The Vancouver Business Thread

[madog222]

Vancouver concrete strike averted — for now — after union and company agree to mediation

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news...ter-union-and-company-agree-to-mediation

[LeftCoaster]

Huge relief, I hope mediation proves fruitful.

A concrete strike would prove a huge problem for the hosing situation.

[Changing City]

Subject to federal approval, and CWB shareholders, National Bank are swallowing Canadian Western Bank. Presumably that will mean the CWB office on West Georgia is no longer needed.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Subject to federal approval, and CWB shareholders, National Bank are swallowing Canadian Western Bank. Presumably that will mean the CWB office on West Georgia is no longer needed.

RBC has been switching all HSBC branches to RBC locations. Even the one on Pacific and Davie became RBC when there is an RBC across the street. Although the old HSBC location was a better spot, the old RBC may close but hasn't yet.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

RBC has been switching all HSBC branches to RBC locations. Even the one on Pacific and Davie became RBC when there is an RBC across the street. Although the old HSBC location was a better spot, the old RBC may close but hasn't yet.

I assume rationalization of branches (and offices) may take a while after mergers like this, but as leases come up for renewal the opportunity for consolidation occurs. RBC closed 25 HSBC branches in their amalgamation, but retained over 100 as RBC branches.

National and CWB both have new (to them) premises - National are in the Exchange Building on Pender. They anticipate annual savings of $270m a year in the newly combined operation - presumably quite a lot of that is staff, but no doubt some will be office and branch space.

[officedweller]

The retail branch of CWB at the Grosvenor Building is pretty prominent. I wonder if they'd keep that one.

[teriyaki]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The retail branch of CWB at the Grosvenor Building is pretty prominent. I wonder if they'd keep that one.

They just took over as the principle building tenant as well, erecting a giant CWB logo at the top of the building. Believe building renovations are on-going and lobby renovations are in-order there. Having worked there some years ago, it desperately needs renovations for sure.

The location isn't too close to the National Bank location though I don't think so maybe not a major conflict for the retail banking operation. For office space though, that might be a different story if they start consolidating staff and shedding overall staff numbers.

[officedweller]

I was thinking the same. Keep the retail branch but consolidate offices.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I was thinking the same. Keep the retail branch but consolidate offices.

CWB took 21,394 SF on West Georgia. National Bank back in 2015 took 45,000 square feet.

[jollyburger]

After occupying a flagship location on the North Vancouver waterfront for more than 40 years, ICBC has announced it will be packing up its headquarters there in 2027.

But what will replace it is so far being kept under wraps – pending an anticipated announcement.

The Crown corporation told employees Thursday it will vacate the 300,000-square-foot, six-story office tower on Esplanade Avenue for newer digs across Burrard Inlet at 2150 Keith Drive in Vancouver, a new building going up adjacent to the VCC Clark SkyTrain station.

The new Vancouver office will be about half the size of the one on the North Vancouver waterfront. ICBC has signed a 15-year lease, with options to renew.

The Crown corporation first announced it would be leaving its North Shore headquarters in 2022.


Spokesman Brent Shearer said with most of its 1,500 head office employees working from home part-time, having a huge office didn’t make sense anymore.

Currently, the North Vancouver office is only occupied between 20 to 40 per cent on any given day, he said.

When they do come to the office, 70 per cent of head office workers are commuting from off the North Shore.

While ICBC won’t be moving for another three years, the biggest question is what will happen to the prime waterfront property.

Shearer said an announcement about that is expected “soon.”

It’s believed that some kind of transit-oriented housing or neighbourhood development involving the province is the most likely scenario.

The four-decade-old office building at 151 West Esplanade is known to be in poor shape.

Eight years ago, a leaked report prepared by ICBC at the direction of the previous Liberal government indicated the costs of maintenance and upgrades to be around $184 million, including $36 million for seismic upgrades.

North Vancouver MLA Bowinn Ma mused previously about the land potentially playing a part in future transit-oriented housing development. Ma also indicated at the time she’d like to see the land stay public rather than being sold off to private development interests.

City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan has also indicated the city is keen to discuss future uses of the land with the province.

Neither Ma or Buchanan were immediately available to comment on future plans for the site.

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/icbc-v...rth-vancouver-waterfront-in-2027-9081970

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/icbc-v...rth-vancouver-waterfront-in-2027-9081970

Keep in mind that this is the one of many potential ICBC relocations that have happened over the years.

ICBC was originally supposed to be at Douglas College in New West. Then the province gave the building away.

Then they were supposed to move into the Central City in Surrey. Then the province gave the building to TechBC which turned into SFU Surrey.

Third time's the charm?

[RedArbutus]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

Keep in mind that this is the one of many potential ICBC relocations that have happened over the years.

ICBC was originally supposed to be at Douglas College in New West. Then the province gave the building away.

Then they were supposed to move into the Central City in Surrey. Then the province gave the building to TechBC which turned into SFU Surrey.

Third time's the charm?

Hopefully. The province doesn't own the building they're moving into and ICBC has signed a (long-term) lease, so it's reasonable to assume this is set in stone. But a lot can happen in the three years before moving in, so....

[djmk]

unpopular opinion maybe, but I always liked this building and found it very interesting from the outside at least.

I constantly park in the parkade, use that walkway over esplanade, and use the bus depot. I believe I even watched fireworks from a deck on that building once.

There is something different and fun about these 80's buildings

[whatnext]

Vancity trimming its workforce by 7%. It reminds me of the time way back when I had a mortgage with them and was trying to negotiate the best renewal rate. The agent said something like "I get the impression you're trying to get the lowest rate, don't you understand we're trying to save the whales" or somesuch. Needless to say I took the mortgage elsewhere.

Layoffs at Vancity Credit Union leave nearly 200 employees jobless
Megan Devlin
Jun 13 2024

Vancity Credit Union has laid off nearly 200 employees in a restructuring move that trims its workforce by 7%.

The Vancouver-based financial services institution announced the layoffs Thursday, saying all staff affected will receive severance packages and have their health and dental benefits continue for three months.

Wellington Holbrook, Vancity’s president and CEO, said the decision was made to “align Vancity’s business with our current market conditions.”...

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancity-credit-union-layoffs

[jollyburger]

British Columbia's Whitewater Concrete, a concrete products and services provider for contractors and developers, appears to be headed towards ceasing all operations, according to court documents filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Whitewater Concrete was founded by Brian Smith and his two sons, Craig Smith and Kyle Smith, who are currently the company's two managing partners. The company is based out of a facility located at 145 Golden Drive in Coquitlam.

https://storeys.com/whitewater-concrete-developments-receivership/

[jollyburger]

Greystar in early stages of Canadian expansion

Greystar’s goal is to expand into other Canadian markets through both development and its property management business.

“Greystar does not own or manage any other Canadian properties,” Wilbeck said. “However, we are in active discussions to grow our third-party property management business before the end of the year.”

Greystar’s Canadian growth strategy also includes building conventional multifamily and purpose-built student housing in a range of styles, including wood-frame and concrete highrise, to provide diverse housing options to renters.

In addition to expanding Greystar’s Canadian presence, Wilbeck will also be responsible for ensuring the successful execution of business strategies and practices to meet the firm's financial, investment and operational objectives. Wilbeck will report to David Reid, Greystar’s senior managing director of development.

“Our Canadian team is growing quickly,” Wilbeck wrote.

He joined Greystar in 2021 after previously serving as managing director for Hines, where he was responsible for sourcing and executing development projects in Western Canada.

“We currently have 15 people on our team, with 12 based in British Columbia and three in Ontario, and we anticipate adding more team members in the near future.”

https://renx.ca/greystar-in-early-stages-of-canadian-expansion

[jollyburger]

“We Bogged The Whole Thing Down”: Anthem Properties' Eric Carlson Talks Roadblocks In Homebuilding

“The approval process is brutal today. That's the biggest change. And it really accelerated in the last seven years, eight years,” says Carlson. “The planners go to school, and they used to be taught how to how to get stuff done. And now they're taught how to protect the cities from developers. It’s much more intrusive, I think. They’re good people, it's just how they're taught. “You’ve got pro-growth, you’ve got anti-growth, and you've got a strong belief that the political framework can fix things, like rising prices through regulation. And it can't. It just bogs things down and the belief that regulation can solve problems is much more prevalent today than it was when I started in the business, when there was much more of a [attitude of], ‘well, we need developers to do this, so we'll work with them.’”

Working for Schroeder, he saw a trailer park property get rezoned and redeveloped into a shopping mall in just a little over a year. Today, he says, that would take around six years. Carlson believes that the drawn-out timelines to build, exacerbated by permitting processes and building codes, as well as the ever-shifting landscape of government policies, have created a “bogged down” situation that thwarts supply.

The federal increase on capital gains, for example, will turn off investors who are needed for the presale model to succeed. As well, the federal ban on foreign buyers, he says, didn’t result in reduced prices. There are many provincial policies also aimed at curbing speculation and investment demand, such as a 20% foreign buyers’ tax, a tax on homes valued at more than $3M, and the speculation and vacancy tax, on homes left empty for six months of the year. There’s an upcoming provincial flipping tax on homes sold in under 730 days. And amid the challenge of demand-side policies, all levels of government look to developers to provide below-market housing, with increasing community amenity contributions and other levies, he says.

Simply put, if they can’t cover costs fast enough, the numbers don’t work, and then the projects don’t go forward, says Carlson.

https://storeys.com/anthem-properties-carlson-development-roadblocks/

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

https://storeys.com/anthem-properties-carlson-development-roadblocks/

Isn't Anthem the one that keeps kicking the CAC can down the road for their project on Alberni...?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Isn't Anthem the one that keeps kicking the CAC can down the road for their project on Alberni...?

Well partially they paid $15 million of the $26.1 million

https://vancouversun.com/business/real-e...another-extension-on-10-million-city-fee

[whatnext]

I alluded to BC mega-projects winding down in another thread. Site C has entered the home stretch, with the reservoir expected to begin filling at the end of this month:

Last milestone on Site C dam starts this month
Reservoir will take four months to fill, first generator to turn on in December
Nelson Bennett Nelson Bennett
Aug 12, 2024 4:30 PM

Nearly a decade ago, in the summer of 2015, work began on the Site C hydro-electric dam in the Peace River Valley.

At the end of this month, the last stage of the $16-billion dam project starts with the filling of a newly created 80-kilometre reservoir in the Peace River Valley, and by the end of this year, in December, BC Hydro expects to turn on the first of six generating stations.

“Essentially all the construction areas of the project that need to be done to start reservoir filling are done,” said Greg Alexis, communications manager for the Site C dam.

The dam project is currently about 87 per cent complete. Peak employment was reached in June last year with 6,000 workers. That workforce was down by half to 3,000 in June this year....

https://www.biv.com/news/resources-agric...-on-site-c-dam-starts-this-month-9341863