|
If the sale of Lake Okanagan Resort is any indicator, Chinese investors want the same thing we do. Sun rays and pool time.  This morning, JLL's SVP Mark Lester, who's been finalizing the sale for some time, shared details with us—at least what he can share. The deal closed Friday, and the seller has a non-disclosure agreement with the buyer. The 250-acre resort was listed for close to $15M and sits on 5k feet of waterfront.  Can you find Waldo? How about the golf course, marina, spa accommodations, and food and drink service? The purchaser is from Mainland China, another sign that Chinese investment is pushing more into these specialized, recreational-type property deals, Mark says, the type of transactions he specializes in for JLL.  Other recent transactions featuring buyers from mainland China include the 43-acre Fox Island on the southern B.C. coast, for $2.5M, and the Fairmeade Farm in Langley for $5.5M. As for Lake Okanagan, “It is my understanding that the intention is to operate the resort and cater to Chinese tourism,” Mark tells us. In a rarity, another deal came down the same day last week. (When it rains, it pours. And it always pours when we go to resorts.) Mark informs us of the sale of Carmel Cove Resort (image) to a Vancouver-based development company. This was a court-ordered deal, which closed at $4.1M. The property is on Shuswap Male in B.C.'s interior. The purchaser's intention is to sell off the units, Mark says. |
|
 |
Hotel Vancouver For Sale In more big news Friday, two of Canada's most historic hotels—the Royal York Hotel in Toronto and Hotel Vancouver—were listed. The seller, Quebec pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, is scaling back its hotel business. Both properties are managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. The Royal York was built in 1929, the Hotel Vancouver, on Burrard, was built in 1939. Hotel industry analyst Monique Rosszell from HVS says both properties will have plenty of suitors.  The probable buyers will emerge from private investment funds, a REIT, or an ownership group looking to supplement its national portfolio, or looking to enter the Canadian marketplace. (Or just someone who clicks the wrong button on Priceline.) “Certainly with the large Asian population and proximity to Asia, Vancouver will attract Asian interest, as real estate investments are very safe in spite of hotels being considered more risky than other asset classes,” Monique says. She points out that there are many Asian hotel brands, but only Shangri-La has made its debut in the Canadian marketplace.  Given the strength of the market, this is a good time for Ivanhoe Cambridge (which manages the pension fund's retail assets) to sell, she says. Not a surprise, she adds, since the company has been divesting its hotel portfolio outside of Quebec, recently selling a portfolio of 19 hotels in Europe. “The performance of these two hotels could both benefit from major capital upgrading, however, unless an owner is planning a long-term hold, such an investment may not be financially justified,” Monique says. |
|
|
Running Out of Land |
||
 Small- to mid-size operators are clamouring for additional industrial space, as the US dollar strengthens against the loonie. However, the provincial bypassed another opportunity to re-evaluate the parameters governing the Agricultural Land Commission (ALR). That's resulting in rising land costs and supply concerns, according to industry watchers. “Balance can be found between the needs of agriculture (locally and Canada-wide) and the needs of industrial,” CBRE VP Chris MacCauley says. “We need to look at proper location (close to infrastructure and highways) and land size requirements and work with all levels of government to make it happen,” he says. |
 Here's Boundary Bay, an industrial warehouse project in Delta that just opened. (Good, for a second we thought it was the world's most poorly designed hockey rink.) “Nobody wants to talk about ALR and speak the truth for fears of backlash and the optics of changes to perceived sacred lands,” Chris says. However B.C. is almost out of lands that are suitable for current market drivers including the Port, LNG, e-commerce, logistics, and agriculture. “B.C. will have no choice in the next decade but to look at rezoning specific lands located within the ALR,” he says. |
|
|
 |
And The Winners Are ...Industry leaders were out in force at the NAIOP Vancouver/BIV Commercial Real Estate Awards of Excellence last week at the Fairmont Waterfront. Here are the winners (for more detail head to the NAIOP Vancouver website): Office Development, Brewery District, Building One, Wesgroup; Industrial Lease, Damco Lease, Beedie Development Group (Beedie's president, industrial Todd Yuen, is in the image); Mixed-Use Development, Shelter Island Commerce Centre, Marinaside Farrell Estates; Investment Transaction, Cascade Aerospace, Aero Abbotsford Canada Holdings, CBRE; Retail Development, Guildford Town Centre, Ivanhoe Cambridge; Industrial Development, Golden Ears Business Park, Onni Group; Office Lease, Coast Capital, PCI/Triovest, CBRE and Hatch Engineering, Oxford, Colliers; Developing Leader, Form Retail Advisors John Buckley, Derick Fluker and David Morris. |
|