The Vancouver Business Thread

[jollyburger]

Details on the filling process:

It will take approximately four months for the water to reach its full depth, and the depth will vary: 52 metres close to the dam, 36 metres at Halfway River, and 18 metres near Hudson’s Hope.

During reservoir filling, the reservoir will fill at a varying rate of 0.3 metres to three metres per day.

The Site C reservoir will be filled using water already stored in and released from the Williston Reservoir. Drought and a below-average snowpack will not affect plans to fill the Site C reservoir in 2024.

https://www.sitecproject.com/reservoir

[jollyburger]

They were late on some payment on some property in LA but they had an update on all their projects/land sales.

Between the time of the default notice and the default being cured, the property at 2211 West 4th Avenue in Vancouver was announced as sold by Marcus & Millichap. The vendor was not disclosed, but the property was beneficially owned by Bonnis Properties through 2211 W4 Properties Inc. The property was sold to Toronto-based Salthill Capital for an undisclosed price.

The property is one of many that Bonnis Properties has sold or made available for purchase over the past year.

In November, Bonnis sold 728-796 Main Street — where they were planning an 11-storey building with strata and social housing, according to a rezoning application for the site — for upwards of $20 million to the Hogan's Alley Society.

Following that, as first reported by STOREYS, they listed 798 Granville Street for sale, a prominent retail complex at the intersection of Granville Street and Robson Street in the heart of downtown Vancouver. That property has not yet been sold, but there are groups actively looking at the property, Bonnis tells STOREYS.

Also on Granville Street, where the company owns numerous properties, Bonnis Properties made the decision to cancel the high-profile commercial development that was planned for 800-876 Granville Street, as first reported by STOREYS in April.

That decision was attributed to the tough office market, which has also resulted in Bonnis cancelling two other office tower projects it was developing. Those two projects are Profile Robson, planned for 600 Robson Street, and the 24-storey office tower planned for 526 Granville Street, both of which were envisioned to be strata office projects.

"The brilliance of the federal government and unprecedented multiple rate hikes, it basically annihilated that market and made it no longer feasible for people to own and occupy their office space, which is a real shame for those smaller office occupiers," says Bonnis, who adds that they have sold 600 Robson Street to an "international hotelier" and are looking to sell 526 Granville Street.

Elsewhere in Vancouver, Bonnis is also currently developing 602-644 Kingsway, which had a rezoning application for a six-storey rental building with 80 units approved by Council in June 2021. Bonnis tells STOREYS that they are currently in the process of submitting a new rezoning application for the site in the coming weeks, in order to take advantage of the new density allowed under the Broadway Plan.

https://storeys.com/bonnis-propertie...geles-default/

[GenWhy?]

I swear 644 Kingsway and 796 Main Street have had 3 different designs and rezoning apps since 2017.

[jollyburger]

Toronto-based Starlight Investments has acquired a high-profile rental building in the West End of Vancouver, as the company continues to expand its portfolio in British Columbia.

Starlight announced the acquisition in June, but did not identify the vendor or disclose the acquisition price, and the transaction has gone unreported by media.

https://storeys.com/vancouver-lauren...son-starlight/

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

https://storeys.com/vancouver-lauren...son-starlight/

Westbank burning the furniture to keep the lights on?

We know Kengo Kuma has a ton of units for sale, how many are still held by them? The Butterfly, with the same buyer profile is close to occupancy…?.

[jollyburger]

Unions face uphill battle organizing Amazon warehouses in Canada: experts

On the other side of the country, another union is embroiled in an unfair labour practice complaint against Amazon.

Unifor applied to certify an Amazon warehouse in Delta, B.C., and a confidential vote was held at the end of May.

The results of that vote are sealed due to Unifor’s complaint, which alleges Amazon ramped up hiring to try to dilute union support.

The union also alleges Amazon engaged in anti-union efforts similar to those addressed by Quebec’s labour tribunal, in particular anti-union messaging.

The company has denied the allegations.

Justin Gniposky, Unifor’s director of organizing, said Amazon initially sought to prevent the vote from going ahead, unsuccessfully.

The company then asked for the current complaint to be dismissed, also unsuccessfully, he said. “They’re running out of options on this.”

Amazon's Agrait said the company believes the decision to call a vote at the Delta warehouse "undermines the rights of the majority of our employees in Vancouver who chose not to sign cards."

The alleged anti-union tactics described by Unifor and CSN are “straight out of the Amazon playbook,” said Eidlin.

“We've known for years that this is a viciously anti-union company, and they basically are going to try every trick in the book.”

https://www.biv.com/news/economy-law...xperts-9492424

[jollyburger]

Metro Vancouver Developers Link Arms, Take Aim At DCC Increases

On Monday, however, Beau Jarvis, President of Wesgroup Properties — the developer behind the River District in Vancouver and upcoming Civic District in Surrey — restarted the discussion with a three-page letter addressed to the MVRD Board of Directors and emailed to city councillors from across the region, Sean Fraser, Ravi Kahlon, David Eby, and a group of reporters.

"Housing starts in Metro Vancouver have plummeted, dropping by over 20% year-over-year in the first half of 2024 according to CMHC," wrote Jarvis. "In addition, many multi-family projects are not moving ahead. Pre-sales for projects in the first half of 2024 are 29% below the average of the past 10 years and of the 8,593 units released, only 1/3 have been pre-sold signalling that many of these projects won't move ahead as they may not hit a financing test to meet the requirements of the Real Estate Development [Marketing] Act."

"To illustrate this point, in the City of Vancouver there are 14,600 units which have an approved Rezoning or Development Permit that have not started construction," added Jarvis. In Surrey, there are 34,000 units approved and not yet built. The viability of these projects is questionable given the Metro Vancouver DCC increases were not known at the time of the application. There are also 48 projects in Court Ordered Sale, CCAA, Foreclosure or Receivership in Metro Vancouver. An additional 10 projects are notably not moving ahead, which means over 10,000 proposed housing units in Metro Vancouver are not proceeding due to viability issues."

Jarvis attributes these difficulties to rising costs and tougher economic conditions, adding that the difficulties will only be made worse by Metro Vancouver's DCC increases, resulting in limited new supply of housing that will drive up prices further.

Shortly after Jarvis sent out his letter, similar letters were sent out by CEO of Edgar Development Peter Edgar, Executive Vice President of Polygon Homes Robert Bruno, Executive Vice President of Development at Anthem Properties Rob Blackwell, and CEO of Strand Development Mike MacKay.

All of the letters voiced the same concerns and the similarities between the letters — chunks of each are word-for-word identical — were likely intended to show their unity. The letters are also addressed to Mayor of Burnaby Mike Hurley, who took over as Chair of the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors this summer after George Harvie, Mayor of Delta, who was removed from the position by his own councillors.

https://storeys.com/metro-vancouver-...loper-letters/

[BaddieB]

And they're absolutely right. Housing is a public benefit and should not be aggressively taxed.

[GenWhy?]

Metro Water DCC: ($12,223 by 2027 per apartment)
"Beginning January 1, 2025, new rates will pay substantially all growth infrastructure costs and be phased in over a three-year period."

Liquid Waste DCC ($7,484 by 2027 per apartment)
"Beginning January 1, 2025, new rates will pay substantially all growth infrastructure costs and be phased in over a three-year period.​"

New parkland acquisition DCC​​ ($1,200 per apartment by 2027)
"The regional parkland acquisition DCC will fund the acquisition of land to become regional parks, which will help ensure that the growing region can remain livable for the next generation. Growing the regional parks system supports human health and well-being, as well as biodiversity. "​

Translink DCC: $1,650 per apartment

Vancouver DCL (with waiver for rental) $18.05 / psf (typical Broadway high-rise $1.8 million)

Public Art fee $1.98 p buildable sqft (typical Broadway high-rise $200,000)

Say the average Broadway high-rise has 130 units ($4.38m per tower), and this doesn't included project specific / triggered sewer, water, sidewalk, roadway, streetlighting, traffic lights, bikelane upgrades paid out of pocket by the project as well. So lets call it almost $5m for the semi-worst case. All paid before a single rent cheque is collected.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

And they're absolutely right. Housing is a public benefit and should not be aggressively taxed.

Then you and I will be aggressively taxed to pay for the schools, sewer upgrades etc. required for them.

[BaddieB]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Then you and I will be aggressively taxed to pay for the schools, sewer upgrades etc. required for them.

That's exactly what we used to do before. What do you think was going on before development charges and levies exploded in the 2010s?

[jollyburger]

PC Urban on DCCs, bureaucracy

The biggest obstacle he cites is the timeline for approvals, which has grown significantly over the decades since he began. There are layers of bureaucracy, building codes, and politically motivated policy changes that all developers must now contend with. He’s grateful for the federal government’s GST rebate on new purpose-built rental buildings, but a year has gone by since the announcement and they’re still at the application stage. Change is slow.

“Canada is almost the land of suppressed opportunity, right? Like a great place to be, everything going for it, the resources – but again, a myriad of policy that keeps changing all the time.”

And regionally, Metro Vancouver has greatly increased development cost charges to cover new infrastructure needed due to growth in the next three decades. The charges on a Vancouver purpose-built rental unit, for example, have gone from $6,249 to $20,906. That extra cost rankles the development community.

“Part of the blame for the cost of housing is often put at the doorstep of the development community. What about cases like Metro Van, where they're trying to recover from their $3.5 billion mistake on the North Shore?” he says, referring to the disastrous North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, a major infrastructure project that’s seen costs balloon.

“Maybe there's a better mechanism where the federal government could help the municipalities with those development cost charges for infrastructure, so it doesn't become a burden, because at the end of the day it's the tenant or the homeowner that has to pay for all those costs.”

As for policies, there are “something like 225 policies that exist in the city of Vancouver that affect development,” with about 70 people involved in every step of the approvals process, he says.

“We wonder why housing is so expensive. Everyone wants their pound of flesh at every stage.”

https://storeys.com/sawchyn-pc-urban-creative-industry/

[jollyburger]

Metro Vancouver's response if not DCC it will just end up with higher taxes for everyone. They need to add a pipe DCC considering the rising costs of all the sewage/water pipe replacements.

“Unfortunately, senior government funding for infrastructure hasn’t been nearly enough to support affordability for residents,” said Hurley, who also serves as Metro Vancouver’s chairman. “Without increasing DCCs, households would need to pay for the vast majority of the cost of new infrastructure through their utility bills.”

Hurley’s statement comes after letters were sent to the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board by several developers this week requesting that planned increases to DCCs be reconsidered, claiming the higher fees will significantly impact housing delivery and affordability.

DCCs are scheduled to be hiked in three phases on Jan. 1 of each year for the next three years. There is also a new parkland acquisition DCC being introduced to “fund the acquisition of land to become regional parks, which will help ensure that the growing region can remain livable for the next generation,” says Metro Vancouver’s website.

In his statement, Hurley said it’s fair that the costs of water and sewer infrastructure be accounted for in developers’ plans.

“We understand the need for this to be gradual and it has been: we’ve been engaging with developers since the board gave clear direction on increasing DCCs in 2017, and we’re phasing it in over another three years,” he said.

“We are very mindful of any impact on housing costs in this region, and as part of our process we committed to regular assessments of DCCs and how they might impact the economic health of the region.”

https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate...-hikes-9545828

[whatnext]

This is disappointing (although I find the aroma from their stores a bit strong). I assume this is the facility on Yukon across from the zero waste centre?

Cosmetics retailer Lush laying off staff amid ‘scaling down’ of Vancouver operations
VANCOUVER
THE CANADIAN PRESS
PUBLISHED 34 MINUTES AGO

Cosmetics brand Lush says it is laying off staff as it scales down operations at its Vancouver facilities.

Amanda Caruso, a spokesperson for the U.K.-based brand, cited privacy concerns while refusing to say how many workers will lose their jobs as part of cuts to the company’s Canadian footprint.

However, she confirmed the scale-down will mean closing a B.C. woodshop the brand ran, and manufacturing operations in Vancouver will be shifted to Toronto….
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...aling-down-of/

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by whatnext

This is disappointing (although I find the aroma from their stores a bit strong). I assume this is the facility on Yukon across from the zero waste centre?

Cosmetics retailer Lush laying off staff amid ‘scaling down’ of Vancouver operations
VANCOUVER
THE CANADIAN PRESS
PUBLISHED 34 MINUTES AGO

Cosmetics brand Lush says it is laying off staff as it scales down operations at its Vancouver facilities.

Amanda Caruso, a spokesperson for the U.K.-based brand, cited privacy concerns while refusing to say how many workers will lose their jobs as part of cuts to the company’s Canadian footprint.

However, she confirmed the scale-down will mean closing a B.C. woodshop the brand ran, and manufacturing operations in Vancouver will be shifted to Toronto….
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...aling-down-of/

If you were wondering what Lush was doing with a woodshop (also at Kent Ave)

https://www.reddit.com/r/LushCosmeti...re_working_on/

Seems like TD Greystone bought it in 2021 from Morguard (which still manages the property)

[jollyburger]

What do they still own?

On Monday, Nova Scotia-based Crombie REIT announced that it had reached an agreement with prominent Vancouver-based developer Westbank to acquire the remaining ownership interest in a property the two partners completed in January 2021.

The property, known as The Zephyr, consists of 21-storey and 22-storey residential towers with a total of 330 rental units above a large commercial space anchored by Safeway, and is located between Bidwell Street and Cardero Street in the West End of Vancouver, a few blocks east from Beach Avenue and English Bay.

https://storeys.com/crombie-reit-wes...hyr-vancouver/