STELLARTON, N.S. — Empire Company Ltd. announced a plan Wednesday to sell 68 Safeway properties in a sale-leaseback deal with Crombie REIT for $990 million in cash.

The company, which owns the country’s second-largest grocer Sobeys Inc., said the properties involved in the sale are located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Metro Vancouver Properties Sold:

In early June, Empire signed an agreement to buy more than 200 grocery stores from Canada Safeway Ltd. in a $5.8-billion deal. At the time, it said that it intended to finance the acquisition with a $1 billion sale-leaseback that it would first offer to Crombie REIT.

“We are pleased to announce this sale leaseback transaction between Sobeys and Crombie REIT,” Empire president and chief executive Paul Sobey said in a statement.

“The sale proceeds will be used by Sobeys to assist in the funding of the Canada Safeway acquisition which provides Sobeys with a much stronger presence in Western Canada and allows them to benefit from increased economies of scale.”

Read more: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/07/24/empire-sells-68-safeway-properties-to-crombie-reit-in-990m-deal/

As the West End Community Plan is emerging, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the largest lots in the West End. There aren’t many large lots; in fact, of privately held properties, there are less than 10 of an acre or more.  Here are the 40 largest parcels in the West End, by land area (SF):

All of the above properties are improved with sizable income producing (mostly apartment) properties that won’t likely be redeveloped anytime soon; however, many of these, and many smaller lots (of which there are over 500), will see some activity in the coming years as part of the West End Plan. Here is the City’s depiction of what the West End might look like in 30 years once built out per current policy:

Contact us if you would like to know more about the WECP and where are the opportunities are.

The Vancouver Honda dealership property at 850 SW Marine Drive has sold for $12,925,000 to Value Group Properties. The 2.1 acre site has over 460 feet of frontage on SW Marine Drive and a 2-storey, 45,621 square foot auto retail building occupied by Vancouver Honda. The dealership will lease back the property. The zoning for the property is I-2.

A 36-unit building at the corner of Nelson and Bute Streets in the West End of Downtown Vancouver has sold for $13,000,000. The building was originally constructed in the 1930’s but was fully renovated in 2010/2011. The cap rate was 4.15%. The buyer was Belmont Properties.

Small-business owners want B.C.’s new Christy Clark government to intervene in the marketplace and limit rent increases on commercial properties. The proposed changes to the province’s Commercial Tenancy Act would kick in when leases for small-business owners expire and would be aimed at providing property rent stability for independent businesses.

The idea of rent control, however, has plenty of critics because it flies in the face of free enterprise.

“There are reasons to regulate commercial leases,” said Mary Brookes, who owns Sophie’s Pet Palace on Commercial Drive. “One is to protect small businesses who employ locally, use local suppliers and create jobs, which has spinoff benefits.”

Vancouver Island University geography professor Don Alexander, who has co-written papers on the concept of commercial rent control, agreed.

“Small businesses contribute an enormous amount to the local economy because the money circulates more than if it goes to a chain store,” he said. “Small businesses are a benefit to social well-being and possibly to environmental well-being, so there’s a rationale in not allowing these guys to be as scarce as hen’s teeth.”