As was reported in the media late last week, two major rezoning inquiries are going before the City of Vancouver’s Standing Committee on City Finance and Services on Wednesday; one was expected and one was a bit of a surprise within the industry. The inquiry stage simply confirms Council’s approval to proceed to a formal rezoning application stage.

Sinclair Centre

• 1.54 acre site
• Proposal to increase the density and height for commercial uses
• 1,100,000 SF of office space for Federal Gov’t (up from existing 390,000 SF)
• A density of 17.0 – 20.0 FSR
• Max height of 350 ft due to view cones (29 storeys)
• Existing CD-1 zoning proposed to be amended

Excerpt from the Policy Report explaining the heritage aspect:

• the former Main Post Office (built in 1910) — Municipally Designated and Federally Recognized Heritage Building, listed as an ‘A’
• the R.V. Winch Building (built in 1911) — Municipally Designated and Federally Recognized Heritage Building , listed as an ‘A
• the Customs Examining Warehouse (built in 1913) — Vancouver Heritage Register, listed as an ‘A,’ and Federally Recognized Heritage Building , listed as an ‘A,
• the Federal Building/Post Office Extension (built in 1936) — listed as a ‘B’ (but not designated).
• In 1986 the four buildings were restored by the Federal Government. While the buildings were seismically upgraded, they would not meet today’s standards and some portions of the buildings received very modest upgrades

Post Office Site

• 2.98 acre site acquired by bcIMC in 2013 for $159 Million
• Rezoning to allow reuse and retention of the existing building, with new residential and commercial uses
• Existing Post Office building would contain retail, office, hotel, residential lobbies
  and the blank granite walls would be modified to provide for pedestrian-oriented at-grade retail
• New building above would contain office, hotel, and rental/condo housing
• View cones limit building heights between 225 feet and 285 feet

Comment from the Policy Report on the heritage aspect:

A development application by Rendition Developments for a 50 foot lot at the Northwest corner of Ontario and West 6th Avenue demonstrates the type of development we are likely to see more of in the I-1 zoned area of Mount Pleasant. The site address is 2151 Ontario.

The plan for this 6,039 SF site is a three-storey building with clothing manufacturing on the ground floor, and general offices on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Details includes:

• 5,909 SF of manufacturing area
• 11,875 SF of office space
• A density of 2.95 FSR
• 13 underground parking stalls

The site is currently improved with a single storey industrial building that was listed for sale late last year for $2,695,000, and sold for full asking price.

Changes made to the I-1 zone in 2013 allowed more flexibility with respect to building general office space, which was previously restricted to uses related to the manufacturing. Parking relaxations have also allowed sites such as 2151 Ontario to reach full density without further assembly for underground parking.

Not surprisingly, the 2013 zoning changes have resulted in an attendant increase in sales activity and land values over the past 18 months, a trend which is reinforced with stagnant rates for older light-industrial space.

Here’s a view of the first phase of King George Station in Surrey. This phase of the project by PCI Group is the new help headquarters for Coast Capital Saving Credit Union.

Photo by 604 City, Flickr

1867 West Broadway, a 3-storey B Class concrete office building more commonly known as The CGA Building, has sold for $16,125,000. The 31,000 SF building was owned by the Certified General Accountants Association of B.C., who will vacate it’s 26,000 SF this summer. The site the building is located on is 13,402 SF and is zoned C-3A. The property was listed for sale in late 2014 with no asking price.

The 2nd floor of the building is currently listed for lease at $22.00 per SF.

The purchaser was Austeville Properties who owns the adjacent commercial building. This appears to be a long-term strategic investment as opposed to any kind of redevelopment deal.

Exterior work on Bentall/bcIMC’s 745 Thurlow project appears to be nearing completion.

Photo by 604 City on Flickr