First Capital Finalizes False Creek Deal

First Capital Realty just closed a $46M deal to buy the retail component of False Creek Village. (Maybe now they can make a real creek.) EVP Brian Kozak tells us about the tenacity behind getting it done.

"That was a deal we kept chipping away at," he says. (Like the sculpture of David or the paint in your basement.) Brian oversees Western Canada for the company. First Capital owns 20 properties in the Vancouver area and on the island. The False Creek property is part of a major mixed-use development that originally served as the athlete village for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The property comprises 64k SF of gross leasable area and 139 underground parking spaces, and is located on the ground floor in each of the four mixed-use retail and residential buildings surrounding the community's main plaza. Urban Fare grocery store, London Drugs, TD Canada Trust and a liquor store are the main tenants.

The property had been in receivership, Brian says, hence the longer length of time to close. In the end though, the acquisition is consistent with First Capital's urban strategy in markets like Vancouver and Toronto—owning and operating retail in urban density spots like False Creek and Toronto's Liberty Village. "We like those anchored, community-focused type developments where we see a lot of upside in rental growth," Brian says, "very defined asset classes where people go for their everyday needs."

During the receivership process, the residential assets had to be cleared off first, before getting to the retail side of the business. "We were very aggressive in our approach in terms of what we were prepared to pay," Brian says. There is substantial additional residential and mixed-use development both underway and planned for the community around the property as well. The population within a one kilometre radius of False Creek Village is expected to grow at a rate of 34.2% from 2012 to 2017, according to census data.

Where Are The Women Leaders?

The Women's Executive Network released its list of Top 100 list of Canada's most powerful women yesterday, and we noticed something shocking. The list covers the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, but no one from the commercial real industry made the cut. "No, you did not miss a name," WXN founder Pamela Jeffery says. "At WXN, we do believe that there is much to be done by the commercial real estate industry to recruit and retain high performers who are women." The industry would be well served to do a better job at increasing the number of female real estate brokers, particularly in light of the growing number of female entrepreneurs and women in executive roles, she says. Snapped is Pamela at a recent WXN event, with Premier Kathleen Wynn of Ontario.

De Beers Move First of Several?

De Beers, the luxe jeweller with stores in exclusive locations like New York's Fifth Avenue and London's Old Bond St., chose Vancouver as the location of its first Canadian shop. (And it made Christmas shopping a lot more painful.) We asked two local retail analysts about its move into the market and got some interesting perspective. "I imagine De Beers is looking at multiple locations across Canada," DIG360 Consulting's David Ian Gray tells us. "Often the first location is simply the first appropriate spot to come available." That said, what makes Vancouver a little extra special is the perception [often over-estimated] of the power of the wealthy Asian traveler segment in this city and the desire to build brand recognition, he says. Retail analyst Peter Hume tells us that since this location is just one of only nine in North America, it just reinforces what many of us already know--that Alberni/Burrard is an area where high-end retailers are concentrating.

SFPR Opens Up Opportunities

The completion of the $1B South Fraser Perimeter Road this month will have a lasting impact on commercial real estate, according to people in the industry. Colliers EVP Stuart Morrison points to a complicated acquisition and retrofit of the former Buckeye Technologies plant undertaken by Triovest as an example of what is happening in the region. The project, located at 7831-7979 Vantage Way (South Fraser Industrial Centre) is adjacent to the only SFPR interchange into Tilbury. "SFIC (image) now offers two new Tier-1 buildings totalling 277k SF ideally positioned for the SFPR opening," Stuart tells us. He says most import and export logistics businesses will focus on potential opportunities along the SFPR alignment to take advantage of the connectivity between Deltaport, Highways 99, 91 and toll free access to Highway 1. Unfortunately those opportunities are limited, he says.