Great West Life has applied to the City of Vancouver to rezone a parkade at 753 Seymour Street (next to Vancouver Centre) for an office tower.

The proposal would allow for a 32-storey building with:

• 336,186 SF of office space with ground floor retail space
• 4 levels of above grade parking and six levels of underground parking
• a total density of 15 FSR (after inclusion of the existing buildings)
• a total height of 403.5 ft

More information here: http://former.vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/rezoning/applications/753seymour/index.htm

1952 Comox Street, a building known as “The Breakers” has sold to Hollyburn Properties for $16,350,000. The 10-storey, 61 unit building was built 1964.

La Maison Simons Inc. had been nestled in Quebec City for 159 years before fifth generation leader Peter Simons successfully expanded the retailer across the province.

But opening stores all the way to Vancouver is proving trickier for the president of the family-controlled business.

Simons is searching for prime locations in Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver as a new wave of foreign chains chases the most attractive retail spaces. And the privately held company can’t tap into the markets to finance its heavy investments amid rising borrowing costs.

The retail institution well known in Quebec for its unique mix of cheap-chic private labels and pricier designer lines must make a name for itself west of the Ottawa River. Outside its home province, it operates only one store, at the West Edmonton Mall.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/simons-crashes-canada-one-door-at-a-time/article14148615/

Richmond office market shows ‘slow but steady’ rebound – Richmond Review.

Richmond’s sky-high office vacancy rate has fallen to a five-year low but remains the highest in the region, according to a new report from Avison Young.

The firm’s Mid-Year 2013 Metro Vancouver Office Market Report pegs the vacancy rate at 17.3 per cent—4.5 per cent less than one year ago—demonstrating the local market’s continued slow recovery.

“Continued tightening of the Richmond vacancy rate remains a good news story for the market, which has seen a slow but steady rebound since 2010,” said Darrell Hurst, Avison Young principal, in a news release.

Surrey’s vacancy rate is close behind, at 16.7 per cent. The lowest rate belongs to downtown Vancouver, at 4.6 per cent, while Metro Vancouver’s average stood at 7.5 per cent after the first six months of 2013.

In its semi-annual survey, Avison Young noted vacancy in the Richmond market is at its lowest point since 2008 after peaking at 24.6 per cent.