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.”

New Westminster News Leader – New Westminster IGA to close.

The IGA Marketplace grocery store in New Westminster will close later this year.

Scott Coburn, vice-president for H.Y. Louie Company (operators of the store) said although the company would like to remain operating at the 1025 Columbia St. location, the decision was made to shut because it is no longer financially viable.

 On Jan. 17, the company gave six months’ notice to the property’s owner that it will be closing down. Coburn said for the last year the costs of labour, operating and rental exceeded the revenue generated.

“We have been unable to recover from this decrease in sales,” said Coburn. Read more: http://www.newwestnewsleader.com/news/187782891.html

From the Globe and Mail:

H&R Retail Real Estate Investment Trust believes now is the time to take over Primaris Retail Real Estate Investment Trust, with Target Corp. about to kick off an invasion of Canada by foreign retailers, H&R’s CEO says.

By way of its bid, H&R is seeking to get bigger and stronger at a time when the mall ownership game is changing, Tom Hofstedter, the CEO of H&R, told analysts on a conference call Thursday morning.

In a note prior to the conference call, Royal Bank of Canada analyst Neil Downey wrote that executives at H&R would be under pressure Thursday to show investors how the firm would benefit from the takeover.

It appears that H&R is banking on the size of the merged businesses and organic income growth from Primaris’s portfolio, but “the story is complex, and at least initially, it will require some “selling” to the market,” Mr. Downey wrote.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/hr-ceo-says-time-right-for-primaris-bid-as-target-invasion-looms/article7460599/

Colliers’ Q4 2012 retail report shows that the Metro Vancouver retail leasing market sustained healthy growth heading into 2013. Notable highlights from the Colliers retail report.:

• From a leasing perspective, there was a spike in activity with many international, national and eclectic retailers looking for space. This is evident through the vacancy rate decreasing to 3.5% this quarter from 3.9% in the second quarter of 2012.
• The most notable changes in vacancy were in Squamish decreasing from 7.1 to 3.3 percent; Chilliwack decreasing from 10.9 to 9.3 percent; North Delta decreasing from 5.9 to 3.6 percent; and Richmond decreasing from 6.2 to 4.7 percent.
• Both transactional sales volume and deal velocity maintained a steady pace through the last quarter of 2012. From the fourth quarter of 2011 to the end of the third quarter of 2012, 125 transactions closed in the improved retail property category (for properties valued over $1 million).
• Harbour Centre unveiled plans for a multi-million dollar redevelopment of the landmark Harbour Centre building in Downtown Vancouver. In the spring of 2013, they will embark on an extensive redevelopment of the food court, a refresh of the lower level common area, and a newly revitalized streetscape of the complex.