The Vancouver Business Thread

[jollyburger]

The report blamed BC Hydro for the most recent delay.

These were completed, but no subsequent building permit was obtained to complete the remaining scope of work since the Owner did not receive confirmation to proceed with the required electrical service upgrade from BC Hydro until 2022.

They had a preliminary inspection for a street use permit this week.

[jollyburger]

Rennie’s report said there are currently 2,179 completed, unsold condos in the region. After factoring in absorption, this figure is projected to grow to 3,493 units by year’s end, a jump of 60.3 per cent.

“If the current trajectory holds, we’ll be ending 2025 with the highest level of unsold condo inventory in years,” Ryan Berlin, Rennie’s head economist and vice-president of intelligence, said in a statement.

“That has real implications, not just for what gets built next, but for how the region manages affordability, absorption and future growth.”

https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/uns...-in-metro-vancouver-says-report-10532962

[officedweller]

Sunoco acquires retail and energy company Parkland Corp.
https://www.grocerybusiness.ca/parkland-corporation-to-be-acquired-by-sunoco-lp/

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Sunoco acquires retail and energy company Parkland Corp.
https://www.grocerybusiness.ca/parkland-corporation-to-be-acquired-by-sunoco-lp/

I wonder if the feds will block it.

[jollyburger]

Wesgroup Joins Crombie REIT On Four Safeway Redevelopments In Metro Vancouver

Earlier this week, Nova Scotia-based Crombie REIT (TSX: CRR.UN) published its Q1 2025 financial results, simultaneously announcing that they have entered into four new partnerships with Vancouver-based real estate developer Wesgroup Properties subsequent to the quarter.

The partnerships pertain to four properties that were already owned by Crombie REIT, located in Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Burnaby.

All four projects are in early planning stages, with Crombie REIT saying that the partnership with Wesgroup will be "providing a path to unlock embedded value within its development pipeline" and "advancing these projects through the entitlement, design, and approval process."

https://storeys.com/wesgroup-crombie-reit-joint-ventures/

[jollyburger]

QuadReal Buys Maple Leaf Self Storage Chain Valued At Over $500M From Larco

Vancouver-based QuadReal Property Group — the real estate subsidiary of the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) — has completed its acquisition of the Maple Leaf Self Storage chain.

The portfolio consists of 15 properties — 11 in Metro Vancouver and four in Calgary — that amount to over 17,000 individual storage units and 1.7 million square feet of net rentable area.

"QuadReal Property Group (QuadReal) has acquired Maple Leaf Self Storage," said QuadReal in a statement provided to STOREYS. "This investment is in direct alignment with QuadReal's strategy to invest in newer generation storage facilities in high-density and undersupplied markets. Maple Leaf Self Storage joins QuadReal’s portfolio of operating platforms."

https://storeys.com/quadreal-maple-leaf-self-storage-larco/

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

QuadReal Buys Maple Leaf Self Storage Chain Valued At Over $500M From Larco

QuadReal picked up at least one redevelopment site in the package of self storage buildings. The 1818 Quebec property was built in 2008, but now allows higher density and much more office space. And Storeys have missed that it's actually two buildings, with another on E 3rd, that's currently assessed at $20m.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Changing City

QuadReal picked up at least one redevelopment site in the package of self storage buildings. The 1818 Quebec property was built in 2008, but now allows higher density and much more office space. And Storeys have missed that it's actually two buildings, with another on E 3rd, that's currently assessed at $20m.

I thought 1818 Quebec was originally built with windows for a future office conversion. It doesn't even look that old. I wonder if they will consider a teardown or some kind of frankenstein add-on. What's the new height limit?

[jollyburger]

BIV says they paid closer to 1 billion for the company

https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/qua...r-based-maple-leaf-self-storage-10649706

I doubt there was any planning to add anything on top of those buildings.

The empty lot next door is for sale.

https://property.jll.com/en-ca/listings/160-east-2nd-avenue

5FSR? They said it's I-1A with five times the site area for max density. 35.1-38.1m (115-125 ft.)

Flexibility in maximum building height and density can be
considered to support hotel project viability.
• Hotel proposals on sites with less than 30.2 m (99 ft.)
frontages will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Proposals will need to satisfy the Plan’s built form and site
design policies (including tower separation requirements) and
demonstrate that the development reasonably mitig

10.2.2 Rezoning applications will generally not be considered in this area under the Broadway Plan (except for hotel development)
and development should be in accordance with the I-1A or I-1B zoning and any associated design guidelines.
10.2.3 Restrict any new residential uses, in accordance with the Metro Vancouver land use designation for Industrial lands.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

https://storeys.com/quadreal-maple-leaf-self-storage-larco/

I would have thought Larco would be the perfect landlord for self-storage. Stuff shoved in a storage locker doesn't complain when you don't fix the heat or have poor air quality in the buildings you rent.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I would have thought Larco would be the perfect landlord for self-storage. Stuff shoved in a storage locker doesn't complain when you don't fix the heat or have poor air quality in the buildings you rent.

Storage warehouses have better HVAC systems than those apartments.

[jollyburger]

‘Massive reset’ in Metro Vancouver land market leaves some developers holding the bag

The principal of Goodman Commercial Inc. said Broadway Plan sites, for example, were selling for about $200 per square foot buildable three years ago. Sellers can now expect closer to $100 per square foot buildable, he told BIV.

Goodman currently has three Broadway Plan listings.

He said the city is experiencing “growing pains” and adjusting to a new environment where land is being perceived differently.

This “seismic shift” is causing headaches for developers who were on the verge of building, Goodman said.

It’s a situation he said that’s left developers guessing whether to sell or continue servicing their mortgage until the market recovers.

“Is the market going to change in six months, or six years? Meanwhile, you’re kind of guessing, do you take your loss now or do you just try to withstand this market?” he said.

“It’s a very precarious position for developers right now.”

So-called development sites can either be empty lots or have existing apartments on the land. They are referred to as such if their highest and best use is redevelopment. It’s not always clear whether a buyer is planning immediate redevelopment versus rent collection, Goodman said.

https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/mas...some-developers-holding-the-bag-10700168

[jollyburger]

Vancouver’s Produce Row loses major player as Burnaby gains ground

One of the largest organic food distributors in the Lower Mainland is leaving Vancouver for Burnaby as development pressure mounts on Produce Row, the heart of Vancouver’s produce distribution network.

Discovery Organics recently purchased a 12,000-square-foot warehouse at 5628 Riverbend Drive in Burnaby and moved its operations there on May 9, leaving behind the 25,161 square feet it had leased on Malkin Avenue since 2015. “Staying on Produce Row was becoming pretty economically unsustainable, just with the rent increases and the development happening around St. Paul’s Hospital,” said Brody Irvine, a co-owner of Discovery Organics.

It is hard to predict the future for Produce Row, but Discovery Organics is pleased with its new premises in an established industrial area near other food distributors. Formerly home to a seafood company, the building is well-equipped with coolers. “In our search for a new location, it was maybe less than five per cent of any warehousing available at any given time had coolers already installed,” Irvine said. “It’s a precious infrastructure to have already in place.”

The company’s old space, owned by grocery giant HY Louie, is enjoying strong interest from prospective tenants, despite the pressures on Produce Row. “We have had a few groups through; two produce distribution groups and one catering company so far that were the most interested, and these groups could use the existing coolers in the building,” Bougie said. “There’s probably $1 million worth of coolers in the facility and so, yeah, there’s an opportunity for a tenant to take advantage of some infrastructure that is already there.”

https://www.biv.com/news/real-estate/van...-player-as-burnaby-gains-ground-10701183

[jollyburger]

First LNG modules arrive at Woodfibre site in Squamish

If you were looking out over Howe Sound on Saturday, you may have seen a bright yellow heavy load carrier sailing under the Netherlands flag, guided by tugs heading toward Squamish.

It was hauling the first of seven liquefied natural gas (LNG) modules heading to the Woodfibre LNG site.

The pipe rack modules are the first large-scale modular components of the under-construction LNG export facility to arrive at the site for installation.

Now that they have arrived in Squamish, the modules—which were built at the QMW McDermott Fabrication Yard in Qingdao City, China—will be moved into place and mounted on their permanent foundations.

According to the company, the modules are pre-assembled structural steel frameworks that will house and support piping carrying LNG from the facility’s liquefaction unit to floating storage tanks and the loading facility.

From there, LNG will be loaded onto carriers for delivery to overseas markets.

Now at the site, about seven kilometres southwest from downtown Squamish on the shores of Howe Sound, the modules will be offloaded through the project’s newly completed marine offloading dock, which has been designed to handle the delivery of large modules throughout the construction phase.

https://www.biv.com/news/resources-agric...e-at-woodfibre-site-in-squamish-10712016

[whatnext]

Coromandel still exists? Who knew?

Investors Place Coromandel Properties Under Receivership As Saga Enters Third Year
Coromandel Properties sought out CCAA creditor protection in February 2023 and was the first of a wave of real estate insolvencies in Metro Vancouver.
Howard Chai
May 28, 2025

On February 6, 2023, Coromandel Properties filed for creditor protection under the federal Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) while carrying over $700 million of debt across 16 active real estate projects.

Although Metro Vancouver (and beyond) has seen numerous others since then, the insolvency of Coromandel Properties was one of the earliest of the recent cycle and remains unmatched in terms of the amount of projects.

It's now been over two years since the company's filing, and although many of their lenders have secured some recovery through court-ordered sales, some still have not, including the company's original seed investors, who filed an application last month to place various entities of Coromandel under receivership. The application was granted by the Supreme Court on May 8 and published on May 26.

Because the applicants were the original seed investors in the company, their application includes numerous details about how Coromandel Properties was structured and how things played out behind the scenes after the company filed for creditor protection, some of which have been previously reported by STOREYS......

https://storeys.com/coromandel-properties-vancouver-receivership-2025/

[jollyburger]

Cenyard buys out partner in 2 Metro Vancouver developments

Guildford Plaza, the first property, is a three-acre retail plaza in Surrey in the early stages of rezoning. The second property is Foster Fairview, a transit-oriented site in Burquitlam that is currently occupied by single-family homes. That site is in early rezoning stages to become over 300 condos.

Cenyard bought out Landmark Premiere Properties in both deals.

“Both transactions involved Cenyard acquiring Landmark’s entire interest in both the Guildford and Foster Fairview projects, making Cenyard the sole developer of both sites,” said Jeffrey Liu, CEO of Cenyard in an email interview with RENX.

“We took over the Guildford and Foster Fairview projects based on our strong confidence in their long-term value and our desire to drive their successful delivery through more focused and efficient management,” Liu added. “These two projects were previously developed in partnership with Landmark Premiere Properties.

"However, due to changes in the market environment and Landmark’s own strategic realignment, Cenyard Properties completed the full acquisition and takeover of both projects on May 16, 2025.”

The cost for the two properties was approximately $90 million. Both are producing income in the interim while the rezoning and pre-development process plays out.

Landmark Premiere Properties did not immediately respond to questions from RENX about the transactions and the company’s broader development strategy. The company has been involved in insolvency proceedings related to some of its development activities in the region.

https://renx.ca/cenyard-properties-buys-out-partner-in-two-bc-lower-mainland-developments

I wonder what Cenyard's involvement with the Burnaby Lake Heights project is.. it was also under legal problems but it was still Create/Peterson?

https://www.cenyardproperties.ca/s-projects-basic

Peterson is calling it Blake Village now

https://petersonbc.com/properties/burnaby-lake-village/

[whatnext]

Interesting how Canadian tariffs and duties are negatively impacting construction in the West:

Opinion: Western Canada bearing the brunt of Ottawa’s flawed steel tariffs
Retaliatory tariffs aimed at Trump are hammering Western Canada’s builders, families and economic future
Chris Gardner
about 24 hours ago

Canadians, hoping that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first meeting with President Donald Trump would help reset and repair the relationship between two longstanding allies, were left wanting. The meeting, while cordial, brought no relief from U.S. tariffs on Canadian exports of steel, aluminum, lumber and autos. Nor was there any sign the president intends to dial back his chaotic, multi-front tariff war...

... Steel, in the form of rebar, is a crucial input in construction and a prime example of how tariffs often backfire, leaving the economy and consumers worse off.

The federal government has imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel, but also stiff duties on steel imported from Europe and Asia. While action against predatory jurisdictions like China makes sense, sweeping Canadian tariffs on all foreign steel are economically harmful — especially to Western Canada, which produces very little steel.

Most builders in Western Canada have two options: Import steel from mills in Eastern Canada or from suppliers in the United States, Asia or Europe.

Unfortunately, shipping Canadian steel from east to west isn’t cost-effective — it’s simply too heavy to move cheaply by rail. Shipping rebar from Asia and the Middle East to B.C. by sea costs $39 to $69 per metric tonne. To bring it by rail from Ontario or Quebec costs $200 per tonne. If you want to further erode affordability in Metro Vancouver or drive the cost of public infrastructure projects even higher, just force builders to overpay by five times to move Eastern Canadian steel here...

....Canada’s domestic steel sector, while important, is relatively small — directly employing just over 20,000 workers, primarily in Ontario and Quebec. In contrast, the construction sector employs 1.6 million Canadians, including more than 450,000 in B.C. and Alberta. A tariff policy that works for Eastern Canada but not for Western Canada runs counter to calls for a “Team Canada” response to Donald Trump.

To be clear: We are 100 per cent pro-Canada in this trade war. But “Team Canada” cannot stop at the Ontario border. And our policy responses must be smart and creative — Ottawa has been playing this tariff game with steel and penalizing western Canada for over a decade....

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary/opin...of-ottawas-flawed-steel-tariffs-10734870

[jollyburger]

Steel industry insiders often liken their efforts to keep foreign-produced, unfairly priced steel out of Canada to a high-stakes game of Whack-a-Mole that is perhaps best exemplified by the decade-long war to stem the tide of rebar — the steel rods that are buried in cement in bridges, condos and other construction projects — from flowing into Canada.

Since 2014, the Canadian steel industry has accused more than 20 countries, beginning with China, South Korea and Turkey, and extending to Spain, the United Arab Emirates and many other countries, of dumping their rebar into Canada at artificially low prices.

In 2024, B.C. imported $4-billion worth of steel, with China providing 31 per cent, the U.S. 21 per cent and South Korea, Taiwan and Japan providing an additional 28 per cent combined, she said in the letter.

https://financialpost.com/feature/canadas-steel-producers-tariffs-buy-canadian-rallying-cry

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

https://financialpost.com/feature/canadas-steel-producers-tariffs-buy-canadian-rallying-cry

As the article I posted said, should we drive up the cost of housing for millions of Canadians to preserve jobs for around 20,000 Ontarians?

[officedweller]

Epix Developments Ltd. v. Bonnis Development Union Street Limited Partnership

This action concerns a failed real estate transaction in which the plaintiffs, Epix Developments Ltd. and Epix Main Street Limited Partnership (together, “Epix”) sought to purchase a development site from the defendant, Bonnis Development Union Street Limited Partnership (“Bonnis”). Each side blames the other for the transaction not completing; each claims the deposit and various damages. At the time of the parties’ agreements, the site in question consisted of three adjacent lots located in Vancouver’s Chinatown, at the intersection of Main and Union Streets – an area with significant history and development potential. Bonnis subsequently sold the site to another purchaser for less than what Epix had agreed to pay. The present dispute boils down to who is entitled to what after the parties’ deal failed.

https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/sc/25/08/2025BCSC0805.htm