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Hard to believe that just a few
years ago we thought land in Downtown Vancouver was pricey!
Fortunately we saved a few articles from the past. Downtown is
bustling with activity with condominiums now having hit the $2,400 per sq ft
price mark for brand new construction.
  
Concord
Pacific site facing
South Coal Harbour site facing North Still,
we think one of the best value opportunities in the current market is the stunning Presidio
Penthouse by Stanley Park which offers a 360 degree view of Downtown
penninsula. Convenience of the city with a thousand acre park at
your feet!  ARCHIVE
Surging demand for condos brings ever-higher landprices
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PRICEY DIRT: 1900 West
Georgia, shown on aerial photograph beside, is the most expensive
building lot on a list of top downtown properties. That
property was owned by Hong Kong's TVB's Shaw
Family.
The remainder of the block, a 33 foot wide
building at the corner is owned by Macau casino owner Stanley Ho. |
A land rush is heating up in downtown Vancouver, with bidding wars from
developers pushing prices for residential building sites up to astronomical
levels.
Driven by a seemingly insatiable consumer demand for condominium units
and a shrinking land bank, developers are now willing to pay in excess of
$100 per buildable square foot -- double the prices of only a couple of
years ago.
"We still have land on the Lower Mainland, but in Vancouver, there's
not much left, especially downtown," said financier Peter Wall, blamed
by many of his peers for driving up land values.
Wall, chairman and CEO of Wall Financial Corp., who recently launched
construction of more than $400 million worth of condominiums in the downtown
core, is already negotiating the purchase of three more development sites.
"I'm still a land buyer today," Wall said. "When something
becomes available, you have to react. You can't be a follower."
The current land costs are variously being labelled by critics as
"insane," "crazy," or "nuts," although
development industry luminaries say there always seems to be some brave soul
willing to step up to raise the ante.
Critics, however, point out that the end result will be higher condo
prices for consumers as the desirability for living downtown continues to
soar. At present, there are several billions of dollars worth of residential
towers under construction in the Yaletown, False Creek, Downtown South and
Coal Harbour areas, with more on the drawing board.
Vancouver city council recently voted to sell a development site at the
busy intersection of Richards and Robson to the Millennium Group for $13
million, or about $100 per buildable square foot -- a record price for the
Downtown South.
The next two highest offers were for $80 and $75 a foot for the vacant
lot, offering a maximum 135,000 square feet of redevelopment potential for
residential and commercial uses.
By contrast, choice waterfront property along Coal Harbour, where upscale
condo units have presold at prices of up to $6 million, has yet to top $92
per buildable foot.
Only a few years ago, developers were more accustomed to paying $30 to
$50 a foot for coveted sites. "There's not much land left,
definitely a significant lack of supply."
Over the next several years, Wall plans to develop a total of 850 new
condo units in three residential towers at Mainland and Homer, which he
considers the "gateway to Yaletown."
Wall paid $29 million -- or $59 per buildable square foot -- to acquire
the 2.26-acre property, known as the Maple Leaf Storage site previously
owned by Larco, in fall 2002, beating out four other major developers.
It was this purchase that prompted others to blame him for driving up
land prices.
"That was the catalyst for everything," a commercial broker
noted. "When Peter Wall bought the Maple Leaf site, people said he was
overpaying. Now it turns out to be a great buy. Now everybody would love to
get a downtown site at that price.
"Since Labour Day, the (land) market has heated up considerably.
Previously, hardly anything closed at over $60 per buildable foot. The
current market is clearly above $75 a foot for any site in the downtown core
with residential zoning."
So far, the highest price ever paid for a residential development site
anywhere in Vancouver was the $126 per buildable foot for a one-acre vacant
lot in the 1900-block West Georgia, at the entrance to Stanley Park.
(aerial photo above)
At the time of the September 2002 sale, Millennium Group president Peter
Malek, who "came in second," ironically called that winning bid
"absolutely ridiculous."
David Podmore, CEO of Concert Properties, acknowledged that he was scared
off from bidding on the Richards and Robson site, the city-owned property
now being sold to Malek.
"We were of the view it would go for a price that we would be
concerned about, so we backed off," Podmore said.
Cressey Development Corp. who was among the unsuccessful bidders at 788
Richards, said rising land costs will result in higher condo prices.
"I empathize with the end user," Cressey said. "Every
inputted price, including land acquisition, development cost charges and
construction costs, has to ultimately be passed on.
For his part, Wall dispels any notions that Vancouver's condo market may
be getting saturated. He expects sales to remain hot, as Multiple Listing
Service figures indicate developers still can't keep up with consumer
demand, given record low mortgage rates and optimism over the upcoming 2010
Olympics.
Between May and June, it took Wall only 11 weeks to sell all 456 units at
his Electric Avenue condo project in the 900-block Hornby, $104 million
worth.
In August and September, it took him five weeks to sell all 423 units at
the Hudson, at Granville and Dunsmuir, raking in $101 million.
And while marketing for the first 300 units at Yaletown Park won't be
launched until February 2004, Wall said he already has more than 150 people
on a waiting list.
"People will always come back to Vancouver," said Wall, a
developer for more than four decades.
"As long as we've got the mountains and the ocean, low crime and
little racial prejudice, and moderate weather, you can't beat people off
with a big stick." - excerpts from VANCOUVER
SUN
27 Oct 2003 By Wyng Chow
Council voted at an in camera meeting to accept the top bid from
Millennium Group, a Vancouver-based condominium development firm that was
willing to pay $13 million for the choice property.
The existing zoning on the site on the northeast corner of Robson and
Richards allows for a total of 135,000 square feet of residential and
commercial development, indicating Millennium is shelling out nearly $100
per buildable square foot -- a record price for the Downtown South area.
By contrast, vacant waterfront land along Coal Harbour -- where luxury
condo units have been selling at prices ranging up to $6 million -- has
barely topped $90 per buildable square foot.
"We have been told we are the successful bidder," said
Millennium president Peter Malek. "But the deal hasn't been
finalized."
Council rejected a $10.1-million bid ($75 per buildable foot) from
impresario Dennis Law, whose family business, Four Brothers Entertainment
Co., owns and operates the nearby Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts,
at 777 Homer.
Commercial real estate sources -- who earlier predicted a bidding war for
the city-owned site at 788 Richards from among more than a dozen major
developers -- said Cressey Development Corp. was among the finalists, making
its pitch at $10.8 million ($80 a foot).
"Millennium blew everybody out of the water," one realtor said.
" But (Millennium) must have it figured out. They're smart business
people." said a prominent developer.
Law, whose family paid $7.75 million for the 1,849-seat, state-of-the-art
former Ford theatre in December 2001, had envisioned building a highly
visible arts-oriented complex on the coveted site, connecting it to the
existing centre via a glass-enclosed bridge over the lane, creating a
"focal point" for the performing arts district.
Malek said Millennium hasn't decided what to build on the site, currently
used for parking.
"We're working on a concept," he said. "We're considering
various options, but there will definitely be a residential component."
In Greater Vancouver, Millennium's best-known condo projects have
included the $220-million City in-the-Park master-planned community in
Burnaby, the $36-million Lumiere in the West End, and the $31-million
Edgewater in West Vancouver.
Law made an earlier offer in May to purchase the Richards Street site,
but the city -- fully aware of his intentions and vision for the land --
decided instead to call for public tenders.
Law had commissioned noted Vancouver architect Bing Thom to design a
multi-use project that would have included a hotel, some condos, restaurants
and retail shops, reinforced by a 200-seat cabaret-style theatre.
Brian Sears, Vancouver's senior property development officer, confirmed
the city was not obligated to accept the highest bid, or any of the offers
at all.
"Council was fully aware of Law's interest and ideas," Sears
said. "But they decided to sell to the highest bidder."
- excerpts from VANCOUVER
SUN 24 Oct 2003 By Wyng Chow
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