Frank O'Brien
BusinessInVancouver
Canada
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Past articles by Frank:
Vancouver leads nation in office completions, lowest vacancy rate
Vancouver is leading the nation in new office development with nine of the 12 latest completions in Canada seen in the city and 4.8 million square feet under construction across the region, nearly 45 per cent of which is already pre-leased. → Read More
Don’t look now but Vancouver home sales are heading back up
Early sales data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) and anecdotal reports from the street suggest that a nine-month slide in the housing market may be coming to an end. → Read More
Vancouver homebuyers prove willing, but listings are weak
Greater Vancouver’s housing market added a surprise twist to a year of plot changes as sales in December surpassed the total number of new listings, in some communities running at a two-to-one ratio. → Read More
Metro Vancouver industrial vacancies ease as supply increases
Metro Vancouver’s industrial vacancy rate, which hit a North American low of 0.1 per cent this year, according to Colliers, has eased to 0.5 per cent due to a huge increase in supply, a new Cushman & Wakefield market survey says. → Read More
Metro Vancouver house prices cut as sales dip, listings increase
May housing sales across Greater Vancouver fell for the second straight month and asking prices are being cut as month-to-month benchmark prices have dipped for the first time in at least two years. → Read More
Burnaby approves 40-acre Willingdon Lands project
Burnaby city council approved the redevelopment of the Willingdon Lands May 31, paving the way for the largest First Nation-led real estate project in the city. → Read More
Beedie unveils plans for Kelowna airport industrial site
Burnaby-based developer Beedie has officially entered the Kelowna industrial real estate market with plans for a 14.7-acre vacant site it purchased next to the Kelowna International Airport. → Read More
Streetworks plans to redevelop Hudson’s Bay store in downtown Vancouver
Streetworks, the real estate arm of Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC), says it will submit a rezoning application “in the next few weeks” for a proposed redevelopment of the iconic HBC flagship store in downtown Vancouver. → Read More
New buyers drawn by highest rents, cheapest mortgages
Cynthia Jagger, a principal with Goodman Commercial Inc., summed up the anomaly that is now Metro Vancouver’s multi-family rental market during her address this September to an annual apartment investment conference in Toronto. → Read More
Bill C-208 is now law: Freeland
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has overruled ministry officials, and cleared up confusion, by ruling that Bill C-208, new legislation that levels the playing field for business owners who transfer ownership to members of their family, is now in effect. → Read More
Fraser Valley rolls to record real estate numbers
SkyTrain extension, lower real estate prices and super job creation lure homebuyers, investors, workers and developers to the Fraser Valley → Read More
New Pfizer, BioNTech COVID vaccine claimed 90% effective
A two-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is more than 90% effective, according to data from an independent late-stage study released November 9. → Read More
Downtown traffic toll plan faces pushback
Vancouver City Council will debate a city staff recommendation November 3 that tolls – “transport pricing fees” – should be used to curb traffic into the downtown business district. → Read More
Creditor protection extended for flagship timber tower
Developers behind a proposed 19-storey luxury condominium tower built from heavy timber that was once hailed as the flagship project for B.C. wood buildings have had creditor protection extended to December. → Read More
Office development aimed at luring remote workers back
A new pandemic-inspired workspace design in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour will be outfitted with the latest in health and wellness features, but it may be the short, flexible leases that will persuade remote professionals that it’s time to get back to the office. → Read More
Developers hope to reclaim downtrodden DTES
In April, when Toronto-based Allied Real Estate Investment Trust bought a 115-year-old office building at 375 Water Street for an estimated $225 million – nearly $100 million above its assessed value – it marked the largest sale in what has become a real estate rush into Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside (DTES → Read More
‘Free money’ mortgage feast could last two years
Record low mortgage rates for homes and multi-family properties will continue for at least two years, according to the Bank of Canada (BOC) as it chopped the qualifying rate for the mortgage stress test August 14 for the second time this year. → Read More
B.C. a world leader in carbon-conscious construction
This article was originally published in the July 2020 issue of BIV Magazine. → Read More
Mortgage rates 'dirt cheap' as debt, deferrals rise
Canadian mortgage rates are in a virtual free fall, dropping to record-setting lows with discount brokers now offering one- to five-year variable rates in the 1.64 to 1.68 per cent range. → Read More
New condo sales, starts plummet in Metro Vancouver
A pandemic panic may be settling into Metro Vancouver’s once robust condominium market, at least for the short-term. → Read More