Burnaby Updates

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by mcj

Is there an advantage for create to develop 6800 and 7000 as two separate projects? Seems odd that 6800 isn't in the renders for 7000.

I think at 6800 Create was purchased with Peterson. I'm not sure if they have a partner in the 7000 Lougheed purchase, but they seem to be using the same architects in the project they've now named "Burnaby Lake Heights".

[mcj]

Originally Posted by Changing City

I think at 6800 Create was purchased with Peterson. I'm not sure if they have a partner in the 7000 Lougheed purchase, but they seem to be using the same architects in the project they've now named "Burnaby Lake Heights".

Hopefully these two projects are integrated well, they look great in terms of pedestrian space and public realm from the renders, would be a shame if they squandered that by isolating them from each other.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by mcj

Is there an advantage for create to develop 6800 and 7000 as two separate projects? Seems odd that 6800 isn't in the renders for 7000.

The public relations ability to say a 4000 unit project and a 2800 unit project instead of a 6800 unit project?

[hollywoodnorth]

Keltic closes on multimillion-dollar Burnaby land deal
The site: A 1.8-acre land assembly in Burnaby’s Metrotown sold November 30 for more than $100 million.

https://www.westerninvestor.com/brit...d-deal-6181878


The 1.8-acre site was purchased for “in excess of $100 million” under a share-sale agreement, according to Rachel Li Lei, CEO of Keltic Canada Development, the buyer.

The transaction of 4444 and 4488 Kingsway, Burnaby, includes an Esso gas station and a smaller adjacent lot, both of which had previously been purchased by Bosa Properties. Bosa acquired the Esso gas station from 7-Eleven Canada in 2018 for $24 million.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

Keltic closes on multimillion-dollar Burnaby land deal
The site: A 1.8-acre land assembly in Burnaby’s Metrotown sold November 30 for more than $100 million.

https://www.westerninvestor.com/brit...d-deal-6181878


The 1.8-acre site was purchased for “in excess of $100 million” under a share-sale agreement, according to Rachel Li Lei, CEO of Keltic Canada Development, the buyer.

The transaction of 4444 and 4488 Kingsway, Burnaby, includes an Esso gas station and a smaller adjacent lot, both of which had previously been purchased by Bosa Properties. Bosa acquired the Esso gas station from 7-Eleven Canada in 2018 for $24 million.

Oh, wow!
So Bosa isn't involved anymore and it's 70 storey proposal by Gensler is toast(?).
I wonder what Keltic has planned?
May stay the same with some tweaks...

The entire 80,000-square-foot site is planned for a one-million-square foot residential and commercial development,
which will now proceed under the new owner, Keltic Canada Development of Vancouver.
...
Bosa’s plan for the property, at the corner of Kingsway Avenue and Willingdon Street in the Metrotown area of Burnaby,
included two towers, with one potentially as high as 70 storeys, covering approximately one million square feet with 553 condos,
385 rental housing units, a 160-room hotel and commercial square footage. The maximum allowable density is 14.3 floor-space
ratio (FAR).

According to Lei, Keltic may change the configuration to replace the hotel with more office and other commercial space,
including a small grocery outlet and upscale restaurants.
...

https://www.westerninvestor.com/brit...d-deal-6181878

OLD BOSA Renderings:


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/4444...erties-gensler


https://www.westerninvestor.com/brit...d-deal-6181878

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Oh, wow!
So Bosa isn't involved anymore and it's 70 storey proposal by Gensler is toast(?).
I wonder what Keltic has planned?
May stay the same with some tweaks...


https://www.westerninvestor.com/brit...d-deal-6181878

OLD BOSA Renderings:


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/4444...erties-gensler


https://www.westerninvestor.com/brit...d-deal-6181878

Gensler's still involved.
They're designing the taller tower and are the overall project design architect.

Still not sure if the taller tower will be 70 storeys, though*.
But it should be thereabouts (mid- to high 60's).

If I recall, the site sale was for $145 Million all told.

A nice tidy profit for Bosa who bought it for $24 Million barely 4 years ago and got it rezoned and upzoned to about 13 or 14 FSR.
Maybe the pandemic changed their outlook and perspective on how many of these kinds of megaprojects they still want to be involved in.
But walking away with $121 Million pure profit isn't too shabby.

I believe Dikeakos might be the other architect for the shorter tower and the architect of record.
(not really sure why, since Gensler have a local office in Vancouver).


(*the new design might not end up having as many storeys as the original proposal (70+ storeys), but it could still end up being taller for the basic reason of the change in program in part of the tower from hotel to office.
It all depends on how many floors of office space they'll end up designing in it)

[officedweller]

Cool, thanks!

[bepositive]

Hi Brentwood

[officedweller]

All 4 Burnaby Town Centres in one shot:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/onikon...n/photostream/

[jollyburger]

Details on that Bosa/Keltic deal

Vancouver real estate agent Goran Bucan brokered two of Metro Vancouver’s biggest real estate deals this year, including the nine-figure sale of an entire city block in Burnaby’s Metrotown that closed at the end of November.

The 1.8-acre site was bought for “in excess of $100 million” under a share-sale agreement, according to Rachel Li Lei, CEO of Keltic Canada Development, which bought the property.

The sale of 4444 and 4488 Kingsway includes an Esso gas station and a smaller adjacent lot, both of which had previously been purchased by Bosa Properties. Bosa acquired the Esso gas station from 7-Eleven Canada in 2018 for $24 million.

Plans for the 80,000-square -foot site include a one-million-square-foot residential and commercial development, which will now proceed under Keltic Canada.

Bucan said the deal is linked to the earlier sale of Bristol Estates in Central Surrey, a 6.5-acre parcel bought by Bosa Properties in July for $170 million and approved for approximately two million square feet of residential and commercial construction in five towers.

Bucan facilitated the off-market deal during a five-hour meeting between Bosa and the vendor, Landmark Premiere Properties Ltd., which had spent four years getting the site rezoning and permits in place, the agent said.

In return, Bosa provided Bucan with the opportunity to sell its 1.8-acre Burnaby site, on which Bosa had spent seven years of land assembly and planning.

“Bosa gave me 30 days to sell it, with an unconditional offer,” Bucan recalled.

He immediately pitched the site to Keltic and two out-ofprovince developers. Less than a week later, Keltic accepted the offer and the sale closed at midnight on Nov. 30.

Bosa’s plan for the property, at the corner of Kingsway Avenue and Willingdon Street in the Metrotown area of Burnaby, included two towers, with one potentially as high as 70 storeys, covering approximately one million square feet with 553 condos, 385 rental housing units, a 160-room hotel and commercial square footage. The maximum allowable density is 14.3 floorspace ratio.

According to Lei, Keltic may change the configuration to replace the hotel with more office and other commercial space, including a small grocery outlet and upscale restaurants.

Bucan, of Sutton Group Vancouver, also brokered the single largest commercial transaction in Metro Vancouver in 2021. It involved the sale of a 27-acre property in Richmond to Keltic for $300 million. •

https://biv.com/article/2022/12/kelt...naby-land-deal

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Details on that Bosa/Keltic deal



https://biv.com/article/2022/12/kelt...naby-land-deal

It's telling that they preferred to buy a site in Surrey for $170 Million to redevelop there instead, and let go their Metrotown site (that they had spent even longer assembling - 7 years), for (a reported) $145 Million.

I would hazard a guess that Surrey's "fastest growing population and urban area in the region" reputation was probably a big driver in that decision.

...or maybe the Surrey site is much farther along in the rezoning/development permit application process, and that greased the wheels for its sale at a higher price.

[jollyburger]

Sorry that's probably a repost of the Western Investor article previously posted.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

It's telling that they preferred to buy a site in Surrey for $170 Million to redevelop there instead, and let go their Metrotown site (that they had spent even longer assembling - 7 years), for (a reported) $145 Million.

I would hazard a guess that Surrey's "fastest growing population and urban area in the region" reputation was probably a big driver in that decision.

...or maybe the Surrey site is much farther along in the rezoning/development permit application process, and that greased the wheels for its sale at a higher price.

Nearly doubling the square footage and number of units going from the Kingsway site to the Bristol Estates one though. Even if the $/sqft is lower in Surrey than Metrotown, it's not that much lower, I imagine that's a bigger driver than the reputation.

Edit: I would also imagine with the RE market slow down that higher priced units are harder to sell at the moment, the Surrey site de-risks their investment by offering lower priced units that will be more attractive to buyers in a less active market.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by mcj

Nearly doubling the square footage and number of units going from the Kingsway site to the Bristol Estates one though. Even if the $/sqft is lower in Surrey than Metrotown, it's not that much lower, I imagine that's a bigger driver than the reputation.

The Surrey project is much more flexible for Bosa too. Instead of having to build a 70 storey tower with a significant commercial podium and a high proportion of rental units, they get to build one modest replacement rental building in Surrey and can then phase the five condo towers, which are only 38 to 48 storeys, and have minimal commercial space.

It reads like they sold off Burnaby to help fund the Surrey purchase. Commercial mortgages have gone up just like the cost of all lending, and Bosa would be unlikely to have $100m+ sitting around waiting to be deployed, so they needed to get the capital from another developer. They were lucky Keltic were willing to buy Burnaby.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by Changing City

The Surrey project is much more flexible for Bosa too. Instead of having to build a 70 storey tower with a significant commercial podium and a high proportion of rental units, they get to build one modest replacement rental building in Surrey and can then phase the five condo towers, which are only 38 to 48 storeys, and have minimal commercial space.

It reads like they sold off Burnaby to help fund the Surrey purchase. Commercial mortgages have gone up just like the cost of all lending, and Bosa would be unlikely to have $100m+ sitting around waiting to be deployed, so they needed to get the capital from another developer. They were lucky Keltic were willing to buy Burnaby.

That might be true, except that the timelines from the article suggests that they bought the Surrey site before they sold off the Metrotown site.

The brokering agent responsible for the sale implies in the article that the opportunity for the commission to make the Metrotown sale was a result of the successful Surrey deal he brokered for them prior to that.

Bucan said the deal is linked to the earlier sale of Bristol Estates in Central Surrey, a 6.5-acre parcel bought by Bosa Properties in July for $170 million and approved for approximately two million square feet of residential and commercial construction in five towers.

Bucan facilitated the off-market deal during a five-hour meeting between Bosa and the vendor, Landmark Premiere Properties Ltd., which had spent four years getting the site rezoning and permits in place, the agent said.

In return, Bosa provided Bucan with the opportunity to sell its 1.8-acre Burnaby site, on which Bosa had spent seven years of land assembly and planning.

“Bosa gave me 30 days to sell it, with an unconditional offer,” Bucan recalled.

He immediately pitched the site to Keltic and two out-ofprovince developers. Less than a week later, Keltic accepted the offer and the sale closed at midnight on Nov. 30.

So perhaps they did have (at least some of) that $100 - $170 Million sitting around to make that deal before they could recoup (part of it anyway) from the Metrotown deal.
It's also entirely possible the two details happened almost concurrently enough that Bosa were confident they could get necessary financing with an expected impending sale of the latter site.

Likewise, it seems that the fact that Bucan had earlier facilitated a successful sale for Keltic and therefore already had an established relationship with them probably also worked in his favour in getting the commission.

As far as I can tell, Keltic have only one other project in the Metrotown area (the O2 proposal for the Maywood/Beresford area.)
Maybe they're trying to get more of a presence in the area.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

That might be true, except that the timelines from the article suggests that they bought the Surrey site before they sold off the Metrotown site.

Yes, they agreed to buy Surrey before selling Burnaby, so assuming the Surrey purchase had completed in July, they would have to have financing in place. My point was that this would have been expensive, however it was structured, so selling off an asset in Burnaby that they'd paid far less for several years ago made financial sense.

There are also the other benefits I mentioned; Surrey is more easily phased and not as big a financing commitment for construction and less complex without the commercial podium. The agent was given a very short time to find a buyer for Burnaby, but as the story says, he already knew Keltic because he sold them a Richmond site for $300m a year ago. The tight timing suggested to me that Bosa were trying to tie it all up quickly, presumably for accounting reasons?

I didn't see the deal as suggesting Bosa necessarily favouring Surrey more than Burnaby though, just that there was an opportunity to acquire a pre assembled site in Surrey that's flexible to develop, and that there was also an opportunity to make a profit on selling off the Burnaby site which is inherently more complicated to develop, and where there are several other developers looking to build very tall and expensive towers into the same market. (Here's today's 70 storey tower). I still think they were lucky that Keltic were willing to buy the site (although it's described as a share deal, not a cash purchase).

[rickvug]

Originally Posted by Changing City

There are several other developers looking to build very tall and expensive towers into the same market. (Here's today's 70 storey tower).

Interesting project. Any context (or speculation) on why they propose a 50 year gap before the second tower is built, and up to 100 years to finish the other two?

[Metro-One]

Wow! You just causally drop a bombshell of a development like that! 70 stories across the street from Concord Metrotown’s signature tower, that’s huge!

[jollyburger]

I wonder where McCarthy Properties is getting the money to fund this development. They had lots of properties but that seems like a huge leap from what they've been doing.

I assume the timeline has something to do with their financials?

https://wpjmccarthy.com/property-portfolio/

Media including the Vancouver Sun and CBC are reporting the completion of a $21.4 million gift to BC Cancer Foundation made by Burnaby property developer William McCarthy from a legacy fund created under the will of his grandfather John Jambor, who died in 1991. It appears that Mr. Jambor’s will left a shopping plaza at 5000 Kingsway to a charitable fund managed by Mr. McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy spent the last 20 years developing the property to build up its value and has now fulfilled his grandfather’s intentions with a donation and buyback transaction.

https://www.cwilson.com/biggest-gift-ever/

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Yes, they agreed to buy Surrey before selling Burnaby, so assuming the Surrey purchase had completed in July, they would have to have financing in place. My point was that this would have been expensive, however it was structured, so selling off an asset in Burnaby that they'd paid far less for several years ago made financial sense.

There are also the other benefits I mentioned; Surrey is more easily phased and not as big a financing commitment for construction and less complex without the commercial podium. The agent was given a very short time to find a buyer for Burnaby, but as the story says, he already knew Keltic because he sold them a Richmond site for $300m a year ago. The tight timing suggested to me that Bosa were trying to tie it all up quickly, presumably for accounting reasons?

I didn't see the deal as suggesting Bosa necessarily favouring Surrey more than Burnaby though, just that there was an opportunity to acquire a pre assembled site in Surrey that's flexible to develop, and that there was also an opportunity to make a profit on selling off the Burnaby site which is inherently more complicated to develop, and where there are several other developers looking to build very tall and expensive towers into the same market. (Here's today's 70 storey tower). I still think they were lucky that Keltic were willing to buy the site (although it's described as a share deal, not a cash purchase).

Fascinating.
(...about the 5000 Kingsway 70 storey tower proposal)

I had read about that project proposal before on the City of Burnaby's project website, and it had been presented as strictly just a master plan concept design study proposal, without necessarily the intent to move forward into actually redeveloping the site.

It'd be intruiging if they're really interested in moving forward with a rezoning/design permit application process.

It seems like an ambitious proposal - if not an uninspired design...of the tower itself.
Particularly one that's supposed to be neighbour to Concord's Grand Tower across the street(...and apparently really dwarf it from the looks of that (probably deceiptive render). '70 storeys' doesn't strike me as it would be that more immensely taller than a next door 65 storey tower.)

Although I grant that it's just an initial proposal for a master plan concept so the tower design is really not the point at this stage.

The proposed timeline is also curious, though that also makes sense to me from the perspective of owners wanting to apply for rezoning and upzone the site and then sell it off for a massive profit to more established developers to develop it instead.
Or maybe they're trying to align it with the Mall's own proposed 80 year timeline to break up and redevelop the mall into a downtown core.


In any case, it says they're planning for a formal rezoning application for early 2023, so it'll be interesting to see if they really move forward from that point on.