Metrotower III relaunched
Ivanhoe Cambridge is again proceeding with Metrotower III, a project stalled at the podium level in 1991 and relaunched in 2008 before being halted within months by the global economic turmoil that struck late that year.
Gord Wylie, senior director, development for Ivanhoe Cambridge, said the project is back on track thanks to a construction contract that mandates a spring 2014 completion date. The project is worth $170 million and will offer 400,000 square feet on spec to tenants. Pre-leasing a tower is difficult in Burnaby, Wylie explained, given the long construction window in a market where quickly built campus-style developments are prevalent.
A key aspect of the project is that the U.S. Green Building Council has pre-certified it LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) platinum. Based on design documents and construction documents, the project will be LEED platinum on construction. (Pre-certification is not available from the Canada Green Building Council.)
“We know with confidence we’re going to be a LEED platinum building,” Wylie said. “A lot of other buildings aim for [it], but they have to do it after they’ve completed the building.”
Thanks to the incorporation of energy-saving systems within the building, validation of the design credits also guarantees tenants a LEED silver rating to any tenants seeking certification of their commercial interiors.
“If a tenant comes into our building, at no cost to them other than the cost to submit their documentation, they can achieve LEED silver on their commercial interiors,” Wylie said.
The result is green office space that’s effectively plug-and-play. And, lest the idea sound far-fetched, Ivanhoe Cambridge corporate sibling SITQ won LEED platinum pre-certification for Eighth Avenue Place in Calgary, a 1.1 million-square-foot office tower that opened in April 2011.
Cash corner
The former Bank of Montreal building at Main and Broadway is returning to the money business with the lease of the premises to Cash Money Inc., a national payday loan company – or, as its website puts it, “an alternative financial services provider.”
Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. broker Chris Newton noted that Cash Money is seeking to distinguish itself from existing payday loan companies, conscious that there’s a need “to change how they are perceived.” When the company opens its doors in the new year, it will be going head-to-head with Money Mart and Instacash, both of which are a short walk east on Broadway.
Cash coiffe
Newton and fellow brokers at Cushman & Wakefield have been in the cash business themselves lately: An incriminating photo of the brokerage team arrived in the Roundup’s in-box with a note that the hirsute upper lips of 95% of the firm’s gentlemen – affectionately called the “Cushman Bushmen” – garnered more than $57,000 during last month’s Movember fundraiser for men’s cancers.
While residents of Europe are no doubt preoccupied with deeper financial issues, it’s worth noting that the office surpassed the Movember fundraising tally of Belgium and the combined total of Spain and the Czech Republic.
Senior opportunities
Vancouver-based Amica Mature Lifestyles Inc. expects to close its $70.5 million purchase of the Quinte Gardens, a 239-unit luxury retirement residence in Belleville, Ontario, in January. Amica’s portfolio includes two dozen residences, and while the Belleville acquisition strengthens its Ontario holdings, opportunities also lie closer to home.B.C. regional economist Carol Frketich reported at the recent Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. outlook conferences in Vancouver and Victoria that locations on Vancouver Island such as Victoria would see the greatest increase in residents aged 65 years or older over the next decade.
Seniors will account for 23% of Victoria’s population by 2021, up from 17.2% today, while in B.C. the proportion will increase to 19% from 15% today. Seniors will account for 13.9% of Vancouver residents, up from 13.6% today.
Seniors as a component of overall immigration is most significant in Nanaimo, accounting for 8% of new residents based on the current five-year average, compared with just 1.7% in Vancouver. Provincewide, seniors account for 3.1% of new arrivals. •
