Why Is Kerrisdale So Hot Right Now?
Kerrisdale’s rebirth rages on, with an entire block of the affluent area on sale for $28M. (The only downside of owning the whole block: when there's a block party, you have to bring everything. Chips and salsa.)
HQ Real Estate Services' Mark Goodman tells us the property—home to an aging collection of co-op apartments—is set for a redevelopment that could include a four-storey condo and grocery store. The buildings (seen below) line the 6300 block of West Boulevard between W. 48th Ave. and W. 47th Ave. Mark has put several “physical offers” for the site in front of his client, and he’s optimistic a deal will be done imminently. There’s been interest in the retail space from grocers like Loblaws and Safeway, which would be well-received in an area currently lacking such offerings.
Kerrisdale is a redevelopment hotbed, as old rental and co-op stock is replaced by mixed-use projects in line with the city's intensification goals. This summer, two aging buildings—Bel Aire Apartments (below) at 6356 East Blvd., and Maple Grove Apartments at 6344 East Blvd.—sold for $5M each. (Like the 6300 block, these sites are zoned C-2, allowing for demolition and immediate redevelopment.) Mark’s firm recently assembled a property at 49th and West Blvd. for Cressey Development Group, which is planning a mixed-use condo. “The entire area is changing,” he says. “In five years you’re not going to recognize the corridor.”
There have been concerns that the sale and redevelopment of the 6300 block of West Boulevard will mean the loss of valuable rental apartments. But these were never rentals to begin with, Mark stresses; they were individually owned co-op units (whose sellers got on average $150k more than market value by giving them up as part of the property assembly). What's more, the new condo complex will include a greater number of residential units, with many bound for the rental pool. “So we’re actually adding rental stock that wasn’t there before,” says Mark.
