Values for freehold office buildings and strata office space remain stable in North Vancouver, with steady growth exhibited over the past several years, a trend expected to continue with new supply generally limited to a handful of sites.

This market is predominantly characterized by owner occupiers. The average sales value over the past five years in this market is $350 / SF. Newly built buidlings and strata space in the core areas of lower and mid-Lonsdale have achieved values approaching $500 / SF, with older product in business park or industrial areas reaching below $300 / SF.

Investment activity in this market has been relatively confined to strata sales since the acquisition of the Westmar Building (233 West 1st Avenue) by Upcountry Group in September 2009. Since the acquisition, Upcountry has strata-titled the building and rebranded it ‘The Lookout‘ with 31 units, ranging in size from 538 to 25,000 SF. Several units are still available in the building, averaging approximately $450-550 / SF.

Allied REIT has entered into an agreement to purchase the Sun Tower, located at 100 West Pender Street in the trendy Crosstown area of Vancouver.

The Sun Tower is a heritage building with a  gross leasable area of 81,590 square feet. The building was fully renovated and leased up in 2009.

Richmond continues to attract companies based on its centrality within the Metro Vancouver region, as well as its accessibility to transit and the Vancouver International Airport. The outlook for the Richmond office market remains optimistic due primarily to two factors which have only recently affected the area:

There has been no new supply in the Richmond submarket since the introduction of 211,000 square feet of supply in 2008. Furthermore, no new supply is anticipated over the next 2 years. Given ongoing population and employment growth, Richmond’s relatively affordable office rents will appear increasingly attractive.

The completion of the Canada Line in 2009 greatly increased Richmond’s accessibility not only to the City ofmVancouver, but within the entire region. With 4 centrally located stations, the line is an important piece of infrastructure that will benefit the Richmond office market, particularly those buildings located in and around the City Centre area.

Richmond’s overall office vacancy rate was 21.2% in Q1 2011, down slightly from the previous quarter. Ongoing vacancy has persisted in large part due to low levels of leasing activity combined with new suburban product.

For strata office sales, there are basically two markets: suburban office parks, and urban office buildings in the City Centre area. These two groups exhibit very different pricing, but both are increasing at a steady rate.