Smart REIT (formerly Calloway REIT) has acquired Haney Place Mall, one of Maple Ridge’s largest enclosed shopping centres, for $57,600,000. The mall is 190,000 SF and is located in the town centre area of Maple Ridge. It was originally built in 1981 and renovated in 1993. Anchors include Thrifty Foods and a soon to be opened Walmart in the now vacant Target space. Rexall is one of the more recent tenants. The seller was Vancouver based Narland Properties.

Further detail regarding the sale can be found in this Maple Ridge News article.

A highly coveted office building and adjacent development site has sold to Peterson Group for $41,000,000. The property, located at the corner of Granville and West 10th Avenue, was owned by BMO and offered for sale by BMO through Form Retail in the spring of 2015.

The offering included the 5-storey, 45,000 SF office building built in 1973 on the corner anchored by BMO, and the adjacent 16,000 SF parking lot, which can be developed under the current RM-3 zoning. It was anticipated that BMO would enter into a 10-year leaseback as part of the deal.

A Kerrisdale retail building that was previously on the market for $4,980,000 has sold for $5,090,000. More commonly known to locals as the old Finn’s of Kerrisdale, the 5,081 SF building at 2159 West 41st Avenue sold for over $1,000 per SF to Yuan Fan International Group Inc. The property is zoned C-2 and is located in the heart of Kerrisdale’s 41st Ave retail stretch. This is not a record value for a Kerrisdale investment property; several buildings have traded for well over $1,000 per SF in the past few years.

A leasing brochure indicates that the new owner plans to renovate the building. Half of the retail has already been leased and the other unit is available for lease for $50.00 per SF.

An older 2-storey downtown building has sold in a $9,880,000 deal to Reliance Properties. Beatty Place, located at 837 Beatty Street between Robson and Smithe Streets, is a somewhat non-descript 15,000 SF building that most locals would know from the ticket broker on the bottom floor, or more recently the Bar Method, which is located on the second floor. The building is located on a 6,990 SF site. The building was sold by TPMG Capital.

There is no word yet on any renovation or redevelopment plans for the building. The zoning for the property is DD-C3, which permits a density of 5.0 FSR. Non-residential uses must not be less than 2.0 FSR.

The acquisition is just three blocks South of Reliance’s award-winning redevelopment of 564 Beatty Street, which saw redevelopment for office space above an older brick and beam heritage building.

As was reported in the media late last week, two major rezoning inquiries are going before the City of Vancouver’s Standing Committee on City Finance and Services on Wednesday; one was expected and one was a bit of a surprise within the industry. The inquiry stage simply confirms Council’s approval to proceed to a formal rezoning application stage.

Sinclair Centre

• 1.54 acre site
• Proposal to increase the density and height for commercial uses
• 1,100,000 SF of office space for Federal Gov’t (up from existing 390,000 SF)
• A density of 17.0 – 20.0 FSR
• Max height of 350 ft due to view cones (29 storeys)
• Existing CD-1 zoning proposed to be amended

Excerpt from the Policy Report explaining the heritage aspect:

• the former Main Post Office (built in 1910) — Municipally Designated and Federally Recognized Heritage Building, listed as an ‘A’
• the R.V. Winch Building (built in 1911) — Municipally Designated and Federally Recognized Heritage Building , listed as an ‘A
• the Customs Examining Warehouse (built in 1913) — Vancouver Heritage Register, listed as an ‘A,’ and Federally Recognized Heritage Building , listed as an ‘A,
• the Federal Building/Post Office Extension (built in 1936) — listed as a ‘B’ (but not designated).
• In 1986 the four buildings were restored by the Federal Government. While the buildings were seismically upgraded, they would not meet today’s standards and some portions of the buildings received very modest upgrades

Post Office Site

• 2.98 acre site acquired by bcIMC in 2013 for $159 Million
• Rezoning to allow reuse and retention of the existing building, with new residential and commercial uses
• Existing Post Office building would contain retail, office, hotel, residential lobbies
  and the blank granite walls would be modified to provide for pedestrian-oriented at-grade retail
• New building above would contain office, hotel, and rental/condo housing
• View cones limit building heights between 225 feet and 285 feet

Comment from the Policy Report on the heritage aspect: