5 East 8th Avenue in Vancouver. (CBRE)

Over a decade ago, there was a big controversy that saw municipal politics intersect with commercial real estate and it was over the little Class C office building located at 5 East 8th Avenue in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver.

The two-storey office building, home to about 33,282 sq. ft of office space, was owned by the City of Vancouver, who acquired the property in 2000 for the Vancouver Police Department. The VPD later vacated the building in July 2011 and the City began exploring options to sell 5 East 8th Avenue.

By June 2012, City staff returned with an option to instead lease the building to social media management platform Hootsuite, which was founded in Vancouver by Ryan Holmes. The lease was for a term of five years beginning December 1, 2012 — with two renewal options, each for five years — and also an option to purchase the property.

The City said it conducted a formal tendering process for 5 East 8th Avenue in February and March 2012, but “All offers were deemed to be below market value and therefore all offers were declined.” The City then received an offer in May from commercial real estate brokerage CBRE on behalf of Hootsuite.

“Although this is not an immediate sale, this proposal does provide an income stream to the City, plus a potential sale in the next three years at a sale price that reflects fair market value of $9.3 million, plus repayment of unamortized Tenant Improvement costs within twenty (20) days of the date that the Option to Purchase is exercised,” said City staff in a report to council.

The report redacted the rents Hootsuite would pay and then the City’s Freedom of Information Office refused to disclose them after multiple attempts made by reporters. The details were ultimately made public in January 2014, revealing that the City gave Hootsuite a lease at $17 per square foot in the first year with the rate rising to $22 per square foot in the fifth year of occupancy, according to Business In Vancouver.

Then-Mayor Gregor Robertson publicly criticized the slow release of the lease details, which may have backfired on him as a civil suit was filed against him the next month alleging that he violated conflict of interest provisions under the Vancouver Charter because Robertson had received gifts from Hootsuite and had several interactions with Hootsuite executives, according to the Georgia Strait.

The civil suit was filed by Glen Chernen, a mayoral candidate running with the Cedar Party and the court proceedings revealed that Hootsuite had submitted an offer to buy 5 East 8th Avenue for $7 million and that another party had submitted an offer of $7.5 million, both of which were rejected by the City, who found the lease-and-sale option to be of better value.

“The Subject Property was purpose-built for use as a police facility and has been described as a ‘bunker,’ said John Breckner, the Associate Director of Operations in the Real Estate and Facilities Management Department for the City of Vancouver in an affidavit. “As such, the Subject Property would not be considered optimal for general office use. The independent appraisal obtained by the Real Estate Department on April 4, 2012 opined that the City could expect fair market base rent between $16.00 and $18.00 per square foot, assuming a fair market tenant inducement allowance of $25 per square foot for a 5 year lease term.”

“Given it was a triple net lease, HootSuite agreed to pay for all utilities and other operating costs, amounts in lieu of property taxes, and maintenance (other than any structural repairs), cumulatively estimated to be approximately $11 per square foot per annum, plus an average base rent of $19.80 per square foot (exclusive of a three month base rent free period) over the lease term plus parking rates, and the landlord would only have to provide a tenant inducement allowance of $20 per square foot for a 5 year lease term,” said Breckner. “This was determined by the Real Estate Department to be at or possibly above fair market rent.”

Chernen also alleged that Robertson had received assistant from Hootsuite during his 2011 campaign in the form of social media management and that the City later had a contract with Hootsuite after Robertson was re-elected. In the end, however, Chernen could not prove a definitive connection between his allegations and the lease.

“While it is also alleged in the petition that HootSuite has assisted the respondent during his present term in office, no details of any such assistance have been adduced,” said the judge in his dismissal of the case. “While it is clear that the respondent has had interactions with HootSuite during his present term of office, there is no evidence to suggest that he has any direct or indirect financial interest in that company, and no other interest in the lease of the Property that would constitute a conflict of interest.”

In 2015, Hootsuite exercised the purchase option and has owned it since then — until about last month, when CBRE announced the sale of 5 East 8th Avenue, referring to it as the “Former HQ of Hootsuite.”

The transaction was brokered by Graham Davidson and Colin Scarlett of Colliers and Blair Quinn and Tara Finnegan of CBRE, which did not disclose the sale price and purchaser, but The Realist has confirmed that Hootsuite sold 5 East 8th Avenue to WhiteWater West, which designs and manufactures various water park attractions.

WhiteWater West has offices around the globe, but its head office is in British Columbia, located at 180-6651 Fraserwood Place in Richmond, according to the company’s corporate website.

However, earlier this year, Edit Studios — a commercial real estate interior design studio — revealed that WhiteWater West would be relocating to 5 East 8th Avenue and taking over the space vacated by Hootsuite.

5 East 8th Avenue is the new HQ for WhiteWater. (Edit Studios)

“Currently in design, the two-floor workplace is being reimagined from the ground up, encompassing a branded tube slide connecting both floors, a central café, rooftop amenity space, fitness and end-of-trip facilities, a subterranean speakeasy pub and golf simulator, and immersive graphics running from the parkade to the penthouse,” says Edit Studios on its webpage for the project.

An LTSA mortgage document indicates that WhiteWater registered a mortgage — a demand loan — in April 2026 from RBC with a principal amount of $25,000,000 and the interest rate set at RBC Prime Rate + 5.00% per annum. However, an industry source tells The Realist that the sale price was $18,000,000.

The transaction was completed via a share sale, as the property was and remains held under East 8th Avenue Office BT Ltd.

The sale price is about double what Hootsuite paid in 2015, but BC Assessment values 5 East 8th Avenue at $19,201,000 as of July 1, 2025, which was a decrease from the previous assessment of $20,285,000.

The Realist reached out to WhiteWater West on July 14, but has not received a response.