B.C. grape growers are looking for a little more heat to draw their vineyards along this summer, after a cool, wet spring delayed the start of the growing season two to three weeks.
Vineyard real estate, on the other hand, is starting to feel some decent warmth that owners believe makes offerings ripe for the market.
Black Hills Estate Winery on Black Sage Road south of Oliver recently announced its first offering of limited partnership units in four years. Black Hills, whose red-blend Nota Bene has garnered a cult following, saw significant buy-in from North Shore investors in 2007. The latest share offering is meant to garner funds for further investment in its vineyards and operations.
Painted Rock Estate Winery, meanwhile, is seeing renewed interest from developers in a 14-acre parcel adjacent to its winery and vineyards overlooking Skaha Lake just south of Penticton.
The property was listed with Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. in spring 2010 for $4.25 million, but owner John Skinner wasn’t in a rush to sell.
“I wanted to put it out there to see who and what was interested,” he said. “If I sell it to someone, it has to be what the market is ready for at that particular time.”
The parcel is contiguous with a 15-acre tract, Skinner said, creating an opportunity to develop a comprehensive plan for the site that complements the winery and vineyard operation, which is separate. Proceeds from the sale would support further development of the winery business.
“It would make great sense for whoever I do a deal with on the other property to work on some comprehensive plan,” he said.
Penticton council supports some form of housing for the site; Skinner is also discussing the possibility of a boutique hotel with another group that’s been active at the south end of the valley.
“But there’s got to be a market for it,” he said. “We can’t push against a string.”
While critics continue to mobilize opposition to Rize Alliance Properties Ltd.’s planned 19-storey tower at 180 Kingsway, a number of smaller projects are being discussed that also promise to give the so-called Uptown district at the heart of Mount Pleasant a higher profile.
Concord Pacific’s eponymous Uptown condo project at Kingsway and Prince Edward is on the go, while the existing three-storey office building at 133 East 8th Avenue is slated to be replaced with a six-storey building with commercial at grade and 45 residences. A rezoning application is afoot across the back lane for 138 East 7th Avenue, which seeks to allow a building of up to 60 feet, accommodating offices and a school for “arts or self-improvement.”
The projects come on the heels of residential projects by Amacon and Onni on the east side of Main Street, both of which predate adoption of the new Mount Pleasant Community Plan in November 2010.
Completion of the plan coincided with an upswing in transaction activity. According to RealNet Canada Inc., there were no deals in Mount Pleasant in 2009, eight deals last year and two in the first five months of this year.
Strong investor demand has bumped up apartment sales in Vancouver for the first six months of 2011 versus the same period last year.
David and Mark Goodman of HQ Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. report that 52 buildings changed hands in Metro Vancouver versus 40 in the first half of 2010. The balance shifted in favour of the suburbs, with 28 transactions in the ’burbs totalling $193.2 million – a 207% increase over the first half of 2010. Vancouver, on the other hand, saw 24 sales valued at just $109 million – a decrease in dollar terms of 18%.
The Goodmans said demand for suburban properties is linked to cheap financing, overseas demand and developers securing older buildings on sites with good redevelopment potential.