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The story behind one of my stories.
For the last couple years, I’ve heard a lot from commercial real estate brokers about “price discovery” and how the industry is trying to figure out what assets are worth amidst this extended market downturn.
The buyer pool has shrunk. Capital has become more constrained. Valuations are in flux. Deals are tougher to complete. Some brokers have told me that listings now often require multiple price reductions.
So, in a conversation with Carey Buntain from Avison Young’s BC Multi-Family Team for Western Investor, I wanted to dive into the details of pricing strategy in today’s market environment. Here’s the story:
The big headlines.
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After the federal and provincial government made their housing and infrastructure announcement on June 18, the “Canada-British Columbia Partnership on Condo Conversion” continued to dominate the news last week, with many criticizing it as a “bailout” for developers.
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For my 10th story for The Globe and Mail, I covered the announcement and got perspectives from both sides of the debate.
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On Wednesday, upon inquiry, the Government of British Columbia provided a statement to The Realist confirming that the condo conversion program will include a homeownership component.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the backlash in a press conference Thursday morning, acknowledging that they mishandled the announcement and said the program will include a rent-to-own model. He also estimated the budget to be around $1.4 billion, with the federal government providing 10% and BC providing 90%.
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Hours later, Premier David Eby also addressed the backlash, saying at a press conference that “If people hate it, it’s OK we don’t have to do it.”
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Over the weekend, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre then called for an investigation into the condo conversion proposal.
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It flew a bit under the radar last week, but the City of Toronto also announced the details of their Development Charge Reduction Program.
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I (unintentionally) caused a bit of a media frenzy last week when I found the floorplans for the three-bedroom units and four-bedroom unit at Sen̓áḵw on the project website and tweeted about the asking rents. My tweet kind of blew up on Twitter and Reddit, Nch’ḵay̓ pulled the webpage, both CBC and Business In Vancouver ended up publishing articles about it, and Nch’ḵay̓ subsequently announced that they had leased 100 of the 333 homes in Tower One.
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Ever since I broke the news in the middle of the night on April 29 that buyers had been found for the Hudson’s Bay buildings in Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa, I’ve been trying to get the prices. Last week, Onni Group completed their purchase of the Hudson’s Bay building in Vancouver and I got the price.
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In other big retail news, The Realist also revealed last week that Cadillac Fairview had listed its 30-acre CF Shops at Don Mills shopping centre in Toronto.
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Metro Vancouver published draft DCC rates for 2028-2030.
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For The Globe and Mail, I also wrote about the King & Park project — the redevelopment of the Telus Boot in Burnaby — by Anthem Properties, Crestpoint Real Estate Investments, and Vestor, which kicked off construction on Phase One earlier this month with a ceremony I attended.
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The Canadian Association for the Practice of Architecture (CAPA), a new national industry association dedicated to advancing the business interests of architectural practices in Canada, has officially launched.
Also Mentioned In This Edition: Qualex-Landmark, Beedie, Peterson, Colliers, Goodman, Commercial, JLL, CBRE, Hungerford, MLA Canada, and more.