A rezoning application in North Vancouver intends to replace two low-density apartment buildings with a new 6-storey rental apartment building and could be a good model for other rental projects in the City of North Vancouver and elsewhere in the Lower Mainland.

The proposal for the 12,014 SF site at 362-368 East 3rd Street is to replace two older apartment buildings with a combined total of 11 apartments, with 40 rental units in a new 6-storey building. The proposed density is 2.6 FSR per the recently adopted OCP for the area. The plan includes only 9 parking stalls on the surface at the rear of the new building.

The unit mix includes:

• Nine 3-bedroom units
• Ten 2-bedroom units
• Six 1-bedroom units
• Fifteen studio unit

Because the proposed project is 100% secured rental housing, there will be no community amenity contribution.

Current Site Condition

The application is still preliminary and requires council approval to move through the standard rezoning process.

A 45-unit Richmond apartment complex known as Cook Place Apartments has sold for $11,700,000 to a local investor. The price represents $260,000 per unit and a cap rate of 3.3%. The property is ideally situated near the City Centre area of Richmond, just one and half blocks East of Richmond Centre Mall and a short walk to the Canada Line.

The building itself is a 3-storey woodframe building built in 1979, with underground parking. There are 30 Two-Bedroom units and 15 One-Bedroom units. Rents were approximately 10% under market. The property was listed with an asking price of $11,888,000.

Here’s a building that had sold in 2012 that recently resold for a substantial gain. The 43 unit, 8-storey concrete building located at West 5th Ave and Alma sold for $14,495,000 or $337,093 per unit, representing a 12% price appreciation from 2012 when the building sold for $12,800,000.