Vancouver: 1508 West Broadway

Services provided

	Investment Management by Bentall Capital
	Development services by Bentall Development Services

About the challenges

To redevelop a full city block in Vancouver's prime South Granville commercial corridor. The owner wanted to realize full land value without selling the property and obtain a replacement for the outdated facility on the site.

Considerations

Our successful development of this high-profile site required that we overcome the challenges typically associated with acquiring and financing a leasehold interest. In addition, we needed to design a building for our portion of the site, which would generate sufficient revenue to support the property's high land value.

Bentall's solution

In exchange for developing a new building on a portion of the property for the Vancouver School Board (the property owner), Bentall obtained a 99 year lease on the balance of the site. We then subdivided the property into four separate parcels to accommodate:

	the VSB's new headquarters,
	public space for the VSB,
	a 154,000 sq.ft. mixed-use commercial development owned by Bentall, and
	a 100,000 sq.ft. residential tower developed and owned by a third party under a separate lease agreement.

Key successes

	Completed on schedule in September 1998.
	Early leases with retail anchor tenants Chapters Bookstore and Restoration Hardware.
	Retail and office space substantially leased by year end.
	Permanent financing on the property was secured in January 1999.
	Project sold in June 2003.