Rize surprise
The elimination of 34,000 square feet of retail space and its replacement with 95 new residential units in Rize Alliance Properties Ltd.’s project at Kingsway and Broadway is stirring concern – and not just in the surrounding Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.
Brian Jackson, general manager, planning and development for Vancouver, has recommended that the Rize proposal for the site – which underwent a controversial and hotly debated rezoning last year – receive extra scrutiny in light of the change of uses.
“The changes caught us by surprise, and therefore there are some good things and there are things that are causing us concern,” Jackson explained last week. “We have to look at the implications of that before I felt it was advisable to send it on.”
Consideration by the city’s urban design panel and development permit board of Rize’s application to redevelop the site with a mixed-use project including a 22-storey tower and 336 units of housing has consequently been deferred indefinitely.
Of particular concern is the elimination of commercial space previously slated for a co-op grocery store.
Word from the developer is that the food co-op was unable to secure financing for the space; Rize opted to eliminate the retail space rather than lease the space to a brand-name grocer that it felt the community didn’t want.
Rize vice-president Chris Vollan downplayed the extra scrutiny the project is receiving.
“Nothing too interesting to report,” he wrote this columnist last week. “City staff have asked for additional time to review the proposal, and I’m hoping we will be back on track pretty quickly.”
Jackson, however, declined to suggest when the project might proceed.
Lake front
Steady interest is being shown in Lake Okanagan Resort, recently listed by the specialized assets group at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada for just short of $15 million.
The 217-room property, just north of Kelowna on the west side of Lake Okanagan, underwent a million-dollar upgrade in 2011. Rooms were renovated and a 158-slip marina was added to the property.
Now, the marina, a nine-hole golf course, 15 acres of development lands and most other elements of the property – owned by Calgary’s Northwynd Resort Properties Ltd., which acquired it during the restructuring of Fairmont Resort Properties Ltd. in 2010 – are available to a savvy purchaser.
“Somebody who’s a good operator and is going to be hands-on – there’s a tremendous opportunity there,” said Mark Lester, who has the listing with Alan Johnson.
Lester added that the property presents a unique opportunity. “There’s considerably more investment that could take place.”
While the offering excludes a tranche of timeshare units, included are 250 acres and, best of all, the only licensed beach on Lake Okanagan.
“There’s a great opportunity,” Lester said. “But it’s a situation where somebody really has to understand what they’re buying; it’s not a passive investment.”
Done deal
Redstone Group has acquired a significant portfolio of four office properties in B.C. and two industrial properties in Brantford, Ontario, from Concert Properties Ltd.
The portfolio, listed earlier this year with the Vancouver office of Avison Young, recently sold for more than $100 million (the exact value was not disclosed). The transaction represents what Avison Young calls “the largest suburban office transaction in British Columbia since 2008.”
The portfolio includes 57.7 acres of land with just short of 714,800 square feet of space. Surrey Central Business Park is among the most significant assets in the portfolio.
Avison Young principal Michael Gill, who was intimately involved in the deal, said the offering generated significant interest. The transaction is a testament to the strong interest in income-producing commercial properties in B.C.
Concert chairman and CEO David Podmore said earlier this year that the offering aimed to realize the value of its existing holdings, while giving a buyer an opportunity to add value to the assets through leasing arrangements and additional development. •
