-lot assembly, 29,740 SF site. The project will contain 24 ground oriented courtyard units in seven 2.5 storey buildings, over one level of underground parking providing a total of 52 parking spaces having vehicular access from the lane. Per the Marpole Community Plan, the maximum density allowable is 1.2 FSR.

This is the first development application under the City’s new RM-8 zoning.

From the Globe and Mail:

An entire city block is up for grabs for $28-million in Vancouver’s upscale Kerrisdale neighbourhood, providing a glimpse into what a difference zoning makes when determining land values.

Since HQ Commercial posted the listing late Friday night, it has created a buzz in the city’s real estate circles. The asking price for the commercially zoned “C-2” block works out to $357 a square foot of buildable space or $893 a square foot of land.

David Goodman, a principal at HQ Commercial, expects the Kerrisdale property will attract bids from developers interested in constructing a four-storey condo complex after demolishing the five aging two-storey rental buildings on the site.

The assessed value of the entire property totalled $15.9-million on July 1, 2013, according to BC Assessment. The city block has enough room to fit in 10 single-family detached homes if they each were to have skinny 26-foot frontages. But the $28-million asking price reflects HQ Commercial’s belief that the land will be attractive to developers who could design ground-floor businesses such as a grocery store and restaurant, while saving the top three floors for condos.

Read More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/the-real-estate-beat/entire-city-block-in-upscale-vancouver-neighbourhood-listed-for-28-million/article20851458/comments/

Another week, another highrise proposal for Brentwood. This one is from Polygon Homes for an 81,414 SF site at the foot of Madison Avenue. The rezoning application is based on the RM4s designation under the City of Burnaby’s Brentwood Town Centre Plan, with a total density of 3.6 FAR, or 280 units.

Interestingly, due to high groundwater and challenging geotechnical buildings, the parking is above-grade and is proposed to be located behind street-oriented residential units.

Here is an update of 980 Howe Street; an office building being built by Manulife at the corner of Howe and Nelson: