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 highly coveted office building and adjacent development site has sold to Peterson Group for $41,000,000. The property, located at the corner of Granville and West 10th Avenue, was owned by BMO and offered for sale by BMO through Form Retail in the spring of 2015.

The offering included the 5-storey, 45,000 SF office building built in 1973 on the corner anchored by BMO, and the adjacent 16,000 SF parking lot, which can be developed under the current RM-3 zoning. It was anticipated that BMO would enter into a 10-year leaseback as part of the deal.

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.

Reliance Properties has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop the Northeast corner of Bidwell and Davie with a 22-storey secured market rental building with commercial retail units at grade. The site is 12,970 SF and is zoned C5-A, therefore it does not require rezoning but is a conditional approval that requires the decision of the Development Permit Board. The West End Community Plan includes design guidelines that facilitated this proposal, which includes:

• 108 residential units (all secured market rental);
• total gross floor area of 102,927 SF, including 5,000 SF of commercial retail;
• Total density of 7.4 FSR
• 77 underground parking spaces on 4 levels
• Replacement of 12 existing rental units and older commercial space

More information on the development application can be found here.