After media reports this week about large assessment increases for residential properties in Vancouver, a quick look at commercial property assessments reveals a similar trend, with rapidly rising values, particularly in certain “hot” areas.

Below is a summary of a random sample of 20 properties within the City of Vancouver with a commercial or multifamily zoning, and the % increase in their respective assessment values this year over last.

(click the chart to view more clearly)

Data source: BC Assessment

While this analysis is not intended to be exhaustive by any means, it does show some pretty substantial increases in various areas, particularly on or near the Broadway Corridor. Elsewhere, in zones that allow residential development, assessment are rising quickly to reflect sales comparables that are reaching new records on an almost monthly basis. In most cases, it is the land component of the assessments which has risen dramatically in recent years as a result of heightened demand for condo development.

There are likely to be implications for existing commercial tenants in many of these properties as property tax increases flow through to tenants dependent upon their lease structure.

Construction for The Exchange is now above ground. The 31-storey, 369,000 SF office tower at the corner of Howe and Pender began construction in late 2014 and has involved the complex retention of the original Vancouver Stock Exchange building (475 Howe). The new building is slated for completion in early 2017. National Bank is signed on as the first major tenant, occupying 45,000 SF.

Photos courtesy mcminsen http://po.st/5Xmz1b via @imageshack

A development application has been filed with the City of Vancouver for the former Terminal City Ironworks site, a 2.3 acre full city block in East Vancouver located at 1900 Pandora Street, with frontage on Franklin St., Victoria Dr. and Semlin Dr. The site, zoned I-2 industrial, was offered for sale in 2014 with Cushman Wakefield for $14.9M.

The history of the site, including its more recent use predominantly as a film shoot location, was reported by the Vancouver Sun earlier this year.

The current development proposal from Conwest Developments anticipates two new buildings including the following:

• a 4-storey wholesale/office building accessed off of Pandora St.
• a 3-storey wholesale building accessed of of Franklin St.
• one level of underground parking
• total building area of 202,262 SF
• total density of 2.06 FSR

The use and density are conditional under the zoning and therefore requires approval of the Director of Planning.

The architect for the project is Taylor Kurtz.

A 42,000 SF, C-Class office building on Hornby Street has sold to Bene Development for $25,500,000, or approximately $625 per SF. The building is currently occupied by Copeman Healthcare, among other tenants. The building sits on a 12,000 SF site.

Two current applications continue a recent trend of redevelopment of older I-1 zoned properties in the Mt. Pleasant area, referred to more recently by some as “Mt. Pixel” because of the many tech companies that are locating in the area. The I-1 zone was amended by the City in 2013 to be more flexible in allowing office uses up to 3.0 FSR in density, and this has spurred several land sales; primarily to developers, either for speculative development or build-to-suits. The pace of recent development applications points to the demand for general office use in an area that was traditionally limited to light-industrial uses.

The two projects are outlined below:

22 East 5th Avenue

This proposal for this site at the Southeast corner of East 5th and Ontario envisions restoring the facade of the existing one-storey industrial building on site, and adding a new 6-storey retail and office building with parking on the first and second floor (due to site slope). Details include:

• manufacturing and retail uses on the main floor
• office space on the 3rd to 6th floors
• total density of 54,389 SF (3.0 FSR)
• 46,537 SF of office space
• a building height of 80 ft.
• 70 parking stalls on the main and 2nd floor

Existing Site Condition

The architect for this project is Christopher Bozyk.

34 West 7th Avenue

An application has also been filed by Chard Development for a site at 34 West 7th, which was purchased for $8,150,000 earlier this year. Preliminary plans call for a 4-storey building with clothing manufacturing uses on the ground floor and office uses on the 2nd to 4th floors, and two levels of underground parking. The total density is not known at this time, but the site would allow for up to 54,350 SF (3.0 FSR).

The architect for this project is Proscenium Architecture.