A 14-unit apartment building in the South Granville area has sold for $4,000,000, representing a 3.4% cap rate and $286,000 per unit. The building had originally been listed for $5,000,000, but the price was later reduced to $4,400,000. The building, known as St. Charles Apartments, was built in 1927 but was substantially renovated.

The office building known as the Ravensong Community Health Centre located at 2450 Ontario Street has sold to Vedado Properties headed by Chip Wilson of Lululemon. The 38,000 SF office building sold for $15,350,000, or $405 per SF. The building is fully leased to Vancouver Coastal Health, representing a 4.7% cap rate on the deal.

Manulife Real Estate acquires Aldergrove Village Shopping Centre in Langley, BC.

“LANGLEY, BC, March 6, 2013 /CNW/ – Manulife Real Estate has acquired Aldergrove Village Shopping Centre, a 91,517-square-foot retail property in Langley, British Columbia, for C$29.25 million in a deal that closed March 5, 2013. The property was purchased for its Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio, a core, open-end, income producing real estate investment fund that invests in quality Canadian commercial real estate assets managed by Manulife Real Estate. The Fund is offered to institutional investors through Manulife Asset Management, the global asset management arm of Manulife Financial.

“Manulife is pleased to be able to put our long established real estate expertise to work in a platform that allows investors to take advantage of what has been a sound asset class for the Company for the last seven decades,” said Kevin Adolphe, Global Head of Private Asset Management for Manulife Financial and President and CEO of Manulife Real Estate. “We’ve had great interest in our fund platform since it launched in February 2011 and we’re encouraged by the significant capital we’ve raised to date for the Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio. We are well positioned for continued growth.”

Located in Greater Vancouver’s Langley Township, Aldergrove Village Shopping Centre enjoys prime exposure on the Fraser Highway. The multi-tenanted shopping centre is anchored by Save-On-Foods and Shoppers Drug Mart, two top Canadian retailers, which occupy 46 per cent of the 91,517 square feet of commercial retail space.”

PCI Group has sold two office buildings located at 3033 Beta Avenue and 4606 Canada Way in Burnaby, two properties that they acquired only last year. The combined sale price was $27,470,000, representing $250 per SF, and a cap rate of approximately 6.0%.

3033 Beta Avenue

Canadians have and continue to be taking advantage of a dollar near par and could be setting themselves up for not only some great real estate deals, but also some excellent returns on a currency play.  The National Post explains.

“According to the most recent study released by the National Association of Realtors, Canadians made up the largest share of foreign purchasers of US real estate, accounting for 24% of all international sales, surpassing China (11%) and Mexico (9%) combined. In total, international buyers purchased $82.5 billion in US real estate during the year ending March 2012, up from $66.4-billion in 2011.”

View the full article HERE.