CBRE

City Square Mall sold for $225 million

May 9, 2019 By Peter Meiszner Leave a Comment

The City Square mall at West 12th and Cambie Street across from City Hall has sold for $225 million.

Details of the blockbuster sale were outlined in a recent CBRE market research report.

The 249,881 sq ft. shopping centre was purchased by Sun Commercial, also known as SUNCOM. The mall was last assessed in 2018 at $102 million.

The Richmond-based commercial real estate company’s other holdings include the Best Western Sands Hotel on Davie Street near English Bay; the Mylora golf course, and the Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club.

Retail expert Craig Patterson of Retail-Insider.com says he expects a redevelopment of the mall in the near future.

“City Square is in one of the most strategic locations in Vancouver, being on the Canada Line and steps south of the new Broadway SkyTrain extension. The value paid for the property is more than twice its assessed value, leading me to believe that there will be a redevelopment play for the site, which will be somewhat challenging given historical building components and office components.”

The mall is a mix of heritage buildings and modern construction. The heritage portions of the mall were built in 1905 and 1908 to house the Model School and Normal School, which were teacher training facilities. The mall as we know it opened in 1989.

City Square mall retail spaces challenging

Patterson says the configuration of the retail at City Square needs a rethink.

“The current configuration of the centre’s retail component is awkward at best. Redevelopment of parts of the centre could extract value if done right, and it will be interesting to see if a residential component will be added to City Square as well,” he added.

A 25,000 sq ft. Safeway store at City Square mall closed in 2018 as part of the grocer’s closure of 10 stores across the Lower Mainland.

Safeway closed City Square mall sold — Credit: City Square Property Holdings Inc.

The City Square mall sale was one of the biggest of 2018, second only to the sale of the Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby, to Chicago-based Mesirow Financial for $253 million. Mesirow Financial also picked up the Starlight Casino in New Westminster for $103 million.

City Square mall is a mix of heritage buildings and modern construction. The heritage portions of the mall were built in 1905 and 1908 to house the Model School and Normal School, which were teacher training facilities.

International Village also could be sold

In April, urbanYVR reported that International Village — also known as Tinseltown — was on the market.

The 195,000 sq ft. shopping centre in Chinatown was being marketed as a potential “repositioning opportunity.” The listing was pulled one week after the story was first reported.

International Village mall for sale, could be redeveloped

April 4, 2019 By Peter Meiszner Leave a Comment

Portfolio also includes location of T&T Supermarket in Chinatown and Henderson Place in Coquitlam

UPDATE: The listing for International Village was pulled one week after this article was published. Listing agents CBRE have declined comment.

Vancouver’s International Village mall — also known as Tinseltown — is up for sale, along with Paris Square (location of the Chinatown T&T Supermarket), as well as the Henderson Place Mall in Coquitlam.

CBRE’s Urban Properties Group is marketing the three properties as a package: The Henderson Retail Portfolio.

There’s no price listed, but the three properties include over 400,000 square feet of leasable space.

International Village, a 195,000 sq ft. shopping centre in Chinatown anchored by Rexall Drugs and Cineplex, is being marketed as a potential “repositioning opportunity.”

“International Village’s vast retail space and superb location is remarkably under-utilized in its current form. Investors are offered the opportunity to dramatically increase International Village’s visitation and revenue by implementing a new space planning and tenant positioning strategy,” reads the listing from CBRE.

The upper levels of International Village are made up of small retail spaces with no anchor tenants, a challenging situation to attract significant foot traffic.

International Village originally intended to be home to luxury retailers

Retail industry expert and Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider, Craig Patterson, says the mall was originally intended to be a luxury-focused shopping centre.

“International Village never lived up to its original concept, which was to be a luxury shopping centre for tenants such as Gucci and Chanel. The developer attempted to secure high-end brands and managed to secure some relatively strong mid-priced ones,” he said.

Patterson says the surrounding neighbourhood poses a challenge, particularly for attracting luxury retail tenants.

“Two factors led to the overall failure of International Village as a luxury shopping centre, or indeed a strong centre generally. Construction materials were not up to a luxury standard, nor was the overall design. Also, the developer expected the area to rapidly gentrify and while it has certainly seen improvements over the years, it still suffers from various social issues from the adjacent Downtown Eastside.”

Patterson says one solution to attracting new retail tenants could be a reconfiguration of the shopping centre’s layout.

“International Village has tremendous potential for a repositioning, though it would cost millions of dollars. A new owner may wish to reconfigure the overall floor plan which could be complicated. Demolishing the entire complex would be the best move, as a developer could obtain considerably higher density for the site. However, that is complicated by the fact that there is a residential tower at the southeast corner of the complex, making a demolition challenging.”

T&T Chinatown — The building housing the T&T in Chinatown is up for sale.

Paris Square at Keefer and Abbott up for sale

Paris Square — home of T&T Supermarket — is also part of the package. Patterson says the design of the building poses a challenge, but the grocery store is a strong anchor.

“Paris Square benefits from having a very busy T&T grocery store as an anchor, however its overall retail design, utilizing a colonnade-like facade with walkways, has failed to attract substantial retailers because of lack of visibility. The visibility has improved as new residential developments have filled in the area, however many national and internationals tenants would be disinterested in a street-facing location along that stretch of retail.”

Henderson Place a possible redevelopment site

Henderson Place Mall is a 143,000 square foot enclosed mall in Coquitlam’s rapidly developing Town Centre.

The property could be an attractive redevelopment play, with Morguard transforming nearby Coquitlam Centre into a high-density, mixed-use community to rival The Amazing Brentwood and The City of Lougheed.

Plaza 500 at Cambie and West 12th for sale, new retail podium and tower possible

January 15, 2019 By Peter Meiszner Leave a Comment

A 17-storey rental apartment tower across from Vancouver City Hall is for sale, with possible new retail space and rental apartments on the way.

CBRE Vancouver is representing the owners of Plaza 500 located at 500 West 12th Avenue.

The apartment tower — originally constructed in the mid-1970s — recently completed an extensive renovation, with all 118 units rebuilt from the inside out.

Plaza 500 also has a four-storey commercial podium on Cambie Street, currently home to Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club Vancouver and Firefly Fine Wines & Ales.

CBRE says the podium could be redeveloped into a mixed-use, multi-family rental tower with retail on the lower levels.

All existing commercial tenants are said to have termination or development clauses.

Plaza 500 Redevelopment Outline — Areas around tower for potential infill development. Credit: CBRE Vancouver

Plaza 500 location — Plaza 500 tower is pictured in the bottom right, at Cambie and West 12th. Credit: CBRE Vancouver

The listing cites the building’s high-profile location across from City Hall and proximity to the future Broadway SkyTrain line, expected to be completed in 2025.

High demand for rental apartments in Vancouver also makes the property very attractive, with near-zero vacancy rates in the immediate area, as well as city policies meant to encourage development of 25,000 new purpose-built market rental homes over the next 10 years.

The listing price is not known. The property was assessed at $86,212,000 in 2018.

Modern office space proposed for 155 Water Street in Gastown

May 2, 2018 By Peter Meiszner Leave a Comment

A redevelopment at 155 Water Street in Gastown will add new office space and retail units above a heritage building.

CBRE Urban Properties Group is marketing three new retail units at 155 Water Street, most recently home to Kit and Ace and before that, Nood, a New Zealand-based furniture retailer with a short-lived presence in Vancouver.

There will be seven floors of office space over 74,458 sq ft. above the retail units. A 3,800 sq ft. rooftop lounge will offer tenants spectacular views of downtown Vancouver, Coal Harbour and the North Shore.

An underground parking garage will have 45 stalls, and bicycle storage will be provided as well.

The development is targeting LEED Gold certification. Architects are Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership, and the building is being developed by Low Tide Properties, the real estate company owned by Chip Wilson.

The project has been in the works since 2014, with an earlier proposal showing a stepped back addition atop of the two-storey commercial building. That proposal was rejected by the city. This new design has already been approved by the Urban Design Panel.

For more information, visit 155waterstreet.com