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When it comes to industrial sector property values, vendors have unrealistic expectations. That played a role in the lowest transactional dollar volume in the sector in Vancouver in three years, according to Avison Young. (For our part, we bought fewer industrial buildings because we were saving up for a iPhone 5.)  There were 60 transactions totaling just $83.6M in 2013, according to an AY report, the lowest dollar volume in the Vancouver industrial sector since 2010 ($80.1M). Fewer properties of scale transacted due to the declining availability of such assets, AY senior associate Struan Saddler tells us. A typical vendor isn't focusing on things like current market sale prices, cap rates, or development prices. Decisions to sell off are being impeded by the sight of large-scale, mixed-use development on the periphery of the industrial areas, he adds.  This 21k SF facility at 1362-1386 Venables St sold for $4M last fall. Vendors are "held hostage by the prospective ‘future' value of these perceived radically changing areas,” Struan says. Some vendors are under the mistaken assumption their property can be rezoned for residential use. Then there's the finite availability of land choking the pipeline, of which vendors seeking maximum return are well aware. Purchasers loaded up with low cost debt are also frustrated with the difficulty in finding a dance partner to close deals. |
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Coquitlam's Big Green MonsterThat's our term of endearment for the $30M, 260k-tonne capacity advanced material recovery and recycling facility that Belkorp Environmental Services is building in Coquitlam (United Boulevard south of Highway 1). It'll be able to handle 26% of metro Vancouver's municipal solid waste. The facility brings advanced waste separation technologies to the table, diverting waste from landfills, company VP Russ Black says. Bonus: It'll be at no cost to taxpayers and create 80 new green jobs. |
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JLL Bulks Up JLL's new managing director of Western Canada Damien Mills—who just joined from Cresa, where he was founding principal—sees an expanding real estate market in Vancouver, boosted by three big trends: the emerging high-tech industry that supports companies growing out of their US, West Coast-centric roots (think Amazon, which has a Swansea-based distribution centre); the growth in environmental engineering; and the movement of products east to Asia, leading to the expansion of existing port facilities across B.C. Damien, who's taking on a biz dev role, is a 25-year industry vet and will lead teams in JLL's western region offices.  Damien's not the only recent coup. This week, JLL named Greg O'Brien its new CEO of the Americas, so of course it was our job to find out what he does for fun. The former CEO of The Staubach Co tells us he recently tried skydiving for the first time with his wife Lynne and their oldest son Jack. Greg and Lynne spend a lot of time with their three kids (college, high school, 7th grade) around sports, music, arts, and other activities. They also play golf, like to ski, and visit their home on Cape Cod, Mass. Greg earned an MBA from Harvard and a BS in electrical engineering from Tufts. He fills the role left by the departure of Lauralee Martin to become CEO of HCP last October. |
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Location, Location, Location |
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 Cushman & Wakefield AVP Adam Frizzell tells us more about the new Eagle Creek Village mixed-use development in View Royal (100k SF of retail, 76k SF of office, 60 market rental units, then market residential product). Adam, who's involved in leasing efforts, says the project is a lesson in location. ECV is strategically situated at the gateway to the western communities (Langford, Colwood, Metchosin, and Sooke). |
 The weather is always beautiful in renderings. These bedroom communities of Victoria generate large volumes of vehicular traffic that are funneled right past ECV on Highway 1. The area around Victoria General Hospital has been underserviced in retail for years, which Adam says has been a pillar of its sales pitches. And anchor tenants Quality Foods, Forbes Pharmacy, and Cascadia Liquor Store gives the project a good foundation to build upon. “The quality of our anchors allows us to be more selective in our leasing program,” he says. |
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