By Frances Bula – courtesy of the Globe & Mail

A local investor group has acquired 1827 West 5th Avenue, a 2-storey office building and parking lot located on West 5th Avenue in the Kitsilano area just west of Burrard Street. The building is 11,300 sq ft and is fully leased to KPMG for a term of two years with three one year renewal options.The site area is 11,200 sq ft.

The purchase price was $6,280,000, representing a 5.0% cap rate on existing income. The zoning for the property is RM-4 and C-3A, which permits redevelopment in the future.

Does Vancouver’s hot investment market make building a better option?.

Consistent demand and high lease values in Vancouver’s downtown office and retail property markets combined with low interest rates continue to fuel a sizzling investment market.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the investment market this robust, vibrant and strong. We get multiple bids on everything and anything,” says Ross Moore, director of research for CBRE Canada.

Vancouver planner wants to end ad hoc approach to developer fees.

Vancouver’s new director of planning wants to get rid of the city’s contentious method of negotiating with developers over fees they are required to pay for public services.

Brian Jackson, who starts his job as the general manager of planning and development Aug. 27, said the current “one-by-one” method of negotiating so-called community amenity contributions with individual developers is both unproductive and divisive. Instead, he wants the city to institute a system that allows developers to know up front what they’ll have to pay for parks, daycares and other needed community services.

A review of resales data for newer condos in Downtown Vancouver (2 years old or less) shows that sales activity has slowed since the beginning of 2012 but pricing has maintained an average around $800 per sq ft.

The vast majority of sales are between $600 and $1,000 per sq ft depending on the building/unit quality and location, with some sales such as units in The Erickson and Fairmon Pacific Rim showing sales values above $2,000 per SF. One can speculate that given a slowdown in sales activity, pricing will be affected eventually, particularly at the lower end of the spectrum where there are competing new developments in presales and/or under construction.

Source: MLS