As reported in the Financial Post today, Best Buy Canada will be closing 15 stores nationwide, following the lead of it’s counterparts in the US in an effort to reduce costs and focus on outlets with a smaller footprint.

Best Buy…”, which is closing stores in the British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario markets, will open a substantial, but unspecified number of its smaller Future Shop web stores and new Best Buy Mobile locations over the next three years across the country.”

The two Metro Vancouver locations affected are as follows:

• Queensborough Landing in New Westminster
• Morgan Crossing in South Surrey

An air space parcel at Robson and Denman containing 3 retail units has been sold by Canada Safeway. ‘The Shops on Robson’, 1716-1798 Robson Street was offered for sale by Safeway in the fall of 2012. The 13,203 sq ft property was built in 2008; is fully leased to Vancity, BC Liquor and CIBC, and is shadow anchored by the Safeway store located above. The $23,500,000 purchase price represents a 5.8% cap rate and a 6.3% cash-on-cash return. The buyer was a local investor.

After multiple offers were received late last year, it has been learned that bcIMC has been the successful purchaser of the 2.98 acre Canada Post site located at Homer and Georgia Streets in Downtown Vancouver. Udpate: the purchase price was $159 Million.

Here is the press release from bcIMC:

“bcIMC is pleased to confirm that we have purchased the Canada Post site at 349 West Georgia, a 2.98 acre city block in downtown Vancouver from Canada Post.

We see the Canada Post site as a long-term investment that provides a unique opportunity for a large-scale mixed-use development in a desirable and strategic location in downtown Vancouver. The purchase of this property is consistent with our strategy to invest in prime real estate with the potential to provide steady and attractive long-term returns for our pension plan clients.

A redevelopment of this scale requires extensive and careful planning. Redevelopment will commence once sufficient planning has been completed, required approvals have been received and market conditions support it. We look forward to working with the City of Vancouver as we move forward with our planning.

bcIMC is one of Canada’s largest institutional investment managers and is responsible for investing the assets of public sector pension plans within British Columbia. bcIMC invests more than $95-billion of managed gross assets. bcIMC has a long and successful track record of property ownership and real estate development.”

Old Plaza 500 Hotel may turn into rental suites.

The former Plaza 500 Hotel and Convention Centre on West 12th will likely be converted to rental apartments. In an email to the Courier, Nancy Eng, communications coordinator for the City of Vancouver, confirmed an application by development consultant Brook Pooni Associates to convert floors three to 17 into rental units has been approved by the city subject to conditions. If approved, the second floor will also be converted — from hotel use to office space.

The iconic property, kitty corner to city hall, was home to the Plaza 500 for decades but closed several years ago. It was later announced the property would become part of the Indigo chain, operated by InterContinental Hotels Group, which also manages Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels.

Apartment building market remains strong in Vancouver.

Prices and total sales are up, but the number of transactions is falling. That’s the picture of Vancouver’s apartment building market, according to the Goodman Report, produced by David and Mark Goodman.

In 2012, both overall dollar volume and the average price per suite hit record highs, David Goodman said in the report. The number of building sales is down 17 per cent in 2012 from 2011, but Goodman said this is not for a lack of buyers.

Scott Brown, senior vice-president of residential project marketing at Colliers International, said potential buyers outnumber sellers for many types of property.

“Vancouver certainly has more prospective buyers for A-Class locations than sellers,” Brown said. “This is true for land and development sites in great locations too.”