Metro Vancouver multifamily investment has been low-key of late—just 20 deals totaling a mere $186M in the second half of 2014, and only five of 'em over $10M, according to Avison Young. Here's a look at the biggest of those small apartment sales.
1. Fraserview Court (Surrey)
Address: 10138 Whalley Blvd
Acquisition price: $18.3M
Specs: Two-building multifamily complex with 154 units.
Buyer: Private. All multifamily transactions in the second half of 2014 involved private vendors and purchasers, highlighting the “extremely tight supply of significant multifamily assets in terms of both price and size,” Avison Young says.
Worth noting: Acquired last fall, the property's been positioned as a prime future development site in Surrey city centre; it can provide holding income in the interim.
2. The Lex (Vancouver)
Address: 1249 Granville St
Acquisition price: $15.1M (asking price was $14.75M)
Specs: Located at the edge of trendy Yaletown, the 2003 building has 45 residential suites above two commercial spaces.
Buyer: Private. The investment market has been dominated by private purchasers, who were involved in 87% of acquisitions and deployed 75% of total dollar volume (more than $1.46B) across all segments in 2014.
Worth noting: Currently operated as a rental building, The Lex presents a future opportunity to sell off suites individually, an "attractive alternate exit strategy,” Cushman & Wakefield notes in its marketing materials.
3. The 950 Apartments (Vancouver)
Address: 950 Jervis St
Acquisition price: $14M
Specs: 11-storey, 41-unit concrete high-rise apartment on the northeast corner of Jervis and Barclay streets in Vancouver’s West End.
Buyer: Private
Worth noting: The 1972-built property had recent repairs to its concrete walls and balconies. The city's newly approved West End Community Plan is encouraging the development of laneway infill housing in the area, Colliers points out.
4. El Toro Apartments (North Vancouver)
Address: 310 East 2nd Ave
Acquisition price: $9.9M (a complex of three buildings elsewhere in North Van—Sussex Lodge, Hillside Manor & Lynn Park Manor—sold for $13.5M)
Specs: 48-unit building on a 13k SF site on the corner of East 2nd St and St. Andrews Ave in the Lower Lonsdale area.
Buyer: Private
Worth noting: Off-market deals will remain key to sales activity in 2015, Avison Young projects, with dollar volume rising as “reluctant vendors remain under pressure to capture peak pricing” for assets, and “unrelenting” demand from buyers compresses cap rates “to an almost negligible yield.”
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