A development proposal in Marpole for a 21,160 SF at West 63rd Avenue and Manitoba is taking advantage of gentle densification now permitted in the Marpole Community Plan.

The proposal by Belford Properties anticipates turning four single family lots, recently rezoned by the City to RM-8 zoning, into 18 townhouse units in two rows of buildings above one level of underground parking. Nine of the units fronting the lane have basement-units that can be locked off for separate suites. The maximum allowable density in the RM-8 zone is 1.20 FSR.

• The site is 184′ x 115′
• The gross buildable area is 25,518 SF

Polygon Homes has applied to rezone the Mountain Court multifamily complex in North Vancouver for a new multi-phase strata and rental complex in four 5-storey buildings. Mountain Court is an aging apartment complex built in 1968 on a 4.13 acre site located just south of Lynn Valley Centre. This sits next to Polygon’s Canyon Springs project; currently under construction and expected to be completed in 2016.

The District of North Vancouver’s Official Community Plan allows a total density on this site of 2.5 FSR, and the more recent Lynn Valley Town Centre Flexible Planning Framework allows buildings up to 5-storeys.

The proposal includes:

• Phase one:
  • a 75-unit market rental building (1:1 unit replacement, this is the CAC for the development)
  • a 68-unit strata building
• Phase two:
  • two buildings totaling 178 units
• A total of 321 units (76% two and three bedrooms)
• A total of 372,072 SF
• A density of 1.82 FSR

It is anticipated that this will be built out over a five year period.

Oceanside Apartments, a 23-unit apartment building in the West End, has sold for $8,195,000. The 3-storey walkup, also known as Oceanside Hotel, was listed for $8,495,000. The listing brochure indicated that the property had been operated more recently as a hotel and that the Property “can be delivered vacant to a Buyer providing a rare opportunity for an investor to hand-pick tenants and rent out the renovated suites at true market levels.”

The cap rate was 4.4%, and the price per unit was $327,800. Both the seller and buyer were local private investors.

An application has been submitted by L & A Real Estate Investment to rezone a 20,080 SF site at 6318-6340 Cambie Street from RT-2 to CD-1 to allow an 8-storey mixed-use building and seven townhouses, including:

• 50 residential units;
• 14 One-Bedrooms, 25 Two-Bedrooms and 11 Three-Bedrooms
• commercial space at grade;
• a maximum building height of 95 ft.;
• a density of 3.25 FSR; and
• 61 underground parking spaces.

The requested density is the limit under the current Cambie Corridor Plan designation for this area (2.25-3.25). The architect for the project is Integra Architecture.

The project will sit across the street from two 8-storey projects already complete or near completion including: Forty Nine West, and Prelude (completed 2014).

With the news today that St. Paul’s will move to it’s new location, it has been indicated that Providence Health Care will use the sale or lease of the existing Burrard Street location to help contribute to its share of the $1.2 Billion False Creek Flats project.

So how much is the Burrard site worth?

First, an overview of the site:

• Site Area: 292,235 SF, or 6.7 acres
• Existing Zoning: DD – Downtown District (Sub Area G)
• Permitted Density: 6.0 FSR (office not to exceed 5.0 FSR), or 1,753,410 SF (under current zoning)
• Allowable Height: 300 ft (with discretionary increase to 450 ft)
• View Cones: View cone C1 (Laurel Landbridge to the Lions) bisects the site as depicted below and likely limits much of the site to at or near the 300 ft. limit (30-storeys for residential)
• Current Tax Assessment Value (Land Only): $465,004,000

Rezoning potential is unknown at this stage, but the current zoning would appear to support a residential/mixed-use development up to 1.75 Million SF. A preliminary valuation based on this cursory highest and best use analysis yields the following value:

292,235 SF x 6.0 FSR x $250 per buildable SF =

$438,000,000

Now, if the site were rezoned to say 10.0 FSR, with a Community Amenity Contribution or social housing component:

Based on rezoning to 10.0 FSR

292,235 x 10.0 FSR x ($250 per buildable SF less $75 per SF CAC) =

$511,000,000