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The story behind one of my stories.
Maxfine International Ltd., an affiliate of Holborn Group, acquired the 16-storey office tower at 1185 West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver last month. Holborn and its affiliates also own the Paradox Hotel next door and the adjacent FortisBC Centre, giving them ownership of the entire block.
I learned of the transaction last month and reached out to Holborn, but they denied the acquisition. After obtaining a corporate director search last week, however, Holborn referred me to TA Management Ltd., another Holborn affiliate, which confirmed the purchase. Here’s the full story:
The big headlines.
The ABC Vancouver majority on Vancouver City Council voted in favour of cancelling the council meeting scheduled for July 29 in order to deal with council business that has piled up from Council being on hiatus due to the World Cup. The move drew outrage from the non-ABC members of Council and there will now be no new council business until after the October municipal elections.
Hootsuite has sold the office building at 5 East 8th Avenue in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver to WhiteWater West, The Realist learned last week. Over a decade ago, Hootsuite leased the building from the City of Vancouver in what became a pretty controversial deal that even saw a lawsuit filed against then-Mayor Gregor Robertson. Hootsuite later exercised an option in 2015 to acquire the building for $9.3 million.
Three stories all related to transit-oriented development in Metro Vancouver:
Surrey greenlit a policy change that will introduce inclusionary zoning requirements to most of its transit-oriented areas. Here’s The Realist’s full breakdown of the policy.
Port Moody amended its Official Community Plan (after adopting it in April) to cut allowable tower heights for the Moody Centre TOA from 39 storeys to 26 storeys, with height over 26 storeys requiring a density bonus payment, according to Freshet News.
The University of Toronto’s School of Cities published a TOD case study of the Broadway Subway’s Arbutus Station.
The Burnaby Housing Authority is relocating from Station Square in Metrotown to an office building near BCIT and Brentwood, as first reported by The Realist last week.
Also relocating is the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, which is moving later this week from 1651 Commercial Drive to 2955 Virtual Way, also known as the Broadway Tech Centre.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority announced its preferred proponent for the Robert Bank Terminal 2 Project and the project was also referred to the federal government’s Major Projects Office.
CMHC published its housing starts data for June, noting that “Through the first six months of the year, the rate of housing starts in Canada is lower than last year’s rate.”
The Bank of Canada held its policy interest rate at 2.25% once more, noting in its press release that “Housing activity has been weak but looks to be stabilizing.”
Over in Ontario:
BGO announced earlier this month that it had acquired the office building at 26 Wellington Street East in downtown Toronto. The vendor and price were not disclosed, but The Realist learned last week that it was H&R REIT and $75.5 million.
An 11-storey condo project in Toronto called The Manderley by Nova Ridge Developments Partners Inc. was placed under receivership recently by Singapore’s United Overseas Bank and Montreal’s Laurentian Bank, as I reported for Storeys.
Also In This Edition: Updates on projects by Beedie, Qualex-Landmark, Bosa Properties, and Rize Alliance; sales by Marcus & Millichap and Block To Block Commercial; and people news pertaining to Creative Energy, Gracorp, Warrington PCI, and more.