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The story behind one of my stories.
There was no Rundown last week, but the week before that The Globe and Mail published Part Two of my deep dive into the presale world in Metro Vancouver. Part One was about what’s happening with developers and purchasers — they’re taking legal action — while Part Two was focused on the sales and marketing firms.
My story touches on all the major firms — Rennie, MLA Canada, Magnum Projects — while also touching on three smaller firms — Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing, BakerWest Real Estate, and Epic Real Estate Solutions. The former three are adapting, while the latter three are struggling — two appear to no longer be operational — and I spoke to execs at four of the six firms. Here’s the story:
The big headlines.Time is a flat circle.
Porte Communities has broken ground on Olive, an 85-unit rental project at 5292 Kingsway in Burnaby.
MAC Development and Housing Society has broken ground on an 11-storey project at 315 Main Street (172 E Cordova Street) in the Downtown Eastside that will house 118 non-market housing units and a new UBC Learning Exchange.
The building slab is 100% complete and roofing is 50% complete at Fortitude by Conwest in Surrey. Occupancy is expected in Q1 2027.
Wesgroup has completed the building structure for The Keary at the Brewery District in New Westminster.
Forma (previously known as Nexus) by Keltic Development at 220 Prior Street in Vancouver, which is currently under receivership, has been substantially completed and is awaiting occupancy permits.
Isle of Mann Property Group has achieved occupancy for Rhythm, a rental project located at 15638 24th Avenue in Surrey.
PCI Developments has completed construction and launched leasing for Tether in Surrey, the 40-storey rental tower and final phase of King George Hub.
Townline and Musqueam Capital Corp have completed Abode, a 102-unit rental building located at 4855 Victoria Drive in Vancouver, and launched leasing.
Leasing will soon begin for Tower Two of Sen̓áḵw, with move-ins for 36 Hiy̓ám̓ Housing units exclusive to the Squamish Nation to begin in late-Fall 2026.
Arbutus Terrace, Strand’s 54-unit rental building in Kitsilano, is fully leased.
Everything is available for the right price.
Martin Moriarty and Mario Negris of Marcus & Millichap have listed 2762 Granville Street, a retail property near the future South Granville Station, for $5,575,000 and 7008 No. 3 Road in Richmond, a retail building occupied by TD Bank, for $16,800,000. The latter is owned by Wesgroup.
Gord Robson and Ilya Tihanenoks of Avison Young have listed 1856 Pandora Street, a freestanding industrial building in Vancouver.
Lance Coulson and Brendan Coulson of CBRE have listed 1235 Burnaby Street, a 10-unit rental building in Vancouver.
Harpreet Singh of Cushman & Wakefield and Kam Pawar of Macdonald Realty have listed 9419 173A Street in Surrey, a multi-family development site.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
Sim Waraich and Greg Ambrose of Colliers have sold 958 East Broadway, a 15-unit rental building in Vancouver, for $3,090,000.
David Venance, Patrick Hannah, Chris Harper, and Alexander Priatel of Cushman & Wakefield have sold Louisa Court, a 17-unit rental building located at 1360 Burnaby Street in Vancouver.
Beedie has sold 19135 30 Avenue, a 4.15-acre built-to-suit industrial opportunity in Surrey, for $21,000,000.
Andrew Gormley, Jon Buckley, Joe Genest, Curtis Leonhardt, and Armaan Sohi of Marcus & Millichap have sold the Tsawwassen Corner Shopping Centre at 1215 56th Street in Delta for $18,200,000, according to BIV.
Those who make real estate real.
Evan Siddall, formerly the CEO of AIMCo, has been named the inaugural Chair of the Board of Directors of Build Canada Homes.
Brad Jones, Chief Development Officer at Wesgroup, has joined the Board of Directors of UDI and also been named to its Executive Committee.
Jerry Nguyen has joined Concert Properties as General Counsel.
Michael Burak has joined Nonni Property Group as VP of Development, after over 12 years at Grosvenor.
Stephanie Gaydosh has joined Tetra Realty Advisors as Director of Portfolio Management.
Dazle Gumabao was promoted to Assistant Development Manager at Marcon.
Wilson Lam has been promoted to Senior Sales Associate at CBRE.
Fritz Peterson has joined Colliers as an Industrial Sales and Leasing Associate.
Gimena Machado has joined Woodbridge Homes as a Digital Marketing Specialist.
When a door closes, a window opens.Where, when, and what things are happening this week.
A court date of Tuesday, August 25 has been set for 1114-1106 Blanshard Street and 780 Fort Street, a downtown Victoria mixed-use assembly known as Blanshard Block that is owned by Merchant House Capital and under receivership. Morgan Iannone and Casey Weeks of Colliers have the listing.
A court date of Tuesday, August 25 has also been set for 983 Bray Avenue, a near-shovel-ready multi-family development site in Langford that has been listed by Brandon Selina, Austin Cope, and Dominic Ricciuti of Colliers.
UBC is holding a Vancouver mayoral debate focused on real estate and housing affordability on Tuesday, September 8.
Some additional reading you might be interested in.