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Vancouver’s West Broadway is in the midst of a ‘land rush’ - The Globe and Mail
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PROPERTY REPORT
Vancouver’s West Broadway is in
the midst of a ‘land rush’
The Globe and Mail
daily newspaper
Toronto, ON
August 22, 2016
FRANCES BULA
VANCOUVER — Special to The Globe and Mail
PublishedMonday, Aug. 22, 2016 4:28PM EDT
Last updatedFriday, Sep. 02, 2016 4:48PM EDT
29 Comments 0 0 0 18
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The building at 950 West Broadway in
Vancouver is unremarkable, a two-storey
concrete structure that is home to an IHOP, a
Japanese restaurant and an insurance broker,
among other things.
But it sold last May for a phenomenal $46-
million, according to B.C. Assessment Authority
records, even though it had been assessed at
just $18-million. It was the latest recordbreaking
sale in what has been a year of highwater
marks for commercial properties along
Broadway.
Why so high? As Colliers, the agency listing the
property, put it: “Without question, the highly
anticipated UBC-Broadway Rapid Transit Line
has placed a spotlight on West Broadway and
amplified demand for land and investment
assets.”
That sale and others demonstrate the impact
that a future transit line – even one that has no
confirmed funding or firm completion date –
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Vancouver’s West Broadway is in the midst of a ‘land rush’ - The Globe and Mail
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HIGHLIGHTS
The commercial building at 950 West Broadway sold last May for $46-million,
according to B.C. Assessment Authority records. (Colliers)
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“There’s been a land rush on Broadway,” says
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Jon Stovell, the chair of the region’s Urban
Development Institute. “Developers have been
purchasing with an expectation it will be one of
the densest areas in the region.”
That’s all in anticipation of the extension of the
Broadway SkyTrain line from Commercial Drive
in the east to Arbutus Street in the west, a plan
that has been talked about for a couple of
decades.
If built, the line would serve a corridor that has
been called Vancouver’s third downtown, a long
strip that is already packed with medical
offices, restaurants and stores. Some parts of it
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/vancouvers-west-broadwayis-in-the-midst-of-a-land-rush/article31494096/[26/09/2016 11:59:03 AM]

Vancouver’s West Broadway is in the midst of a ‘land rush’ - The Globe and Mail
But hopes are high that the new transit line will
actually happen this time, after Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau made specific promises about
transit funding for Broadway during his
campaign last fall.
So far, only initial planning money has been
committed. Everyone is now waiting for what’s
called the second-phase funding, which is
supposed to be negotiated this fall in
anticipation of a much bigger commitment to
transit projects across the country by the
Liberals in their second budget next February.
Even when that comes through, though, it
could be as much as a decade before the
Broadway extension opens.
As well, it’s unclear at this point whether the
city will rezone the area for more density. At
the moment, much of the central corridor is
zoned to allow for buildings that are equivalent
to just three times the lot size.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/vancouvers-west-broadwayis-in-the-midst-of-a-land-rush/article31494096/[26/09/2016 11:59:03 AM]

Vancouver’s West Broadway is in the midst of a ‘land rush’ - The Globe and Mail
A long-established Vancouver family, the Pappajohns, snapped up the Denny’s
restaurant site on West Broadway this year for $26-million. (Colliers)
“Once we have confirmed funding and an
annual project, we’ll engage in a planning
process,” says Jane Pickering, Vancouver’s
acting general manager of planning. “Around
transit stations, it’s pretty clear there will be
some densification.”
One area that does have the green light for
greater density is around the existing
Commercial-Broadway station, the secondbusiest
in the transit system. Increased density
around that station was recently approved as
part of the Grandview-Woodlands community
plan, which is mapping out what services are
needed as the neighbourhood grows by 10,000
people over the next 25 years.
There is a Safeway grocery store with a large
parking lot next to it, where developer Ian
Gillespie of Westbank Corp., who has worked
with Safeway on other projects in the past, is in
the midst of designing a new complex of towers
with residential and office space.
Mr. Stovell says he’s certain the province,
which has to commit to millions of dollars in
funding, along with the federal money, for the
project to proceed, will be pushing the city to
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/vancouvers-west-broadwayis-in-the-midst-of-a-land-rush/article31494096/[26/09/2016 11:59:03 AM]

Vancouver’s West Broadway is in the midst of a ‘land rush’ - The Globe and Mail
allow more density.
Reliance Holdings acquired a large West Broadway site, which includes the
current Mountain Equipment Co-op store that is due to move in a couple of
years. Plans call for rental units on the site. (Colliers)
“Clearly, the province is convinced the
Broadway line has to go along with
densification. They’re not going to allow what
happened on the Expo line again,” he says.
The city’s first transit line opened in 1986 – the
Expo line ran from downtown Vancouver to
Surrey – and is remarkable for the low density
of development that still exists around its
stations 30 years later.
But there are no firm guarantees on exactly
what density will be allowed.
That’s not stopping property buyers, though.
The prospect of a new transit line along West Broadway has made commercial
buildings more appealing to developers. (Colliers)
Mr. Stovell’s company, Reliance Holdings,
acquired a large site eight blocks east of the
IHOP restaurant, the current Mountain
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/vancouvers-west-broadwayis-in-the-midst-of-a-land-rush/article31494096/[26/09/2016 11:59:03 AM]

Vancouver’s West Broadway is in the midst of a ‘land rush’ - The Globe and Mail
Equipment Co-op store that is due to move in a
couple of years.
The property, currently valued at $47-million,
was acquired by his company last June for a
price that doesn’t appear in B.C. land records.
Another noted land deal along the corridor was
the purchase by the long-established
Vancouver family, the Pappajohns, of the
Denny’s restaurant site on Broadway three
blocks west of the IHOP site.
That was purchased for $26-million, double the
2015 assessed value, in February this year.
Besides those purchases, the City of Vancouver
and TransLink, the transportation agency that
will be building and operating the Broadway
line, have bought pieces of land at key
locations, several sources say.
But one problem with the early buying at high
prices is that it may actually hinder
development, at a time when Vancouver is
suffering from a severe squeeze on housing.
Both house prices and rents have been soaring
in the past year, as existing and new residents,
along with investors, have competed hard for
the slow-growing supply of housing.
Some of the current speculation is “stripping
more supply out of the market,” says Avison
Young principal Mehdi Shokri. “Transit is
supposed to be helping spur development, but
we’re going to find we’re adding more pressure
to the supply problem,” he says.
As a result, he says, sites west of where the
new line is supposed to stop are seeing more
development activity because builders there
know there is likely to be no change, so they’re
proceeding on the basis of the current zoning.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/property-report/vancouvers-west-broadwayis-in-the-midst-of-a-land-rush/article31494096/[26/09/2016 11:59:03 AM]

Vancouver’s West Broadway is in the midst of a ‘land rush’ - The Globe and Mail
But in the hot new transit-line area, people are
holding off.
For example, the buyer of 950 West Broadway
is a company called Hometop Enterprises that
was created just last February.
The company’s incorporator is Bao Meng Wen,
with an address in the city’s upscale Kerrisdale
neighbourhood. The company does not appear
to have any development experience.
New purchasers like that feel that they can only
get a return on the high prices they paid if they
get considerably more density – and will wait
however many years it takes to get that, says
Mr. Shokri.
Mr. Stovell adds, “We won’t see a lot of
projects breaking ground until there is clarity
on the zoning.”
But he expects it will go quickly after that. He
is hoping to build a large rental project on the
MEC site and anticipates that others might do
the same.
“One of the things I think you’ll see out of the
gate is a lot of rental. Rental works in the
current market.”
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Follow Frances Bula on Twitter: @fabulavancouver
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29 Comments
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