A recent B.C. Supreme Court decision has paved the way for owners of an apartment and townhouse complex in North Vancouver to sell to a developer – despite the wishes of some owners to stay put.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon recently sided with the majority of owners of Seymour Estates on Lytton Street, who asked the court to approve the sale of the entire property.

That decision satisfied the vast majority of owners, who argued in court they’ll get more money by selling as a group than they could individually and avoid potentially costly repair bills as the 40-year-old complex ages.

For a small group of owners, however, the decision could force them to move off the North Shore, where they have community ties, if they can’t find similar affordable housing – or out of the housing market entirely.

Read more: http://www.nsnews.com/news/judge-backs-forced-sale-of-north-vancouver-complex-1.810849

The City of New Westminster is optimistic it will sell Merchant Square, if this year’s budget is any indication.

Colleen Ponzini, the city’s manager of financial services, said the 2014 budget projects the sale of the Merchant Square officer tower that’s now under construction on Columbia Street. If the city doesn’t sell the office tower, she said the city would see a “significant increase” in bank charges related to the loan authorization bylaw.

“The plan is to have it sold, and we pay it back in this current year,” she told council at its Jan. 20 committee of the whole meeting.

According to Ponzini, the city will be incurring some new debt under the loan authorization bylaw. She said a good portion of the $570,000 debt would be for Anvil Centre and the office tower.

New Westminster city council received a staff report on the 2014 to 2018 financial plan, which includes the 2014 budget. The city is proposing a 1.28 per cent tax increase in 2014, which would rise to 2.59 per cent if a number of priority initiatives proposed by staff are included.

Read more: http://www.royalcityrecord.com/new-westminster-aims-to-sell-merchant-square-in-2014-1.795848#sthash.QG644KYy.dpuf