Oakridge Park | 13 Towers | 154m | 52fl | 5M sqft | U/C

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by s211

Ummm... what? Their entire 100% interest?

I'd say a spurious rumour, but would welcome evidence.

You don't trust the hints dropped by jlousa?

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by s211

Ummm... what? Their entire 100% interest?

I'd say a spurious rumour, but would welcome evidence.

Cadillac Fairview is selling an interest in its Vancouver holdings (Pacific Centre and office towers), so it's not out of the question.
http://business.financialpost.com/person...ching-hands-as-otpp-sells-minority-stake

That sale would have been the result of this search from August 2016:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...id-to-sell-stakes-in-vancouver-buildings

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by officedweller

That sale would have been the result of this search from August 2016:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...id-to-sell-stakes-in-vancouver-buildings

From the Bloomberg piece:

...and The Station, a historic property built in 1912 that serves as North America’s largest transport hub, currently pending approval for an added office tower."

Well that's just not factually correct.

[LeftCoaster]

^Haha not even close!

Should be seeing some details on CFs sale in a couple weeks.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

From the Bloomberg piece:

Well that's just not factually correct.

Is it Penn Station?

[urbancanadian]

I've heard of Waterfront being described as the most diverse transport hub or something like that (they usually include Canada Place and all that). So that's probably what the author was thinking of...

[LeftCoaster]

Not many transport hubs have scheduled service helipads and ferry service as well. I certainly think most diverse is up there.

[LeftCoaster]

Big big news, and at the heart of the delays in this project:

QuadReal Property Group enters agreement to purchase Oakridge Centre

VANCOUVER, Jan. 25, 2017 /CNW/ - QuadReal Property Group announced today that it has entered an agreement to purchase Vancouver's Oakridge Centre from Ivanhoé Cambridge. Oakridge, one of Canada's premier regional malls, hosts an exclusive collection of 150 shops and services and offers significant retail and residential development potential. Home to Canada's most desirable tenants, the 575,000-square-foot shopping mall is the country's second most productive1 with sales of $1,537 per square foot.

"The opportunity to acquire a flagship retail property and development project of such quality is rare," said Remco Daal, President of QuadReal's Canadian real estate division. "Retailers and their customers gravitate to the best locations and Oakridge, an urban gem at the hub of popular transportation and transit networks, perfectly fits this profile."

Over nearly six decades, Oakridge Centre has welcomed generations of shoppers to become an important part of Vancouver's community fabric. QuadReal is pleased to be building upon the remarkable legacy of this Vancouver landmark.

QuadReal has selected Westbank, a prominent Vancouver-based developer, as its partner on a potential Oakridge redevelopment. Westbank has developed many of Vancouver's best-known and most transformative projects – including the redevelopment of Woodward's, Fairmont Pacific Rim, TELUS Garden and Vancouver House – and recently led the planning for a proposed Oakridge redevelopment. QuadReal and Westbank are in the process of reviewing opportunities for a master planned retail, office and residential redevelopment for the 11.5-hectare (28.5-acre) site.

"Along with QuadReal, we have an opportunity to bring to fruition a new standard in urban living

about which we have long been passionate – a cultural hub that takes every element of a vibrant multicultural city and shares them with our community and millions of visitors a year," said Ian Gillespie, Founder, Westbank. "We believe the future of Oakridge Centre will be even more dynamic than its past. We have few opportunities in life to create truly world-class projects – this will be one."

The Oakridge Centre transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.

About Oakridge Centre
Oakridge Centre is one of Canada's most successful shopping centres. Located on a 28.5-acre site at the intersection of 41st Avenue and Cambie Street on Vancouver's West Side, Oakridge Centre opened in 1959. In 2014, the City of Vancouver approved rezoning of Oakridge Centre (subject to meeting enactment conditions) to accommodate additional office, retail and residential uses and community amenities including a park, civic centre, affordable housing, a library and day care. Oakridge Centre is well served by the Canada Line and other public transit options.

About QuadReal
QuadReal is an independent and privately held global real estate company with managed assets totaling more than $18 billion, including some of Canada's most well-known properties. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, QuadReal is owned by bcIMC, one of Canada's largest institutional investors, and was established to manage its real estate assets. QuadReal is a Canadian investment and management company that operates in a global market. It aims to deliver prudent growth, strong, risk-adjusted investment returns and to create and sustain places that bring value to everyone – not just for now, but for the benefit of future generations.

About Westbank
The core of Westbank's mission is to create a body of work with a high degree of artistry that helps foster more equitable and beautiful cities. Westbank is active across Canada, in the western United States and Asia, with projects including luxury residential, Five Star hotels, retail, office, rental, district energy systems, affordable housing initiatives and public art. Established in 1992, Westbank is now one of North America's leading developers, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Seattle, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shenzhen with more than $25 billion dollars of projects completed or under development.

SOURCE QuadReal Property Group

http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/qua...-purchase-oakridge-centre-611775505.html

[Genauso]

Glad to see the renewed commitment for the Oakridge site, which probably has more potential to change itself and surrounding areas than any other large block in Vancouver including the Jericho lands, Burrard brewery, and I'll even say the Concord vacant lots around False Creek.

Also happy to see Westbank take on a real project instead of grinding out gains from rezonings by friends in City Hall from churches or green utilities. Fairmont, Shangri-La, Vancouver House, Alberni by Kuma, Oakridge are their forte.

I suppose before they begin on any proposals, they might revisit renegotiating with the strata?
If that doesn't change, what do you want to see? There has been a lot of change to compare the past plans with new realities

I would like to see more Nordstrom downtown (simple layout, smaller tenants in basement, with Microsoft on the upper floors) and less Brentwoood (the indoor/outdoor multiple ways to get anywhere, as a mall pretends to be a master-planned high street. Mega-residential plopped on top of after-thought retail with minimal investment into the stores)

[officedweller]

This is reassuring:

QuadReal is owned by bcIMC

Background from June 2016.
So I guess they'll have both the Main Post Office and Oakridge for redevelopment.

B.C. pension fund creates giant, multi-billion-dollar real estate company
http://www.canada.com/business/commercia...+giant+multi+billion/11960894/story.html

[Jebby]

Does this mean we'll see a change in design or just change in ownership?

[LeftCoaster]

With Westbank still at the helm of the residential development I'd imagine we may see changes to the retail but little changes to the towers.

Re-designing a project of this magnitude is an expensive endeavour.

[Migrant_Coconut]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Even upper management can see that.

[jlousa]

I'll post more details as I can. My understanding is there will be some changes.

[SpongeG]

was there today, the bay looks so dowdy and cramped.

Looks like a second michael kors might be opening? they have some michael kors sign on one of the empty spots i think it was right next to murale, its much smaller than the other store so perhaps a second one, maybe a michael kors kids? there are some other kids stores selling designer duds for the wee ones.

[cairnstone]

There has been 2 Mks in Oakridge for a while. The new one is on the cambie side of the mall. It is a different color scheme and believe its different product line.

[s211]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

With Westbank still at the helm of the residential development I'd imagine we may see changes to the retail but little changes to the towers.

Re-designing a project of this magnitude is an expensive endeavour.

My understanding was that it was the proposed retail changes which ultimately could not be executed upon, for a number of reasons (tenant rights, geotech, etc.).

[Capitol Hill]

Wasn't the original plan to have Hudson's Bay move their store so it fronted on 41st? Is that still in the works? I was in Oakridge a year ago, and as nice as the mall is, I thought the Hudson's Bay store lacked any pizazz.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Capitol Hill

Wasn't the original plan to have Hudson's Bay move their store so it fronted on 41st? Is that still in the works? I was in Oakridge a year ago, and as nice as the mall is, I thought the Hudson's Bay store lacked any pizazz.

Yeah, they "discovered" that Hudson's Bay didn't want to move their store.
Can you believe that they'd go through all the planning without having received agreement from HBC to move?

[whatnext]

The real story here is why are Ivanhoe Cambridge and Cadillac Fairview divesting Vancouver assets now. Why are sophisticated property experts seeing some writing on the wall and getting out while there still somebody willing to pay top dollar? Surely both cases are flagship assets?

I wouldn't bet on seeing much happen with Oakridge anytime soon. The market for that area is drying up fast as taxes and regulation on capital flight take hold. Add to that whatever demand there is can be met more easily by those developing the old trolley depot and RCMP property.