Peter Mitham
BusinessInVancouver
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Past articles by Peter:
Vancouver's Nordstrom space in prime location as destination retail stays strong
Nordstrom’s 220,000-square-foot space at Pacific Centre is a prime location for a new entrant to the downtown Vancouver market, offering plenty of flexibility as destination retail holds its appeal for Canadian shoppers. → Read More
Bed, Bath & Beyond space set to hit the market this week
The landlords of 65 stores operated by Bed Bath & Beyond Canada Ltd. received formal notification last week of lease terminations, and now the hunt is on for tenants to fill what some have estimated to be the return of nearly 2 million square feet of space nationwide. → Read More
Greater Vancouver residential sales fall but seasonal patterns return
Residential sales through the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver dropped 55 per cent in January versus a year ago, but seasonal patterns held steady as buyers adjusted to market conditions. → Read More
Sale of troubled Atmosphere project in Richmond put on hold
A bid to sell the troubled Atmosphere project on Alderbridge Way and No. 3 Road in Richmond has been paused pending efforts to make it a development-ready project for prospective purchasers. → Read More
Prices for B.C. vacation homes dip despite steady demand
The outlook for B.C. recreational property remains solid, with brokers saying some of the strongest markets in B.C. are now providing a haven against the turmoil roiling residential markets at large. → Read More
Housing boom exposes black market in Fraser Valley
When the neighbours started building an addition to the two-storey house next to her in Surrey’s Fleetwood neighbourhood last summer, Linda Ypenburg couldn’t help but notice. Within a few days, workers had framed up a structure that extended to her fence line. → Read More
A shift in markets has begun, and the outcome is uncertain
The market shifts The World Health Organization’s declaration on March 11 that the novel coronavirus COVID-19 was a pandemic triggered a wave of public health and fiscal policy measures abundantly covered in this publication and others. What was recommended in the interests of public health one day became a requirement the next. Over the course of a week, B.C. provincial health officer Dr.… → Read More
Collaboration essential to resolving B.C. development dilemmas
Crisis response A year ago, Anthem Properties Group CEO Eric Carlson announced at the Urban Development Institute’s (UDI) annual forecast luncheon that he was decamping for Sacramento, as the California city was far friendlier to developers than North Vancouver. → Read More
Regional transit funding pushed ahead of government budgets
Growing demands “B.C. keeps growing,” remarked BC Stats in its weekly roundup of statistics last week. According to the most recent estimates of the province’s population, an additional 70,000 people arrived in the 12 months ended June 30, 2019, boosting B.C.’s head count to 5,071,336. → Read More
Metro residential land market shows signs of life in early 2020
Vote of confidence Year-end housing data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) earlier this month pointed to record housing starts of 28,141 units for Metro Vancouver in 2019. This was up 20% from a year earlier. → Read More
Metro Vancouver’s apartment building sales drop in tight rental market
Vacancies flat According to Simon Fraser University associate professor Josh Gordon, the biggest driver of rental vacancies in a given market is economic activity. → Read More
Government policies hit homeowners but housing market rises
Inequitable assessment Property owners take heart from higher property values, which help to boost equity and in turn their borrowing power. Higher values also generate higher property tax revenues for local government. But the province doesn’t seem to see things so positively. → Read More
Mass timber rises as builders look for speed and sustainability
Building up A new year brings new beginnings, and for Penticton-based Structurlam Mass Timber Corp., that includes building on key developments from last year. With its expertise in cross-laminated timbers, it welcomed changes in the B.C. Building Code last March allowing for mass-timber construction in buildings of up to 12 storeys. Canada’s national building code will adopt similar rules this… → Read More
Seattle draws developers, but Vancouver rekindles Chinese interest
Twenty years ago, a partnership between West Vancouver’s Don Milliken and Seattle’s Vulcan Inc. – the development company of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen – set the stage for 2200 Westlake in Seattle’s Denny Triangle, an area previously known for car dealerships and single-storey light-industrial buildings. → Read More
Lower property assessments set to raise Greater Vancouver taxes
Valuation day With the first half of the year done, the number crunchers will be busy sorting the data for initial insights on the market with a view to figuring out where the second half will take us. With many first-half numbers not due out till September, what’s happened to date will also set the tone for the final push to the end of the year. Part of that push will be the BC Assessment… → Read More
Office space, industrial demand buck slower investment market
Slowing sales Office assets were the bright spot for Metro Vancouver investment transactions in the first quarter, according to real estate consulting firm Altus Group. → Read More
Real estate employment, licensees buck market trends
Strong employment Residential sales data for April, set for release later this week, will likely deliver further proof that 2019 sales activity is lagging behind that of previous years. → Read More
Vancouver searching for solutions to disappearing hotel rooms
Thousands needed Vancouver’s housing crisis is well known, but an Urban Development Institute (UDI) discussion on April 30 will focus on accommodation for visitors. UDI typically advocates for housing to handle B.C.’s growing population, but with condos gobbling up development sites, it will host a panel including development consultant Gary Pooni of Brook Pooni Associates; Ty Speer, president… → Read More
Residential price drop failing to ease Vancouver’s housing crisis
Prices will double Ten consecutive months of declines in the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s benchmark home price have brought the figure down 7.5% since last May to $1,011,200. Sales are also down, with March seeing the lowest tally in 33 years. On the bright side, this was the smallest monthly decline of the year, and the strongest month for sales since October, when the board… → Read More
Wood investment turns into gold for Vancouver developer
Critical mass Wood towers have come a long way since the log skyscrapers of Whitehorse, landmarks on the skyline of the northern city that have since been dwarfed by trials of six-storey wood-frame buildings and, more recently, the 18-storey Brock Commons tower at the University of British Columbia that was completed in 2017. Recent changes to the B.C. Building Code are set to make 12-storey… → Read More