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  1. Cost of delivery crisis

    An anticipated development in Vancouver’s River District is no more. Wesgroup Properties has pulled the plug on Ardea, a 204-unit, multi-building project.

    The company said in a statement that “higher-than-anticipated construction and delivery costs specific to this project” were at play.

    Brendon Ogmundson, the chief economist for the B.C Real Estate Association, said this should be a cautionary tale.

    “I think it’s just really reflective of the conditions for developers right now in B.C. (and) in a lot of larger markets,” Ogmundson said.

    He added Wesgroup’s reasoning wasn’t surprising, given the current landscape for developers.

    “We have what I think has been accurately described as a cost of delivery crisis,” Ogmundson said.

    He explained slow market conditions and rising costs of materials, labour, taxes, fees and delays don’t contribute to an environment in which developers can thrive.

    “At current prices, with costs rising, we need somehow to make these projects make economic sense,” he said.

    Right now, Ogmundson said, some developers are experiencing an excess of inventory.

    “They can’t sell their existing inventory, then it just pushes out the problem further and further,” he said.

    In a statement, Wesgroup Properties said it will bring forward a new project that is more viable. It added purchasers will have their deposits returned to them in full, as per the terms of their agreements. 

     

    ©2025 BellMedia All Rights Reserved
    By Demetra Maragos
    11-09-2025

  2. Real estate consulting firm Urbanation says fewer buyers, rising costs are contributing

    At the corner of High Park Avenue and Annette Street in Toronto, a church slated to be transformed into condominiums has been sitting partially complete for several years. 

    Construction on the 70-unit condo project began in 2019, but there has been no progress since 2023. 

    "We all knew that something was wrong because you'd just drive by and no one's working, right? Nothing's happening," said Phil Earnshaw, who paid a $280,000 deposit in 2018 for a two-bedroom unit. 

    The project went into receivership last year and was sold this summer to another developer. It means buyers, like Earnshaw, who paid deposits for units before construction began won't be getting those units after all and are now waiting to get their deposits back. 

    The stalled High Park development is just one example of a number of condo projects throughout Toronto that have been cancelled or entered receivership, and the number is expected to grow.

    A report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) this week highlights a continuing slump in condo construction in Toronto. Meanwhile, real estate consulting firm Urbanation has tracked nine cancelled projects in the city so far this year. That's on track to meet last year's total of 11 cancelled projects, or 2,581 units, and Urbanation expects the trend to grow in the upcoming quarters, as many projects struggle with sales. 

    The condo market in two of Canada’s big cities has taken a major downturn. CBC’s Nisha Patel breaks down three reasons why condos aren’t selling in the middle of a housing crisis.

    Toronto condo starts plummeting

     

    According to Urbanation, previous peaks in the number of cancelled condo projects were in 2021, when 2,153 units were cancelled, and in 2017, when 1,809 units were cancelled.

    The reasons for cancelled projects have shifted, according to Michael Niezgoda, the company's senior manager of market research and development. 

    He says those previous peaks had to do with individual developers facing financial difficulties, "whereas what we're seeing today is more of a wider market trend where [there is] basically the absence of buyers in the markets, rising costs."

    This week's CMHC report highlights that condo starts in Toronto "plummeted" in the first half of this year and are the biggest contributor to the overall fall in housings starts, which hit their lowest point since 2009. 

    Generally, 70 per cent of units need to be sold pre-construction in order for developers to secure financing. According to Niezgoda, Urbanation is currently tracking 16 projects — totalling 5,045 units — in Toronto that launched more than a year ago that have sold less than 40 per cent of units. That's in part why Urbanation predicts the number of cancelled projects will continue to grow.

    Condos are the largest contributor to decreased housing starts in Toronto, according to CMHC. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)

    According to the CMHC report, investors have been some of the main buyers of pre-construction condo units in recent years, but they're now increasingly turning away from them due to decreased profitability. 

    When Earnshaw and his wife signed a purchase agreement in 2018 for the unit at 260 High Park Ave., they had considered renting it out until they were ready to downsize themselves. 

    "Everything's changed since then and the math doesn't work anymore at all," said Earnshaw, "So we're quite happy to get our money back."

    Some buyers could welcome cancelled projects

     

    Earnshaw may not be alone among pre-construction buyers for whom a cancelled project is not all bad.

    Some who bought in a hot real estate market a few years ago may now find the units are no longer worth what they expected.  

    Real estate lawyer Bob Aaron says depending when pre-construction condos were purchased, cancelled projects could be a blessing in disguise for some. (Farrah Merali/CBC)

    Real estate lawyer Bob Aaron says he gets calls multiple times a week from people facing that scenario. 

    "For contracts that were signed during and after COVID, the values have gone down and buyers should be quite happy to get out of the deal [if a project is cancelled,] because they won't have to pay the high prices that they signed for during COVID."

     

    Aaron says he expects pre-construction condo sales to continue to be slow for the next few years. Though he notes it won't last forever. 

    "Markets go up, markets go down, and sooner or later condos will be hot on the market again.

     

    ©2025 CBC/Radio-Canada.

    By Sarah MacMillan
    11-09-2025

  3. Storage real estate boosted by demographics, density and commercial use

    Notable deals and a sizable development pipeline indicate a robust self-storage market in Western Canada, where migration, density and business users are driving demand. 

    Nearly four million square feet of new supply is expected in B.C. and Alberta together between now and 2028, said Antonio Balogh, national market intelligence lead with commercial real estate services firm Avison Young (Canada) Inc. 

    New supply in B.C. represents 26 per cent of national self-storage construction, and in Alberta it represents 15 per cent, in both cases topping their existing market share in Canada, he said in a statement. 

    “Today, we are seeing multiple demand drivers cementing a compelling long-term investment strategy for self-storage real estate, especially in Western Canada,” he said. 

    Recent deals have included QuadReal Property Group LP’s purchase of Maple Leaf Self Storage Inc.’s 15-facility portfolio in B.C. and Alberta, a deal disclosed in May and estimated at close to $1 billion. 

    U.S.-based SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc. has also been an active player in Western Canada, acquiring a 74,000-square-foot facility in Kelowna in April for US$29.1 million and backing Strategic Storage Growth Trust III Inc.’s acquisition of a 52,500-square-foot East Vancouver facility in June for more than $35 million. 

    SmartStop also recently acquired five properties in Alberta from Bluebird Self Storage, which made its own purchase of a newly built facility in Victoria in March for $26.7 million. 

    “People need places to store things as the population grows and as the inventory of housing grows,” said Kirk Kuester, executive managing director in the Vancouver office of commercial brokerage Colliers Canada, which was involved in the East Vancouver deal. 

    “Units are smaller and people are getting by with way smaller spaces to live in and way fewer storage options within their places,” he said. 

    Self-storage is tied not just to migration and smaller housing, but also to warehouse availability. 

    “We’ve seen a pretty large increase in commercial users of storage, especially in major metropolitan cores, because there’s a distinct lack of warehouse space,” said Patrick Wood, a partner with Victoria-based brokerage JBW Commercial Inc. 

    Some retailers rent storage units for the months leading up to Christmas and then vacate them after the holiday season, he said. Meanwhile, some Fraser Valley companies are re-supplying their technicians who work in downtown Vancouver from nearby storage units, reducing travel time. 

    “It’s a cost-saving thing. Because a lot of self-storage facilities are pretty well located, it really brings efficiencies to a lot of businesses,” Wood said. 

    Avison Young’s Balogh said the adequacy of self-storage supply is based on the square footage of rentable storage space per capita. Ontario and B.C. lead the way at 32 and 31 square feet per capita, respectively. Alberta’s supply is relatively tighter at 25 square feet per capita, while Manitoba and Saskatchewan are below 15 square feet per capita, he said. 

    “While new supply in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is more muted up to this point, the tight existing supply per capita creates potential for a quick spark,” he said. 

    Those interested in entering the storage industry may see slightly higher cap rates “mostly because storage is an operating business,” JBW’s Wood said. 

    Rental rate growth has stabilized to around 3 to 4 per cent a year, after big increases during the pandemic, he said. 

    Yet self-storage requires “very active” management due to short-term leasing and the need for constant marketing, Wood added. 

    Self-storage is an active, alternative asset class similar to student housing, senior housing and data centres, said Colliers’ Kuester. 

    “They appeal to a unique investor, and it’s an investor that quite often is very focused strategically on alternatives,” he said.

     

    © 2025 Western Investor
    By Jami Makan
    04-09-2025

  4. Site designated for future condominium development

    DEAL | A 2.5-acre property at 7320 208 St., Langley, sold April 30 for $11 million, or an average of $4.4 million an acre. Zoned SR-2 and situated within the Smith Neighbourhood Community Plan area, the site is designated for future condominium development at 1.4 FSR, supporting mid-rise residential density in the rapidly expanding Willoughby corridor.

     

    PRICE | $11,000,000

     

    FROM | Joe Varing, Varing Marketing Group

     

    © 2025 Western Investor
    By Joe Varing
    04-09-2025

  5. Shape Capital says it's owed $62 million by Keltic after alleged mortgage defaults.

    A Vancouver lender has petitioned the B.C. Supreme Court to appoint a receiver for a medical office project near the new St. Paul’s Hospital, saying the borrower, a Vancouver developer, defaulted on two mortgages totalling more than $60 million.

    Shape Capital Corp. says it provided credit facilities of $65 million to a subsidiary of Keltic Canada Development Co. Ltd. for a 10-storey medical office building on Prior Street lands near the future hospital site.

    Shape’s Aug. 25 petition says it issued a notice of default to Keltic on Feb. 7 for the latter’s alleged failure to fulfil various mortgage commitments. Shape said it also “became aware that the borrower had misappropriated $3.2 million from the holdback account established for the benefit of the contractors on the project.”

    Shape says it issued demand letters and agreed to an interim forbearance agreement to avoid the need for an insolvency filing. But the forbearance period expired “without the debtors providing the lender with an adequately funded solution for the completion” of the project, it said. 

    Shape claims it became aware of a second unauthorized withdrawal from the holdback account. A construction firm issued a notice of default regarding the unauthorized withdrawals and threatened to suspend work on the project. 

    Shape says it made “protective disbursements” to the construction firm and BC Hydro, which was also owed some money for power supply, to avoid “serious delays.” Shape claims that as of Aug. 25, Keltic’s total indebtedness was $61,905,222 plus interest.

    Shape’s claims have not been tested in court, and the respondents have not yet filed responses to the petition. 

    Reached for comment, Keltic CEO Rachel Lei said a receivership would be costly, and that it’s in everyone’s interest to finish the work.

    “We are still trying to reach out to Shape to see whether we can avoid [receivership] by solving the issue through mutual understanding and agreements,” she said. “I’m still trying to do that, because apparently there are factors that help to mitigate Shape’s risk.”

    Lei said the project is “85 per cent” done, and that only limited work remains. She said “20 per cent” of units have already been contracted, and that more buyers and tenants are expected before the new hospital opens in 2027.

    Lei said her company is willing to cooperate with Shape, even if a receivership is approved by the court. 

    “We will still cooperate with them because we, Keltic, want to be a responsible corporate citizen, and we also want our partners and creditors to believe we are offering them the best effort we can to reduce the risk of the lenders and contractors,” she said.

    The respondents named in the insolvency filing are Keltic (Prior) Development LP, 1319191 B.C. Ltd., Keltic Group Equities (2019) Ltd., Keltic Projects Development Ltd., 1232616 B.C. Ltd., Keltic Canada Development Co. Ltd., DDAW Holdings Ltd., Keltic (River Garden) Development Ltd., 1319188 B.C. Ltd., Wei Guo Li and Rui Wang.

    Shape is seeking the appointment of FTI Consulting Canada Inc. as receiver. It is seeking various other orders including declarations of first-ranking charges, a declaration of default, a summary accounting of money owed, a one-week redemption period and, failing that, a foreclosure order and exclusive conduct of sale.

    [email protected]

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    © 2025 Business in Vancouver

    By Jami Makan
    03-09-2025

  6. One of Canada’s largest pension funds with net assets of over $26 billion, has acquired Westbank’s share.

    Just as all three towers of the Sen̓áḵw project’s first phase reached their full heights this week, Vancouver-based developer Westbank Corp. has sold its entire stake in the massive Squamish Nation housing development.

    The Nation announced Thursday that OPTrust, one of Canada’s largest pension funds with net assets of over $26 billion, has acquired Westbank’s share in the first two phases as part of a restructured partnership.

    Under the new arrangement, OPTrust and the Squamish now share equal ownership of the first two towers, while the Nation has full ownership of Phases 3 and 4. It is calling the move “an unprecedented step toward self-sufficiency.”

    “It means the Squamish Nation will fully own those phases of the project and the land underneath it. We can now make all the decisions about the future of these phases,” the Nation said in a statement.

    Terms of the sale, including how much OPTrust paid for Westbank’s stake, have not been made public.

    Westbank, which cut its stake in the Sen̓áḵw rental project from 50 per cent in 2019 to 30 per cent later on, has now left the project entirely. The high-profile developer was a key partner since the project broke ground in 2022, with a $1.4-billion federal construction loan.

    All three towers in Phase 1 topped out at 27, 32, and 40 storeys this week and are expected to open next year with more than 1,400 new homes, the Nation said.

    Tsur Somerville, a professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, said there are several possible reasons for Westbank’s decision.

    “One reason could be that they have a need for equity because they’re facing a variety of financial challenges,” he said. “Another could be that they just want to reduce their stake in Vancouver rental and allocate capital somewhere else, to reduce their exposure.”

    Somerville added that bringing more than a thousand rental units to market all at once, the number expected to open in Phase 1 next year, comes with risks.

    “From a risk perspective, they are arriving at the market when rental growth has slowed and market rents are starting to drop a little bit,” he said. “It’s going to take time to lease all of that.”

    When finished, the multi-building Sen̓áḵw development is planned to deliver 6,000 rental units on Squamish Nation land in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood, half of them financed by Ottawa’s loan.

    The project, located on the site of an ancient Squamish village occupied by the Canadian Pacific Railway a century ago and returned to the Nation in 2003 by the Federal Court of Canada, was hailed as one of the largest First Nations economic developments in Canadian history by former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart.

    Retired architect and planner, Vancouver’s Michael Geller, believes the Canadian developer’s decision to sell its stake in Sen̓áḵw “definitely reflects on Westbank’s financial situation.”

    Senakw towers under construction on Friday. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10109001A

    Professor at UBC Sauder School of Business Thomas Davidoff believes that Westbank, like other developers, likely needs funds to cover debts from projects struggling during the current market downturn.

    “Like other developers, Westbank needs cash to pay off debts associated with other projects running into difficulty in the market downturn that has unfortunately followed rising construction costs.”

    However, in a statement to Postmedia on Friday, Westbank framed its exit from the project as a planned transition rather than a sudden retreat.

     “From its early inception, Sen̓áḵw has always been envisioned as a capacity-building project for the Squamish Nation. The Nation has substantial land holdings and will be developing those lands for decades to come. From the outset, an important mandate of Sen̓áḵw was to help foster the development expertise that would allow the Nation to develop projects on their lands, whether on their own or in partnerships,” the statement said.

    After the completion of the first phase, the Squamish Nation’s development group, Nch’ḵaý Development Corp., will take on “a greater leadership and oversight role in the Sen̓áḵw development,” with Westbank transitioning out, the developer said.

     

    Last month, Westbank was one of about two dozen B.C. real estate developers who lobbied the federal government to reconsider rules restricting foreign ownership of residential property.

    The letter highlighted that new housing starts in B.C. fell nearly 50 per cent between March 2024 and March 2025, causing some layoffs and delays on projects. It suggested the government look at Australia’s policy, which limits foreign buyers from purchasing existing homes but allows them to buy new homes and presales to support construction.

     “Canada’s ban on foreign ownership was designed to help curtail the nation’s housing affordability crisis, but it has also negatively impacted overall investment into the new home industry,” the letter reads. It argued that foreign investors are an important part of the presale condo market and that without them, fewer projects would sell enough pre-construction units to get financing.

    Founded by Ian Gillespie, Westbank is one of Vancouver’s leading developers, with a portfolio of buildings sold both locally and abroad, including Vancouver House and the five-million-square-foot Oakridge Park, which is set to be completed in 2027 in partnership with QuadReal Property Group.

    — with files from The Canadian Press

     

    [email protected]

     

    © 2025 Vancouver Sun

    By Sarah Grochowski
    29-08-2025

  7. A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has upheld the District of Squamish council’s unanimous decision to reject a proposed eco-village near the Cheakamus River, citing fairness and good faith in the process.

    A B.C. Supreme Court judge upheld District of Squamish council’s unanimous decision to reject the proposed Paradise Trails at Squamish eco-village near the Cheakamus River.

    “The enactment of the rezoning bylaw was reasonable, and there was no breach of any duty of fairness owed to the petitioners,” said Justice Mark Underhill in an Aug. 20 written ruling. “I also find the rezoning bylaw was adopted in good faith.”

    Tantalus at Paradise Valley Inc. and parent company Tri‑City Properties at Squamish Ltd. filed for the judicial review, calling District council’s June 18, 2024 vote unreasonable and procedurally unfair.

    “A third ground, bad faith, was also raised, although it was pursued to a lesser extent in the petitioners’ submissions,” wrote Underhill, who heard arguments from lawyers for the developer and District from April 1 to 4 in Vancouver.

    In 2007, Tantalus applied to rezone the western portion of its 168-acre property from rural residential and resource to comprehensive development zone. It wanted to build an equestrian centre and 82 rural residential lots up to two acres in size. The lots were without municipal water, sewer infrastructure or fire protection services and located outside the District’s growth management boundary.

    A 2008 staff report recommended against the proposal due to geological hazards, but the proponent’s 2012 report by LaCas Consultants recommended measures for flood control and mitigation. The District and Tantalus reached a master development agreement to let the project conditionally proceed. The proposal was adopted September 2012.

    “While the staff report before council continued to express concerns about the rezoning and the fit of the proposed development at that specific location and within the Paradise Valley more generally, it did state that the property ‘may be developed safely for the use intended subject to appropriate mitigation works’,” Underhill said.

    Five years later, in 2017, the District adopted an Integrated Flood Hazard Management Plan (IFHMP), which restricted densification in all Cheakamus River flood hazard areas. The District repealed the existing, 2009 official community plan in 2018. The property lands were designated resource and recreation.

    Tantalus began talking with the District again about development of the property in September 2021 and applied in March 2024, claiming that engineers it retained had found significant mistakes in the flood studies that formed the basis of the IFHMP.

    By June, staff told District council that Tantalus had yet to provide a report to address the relevant guidelines in the development permit area, so there was no formal application to be processed.

    Council had the discretion to hold a public hearing, but Underhill found the failure to exercise the discretion was not a matter of procedural unfairness. He acknowledged the petitioners provided a lengthy, eight-page email on the morning of June 18, 2024, and had in-person meetings with individual councillors and multiple meetings with the mayor.

    “There is no evidence before me that the petitioners would have said anything more or differently in the meeting on June 18 than what they said in writing or in the individual meetings they had with the members of council.”

    Underhill also found that council made its decision out of concern for the need to potentially take on more diking responsibilities.

    “In my view, it is not irrational or illogical for council to pursue rezoning, and specifically rezoning which provides for less development, in an area outside of its growth management boundary where there are few municipal services and a recognized flooding risk,” Underhill wrote.

    The Tantalus property was assessed at $3.4 million last year, down from a value of $7.16 million.
    By Bob Mackin
    25-08-2025

  8. Injunction, punitive damages sought by condo owners next door to construction site.

    A Vancouver strata corporation is suing a developer and contractor who allegedly operated a construction crane above the strata’s buildings and lands without permission.

    Strata Plan BCS1199 is suing Keltic Canada Development Co. Ltd. and WCL Formwork Ltd. for the crane’s alleged encroachment into the strata’s airspace, which the strata says is a trespass and nuisance, according to an Aug. 12 civil claim.

    The strata corporation represents unit owners of The Left Bank, a nine-storey condo building at 919 Station St. It claims Keltic and WCL are constructing one or more buildings on an adjacent site at 200 Prior St. and using a crane that swivels above the strata’s property.

    An online project description by architect MCM Partnership suggests Keltic’s work is related to a new medical office building at 220 Prior St. at the northwest corner of the future St. Paul’s Hospital site.

    “The defendants’ conduct demonstrates complete disregard for and a blatant violation of the strata corporation and the owners’ inviolable property rights,” said the civil claim.

    “The operation of the crane jeopardizes the safety of the owners and their tenants, occupants and visitors,” added the claim, which seeks an interim injunction and $1 million in punitive damages.

    The claim has not been tested in court, and the defendants have not yet filed responses to the claim. The claim says no resolution was reached after the strata demanded cessation and its counsel, Paul Mendes, met with Keltic’s lawyer.

    Mendes and Keltic did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Keltic’s lawyer, Gillian Piggott. 

    WCL and its registered lawyer, Paul Weir, also did not respond to requests for comment.

    WCL was allegedly formed in 2024 by the principals of Whitewater Concrete Ltd. and related entities, which are currently in a receivership overseen by Deloitte Restructuring Inc., according to public insolvency documents.

    Airspace is a legal concept in B.C. that gives a property owner rights to the air above their property to a reasonable level reflecting their uses of the property.

    One expert said there is always a level of risk, and that WorkSafeBC has many regulations regarding safe crane operation.

    “If the crane swings over neighbouring properties, easements or ‘swing agreements’ are required between the developer or property owner and the neighbouring properties under the crane’s radius,” said Jen Mutas, a field occupational health and safety manager with BC Crane Safety.

    “If one isn't in place, a motion can be filed to prevent any crane movement over the neighbouring properties, including weathervaning, which is an important safety component of crane operation,” she said, referring to when cranes rotate freely to minimize wind resistance.

    The Left Bank cited in its civil claim a 2020 decision by B.C. Supreme Court Judge WA Baker suggesting “licence agreements,” with or without payment, are an industry practice in similar situations involving cranes and airspace.

    The precedent—OSED Howe Street Vancouver Leaseholds Inc. v. FS Property Inc.—granted an interim injunction prohibiting the operation of a crane outside of licensed hours, ruling that it would otherwise be trespassing.

    The decision acknowledged that neighbours in dense areas must engage in some give-and-take to accommodate construction.

    “There is no perfect solution to construction in a densely populated urban environment like downtown Vancouver,” wrote the judge.

    [email protected]

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    By Jami Makan
    21-08-2025

  9. The GJ Group has acquired the corner property that has 90K square feet of leasable space, and could be rebuilt to include retail and hotel use

    A major redevelopment project may be in the cards on the northeast corner of Granville and Robson streets in Vancouver. 

    Bonnis Properties Inc. has sold the site, known as 798 Granville St., to The GJ Group for $140 million, according to a report from Storeys.

    The site includes Best Buy, Marshalls and Cafe Crepe as tenants on the taller corner side of the site, but the 23-year-old building with 90,000 square feet of leasable space stretches along Granville Street to the north up to the Vancouver Block building, which was completed in 1912. Tenants in that strip include brands such as North Face, Vans and Sleep Country Canada. 

    No one at GJ Group immediately responded to BIV's request for an interview to discuss plans for the site.  

    Bonnis principal Kerry Bonnis told BIV in 2021 that he would likely demolish the building within five to 10 years and rebuild something taller because the site is far below what he said was the maximum allowable height of 600 feet. One thing that he said may complicate that redevelopment would be a view cone that crosses the site.

    He put the site up for sale in 2023. 

    While Bonnis originally had envisioned rebuilding an office building on the site, retail real-estate watchers say a hotel may be a wiser decision. 

    "They have to get their money back and make the return," Vamos Development Advisors principal Michael Penalosa said of The GJ Group. "They are going to go for the density, and a hotel is one of the likely considerations given that we have such a shortage of hotels in the city and that would probably fast track [approval for] that type of use more than others."

    He told BIV that he thinks the ground floor of the site would remain as retail and that its large size means that it could be perfect for tenants that seek substantial floorplates for their brands' concepts.

    "It could be a Nike flagship store," Penalosa said. 

    Adidas took over the former Victoria's Secret store site three blocks west of 798 Granville Street, on the corner of Robson and Burrard streets in 2024. That site's size is estimated at about 35,000 square feet.

    "You could have a larger flagship store there over two or three levels," Penalosa said. "This has been done before in Vancouver. Because of its high-profile location, the new owner may consider chopping some of the space up and dividing it into multiple retailers."

    Other retailers that might be interested in the site include IKEA and Uniqlo, he said. Tadashi Yanai, president of Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing, told BIV in 2017 that he wanted to open a Uniqlo store in downtown Vancouver but he could not find a large enough suitable site.

    Penalosa noted that across Granville Street from The GJ Group's site is the vacant 230,000-square-foot former Nordstrom location at CF Pacific Centre. That site has been empty since mid-2023. It is also one block up from the newly vacant 637,000-square-foot space that for decades was home to the Hudson's Bay. 

    BIV last month asked Cadillac Fairview if there was any headway on its plans for the former Nordstrom site.

    "We do have some exciting plans for the former Nordstrom space at CF Pacific Centre, but we're not ready to share details just yet. We'll keep you posted,” it said in an emailed response.

    Bonnis has long been one of Granville Street's largest land owners. It also owns much of the street's 800 Block, and it has a proposal to build two towers, 43 and 39 storeys, with 500 rental homes, 100 hotel rooms, five levels of retail, restaurants and entertainment immediately south of the 798 Granville St. site. It has previously owned, redeveloped and sold other land on Granville Street.

    Some other major retail real estate transactions so far this year include Shato Holdings buying Willowbrook Park in Langley for $137 million in February, and Finix Holdings buying Cottonwood Centre in Chilliwack for $115 million in May.

     

    [email protected], witter.com/GlenKorstrom, Bluesky.com/glenkorstrom.bsky.social

     

    By Glen Korstrom
    21-08-2025

  10. Homeowners could potentially stratify and sell secondary detached units

    B.C. housing stakeholders concerned about affordability and supply are engaged in renewed debate over foreign capital in Canadian real estate amid an industry slowdown.

    The question of whether to allow overseas investors to buy Canadian homes is dividing industry, government and academia, and there is little agreement on whether to scrap the national foreign buyer ban or B.C.’s foreign buyer tax.

    The foreign buyer ban, formally the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, has been in force since 2023, while in B.C., additional property transfer taxes have been levied on some foreign entities since 2016. 
    By Jami Makan
    20-08-2025

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