Continuing the trend of strong demand for Mount Pleasant industrial properties with redevelopment potential, 34-54 West 7th Avenue has sold for $8,510,000, or $157 per buildable SF. The buyer was Chard Development.

The existing building is an aging two-level industrial building originally a meat packing plant and now a food manufacturing facility.

The 18,117 SF site is zoned I-1. Traditionally, I-1 zoning was a mixed light-industrial office zone, but in 2013 the City of Vancouver amended the zone to allow 100% general office. This amendment has set off a two year long flurry of speculative sale and development activity, with a few office projects already in the works. With few opportunities to build smaller office buildings downtown, and with soaring land prices everywhere where residential or mixed-use is allowed, Mount Pleasant has been a target for many developers and users.

The building had been listed for sale by Casey Weeks, Matt Smith and James Starke of Colliers and received multiple offers.

A rezoning application has been made for a site at 225 Smithe Street, at the Northwest corner of Smithe and Cambie in Downtown Vancouver. The plan calls for rezoning from the existing DD (Downtown) District to CD-1 to allow a 26-storey residential above office mixed-use building that includes:

• four levels of commercial space totaling 27,000 SF;
• a  building height of 286.8 ft;
• a density of 11.85 FSR;
• 114 residential units; and
• 178 underground parking space

This rezoning application is being considered under the Rezoning Policy for the Central Business District (CBD) and CBD Shoulder.

The site was previously owned by James Schouw and envisioned for a luxury 28-unit condo building called ‘Thalia‘, but was later sold under foreclosure to Boffo Developments in 2011. The purchase price at that time was $11,600,000.

An older 2-storey downtown building has sold in a $9,880,000 deal to Reliance Properties. Beatty Place, located at 837 Beatty Street between Robson and Smithe Streets, is a somewhat non-descript 15,000 SF building that most locals would know from the ticket broker on the bottom floor, or more recently the Bar Method, which is located on the second floor. The building is located on a 6,990 SF site. The building was sold by TPMG Capital.

There is no word yet on any renovation or redevelopment plans for the building. The zoning for the property is DD-C3, which permits a density of 5.0 FSR. Non-residential uses must not be less than 2.0 FSR.

The acquisition is just three blocks South of Reliance’s award-winning redevelopment of 564 Beatty Street, which saw redevelopment for office space above an older brick and beam heritage building.

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.