There’s a lot of buzz in the market right now about 2015 assessed values, particularly for residential which seem to be all over the map with respect to increases/decreases from 2014.

For most Vancouver commercial properties over the past decade, market values have been consistently higher than assessment values. There are multiple reasons for this phenomenon, the most obvious of which has been a market that has seen steady capital appreciation rates that continue ahead of the assessors.  Here’s a quick look at all of the office buildings that sold in Metro Vancouver in 2014 for over $2,000,000:

Note that in almost all cases, purchase prices fall in a range of 10-40% above assessed value, and only in rare cases do they fall below assessed values. (If you’re wondering why  411 Dunsmuir Street wasn’t included, it was fully renovated and sat vacant for over a year before being fully leased and sold earlier this year and traded for over 3 times assessed value.

1133 Barclay Street has been sold by Gordon Nelson Properties for $9,225,000 to a local investor. The purchase price represents a cap rate of 4.5% and a price per unit of approx. $300,000. The building was fully renovated including new stainless steel appliances, dishwashers, granite countertops, porcelain tiling and refinished floors. The building has an ideal location, but does not fall within the West End Plan’s potential rezoning area.

The building had been listed for sale for $9,898,000, and was sold by Matt Saunders and Steve Fame of Colliers in approx. 1 month.

While in the works now for over a year, plans for a new office tower just East of Waterfront Station have become public. Cadillac Fairview is planning a 26-storey tower at 555 West Cordova, a site most will be familiar with as the parking lot between The Station building and The Landing, where Steamworks is located. The site is already zoned DD and so only requires a development permit approval process.

An original version of the project had been slightly taller, but was then revised to respect a view cone after an initial review by the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee.

Details of the project include:

• a 26-storey tower with a total height of 417 feet
• 409,000 SF of commercial space
• a shared open courtyard with Watefront Station
• one level of underground parking accessed off the lane
• off-street parking shared with nearby Cadillac Fairview waterfront office properties

No word yet on pre-leasing activity. This project joins a handful of others at various stages of development, including 320 Granville Street one block West, which achieved rezoning in 2014, but has yet to go under construction.

This project certainly has location and potential views in its favour. Stay tuned for further updates.

A 48-unit apartment building known as El Toro Apartments at the Northeast corner of East 2nd Street and St. Andrews Avenue in the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver has sold for $9,900,000, or $206,250 per unit. The purchaser is a local private investor. The building had been listed for sale for $10,000,000 in the fall of 2014.

Photo by 604 City, Flickr