S p e c i a l F e a t u r e
densify these neighbourhoods."
Matt Wansink is a lawyer with SHK
Law Corporation whose practice
includes commercial real estate. He
concurs that "even with the price
increases in these properties eroding
the historical cap rate averages for
commercial property, there is no
shortage of buyers when they come on
the market."
Recent changes to B.C.'s Strata
Property Act could turn into an opportu-
nity for savvy developers—especially in
†guring out the "sweet-spot formula"
assembling or winding up a strata
property. "With many companies priced
out of buying Class A properties, being
able to successfully identify viable
second- or third-tier target properties
and executing a hassle-free strata
wind-up and assembly and subsequent
rezoning could be a very good opportu-
nity to deliver above-average returns,"
Wansink says.
"Complexity" is the word Jennifer
Podmore Russell uses to describe the
challenges and opportunities that
putting together a major project
demands today. As the daughter of
Concert Properties founder David
Podmore, Podmore Russell was born
into one of Canada's great developer
families. Today she serves as vice-presi-
dent of portfolio services for the Rennie
Group and chair of the Vancouver Real
Estate Forum. "In the Lower Mainland,
real estate developers have 20 munici-
palities to deal with, which means 20
di•erent councils and many di•erent
regulations. And if you have a large
project located close to transit, then
larger bodies like Translink and Metro
Vancouver planning departments need
to supply their feedback."
The focus of this year's Vancouver
Real Estate Forum, she says, is to "hear
from other community leaders and their
points of view, because we all have the
same challenges." All facets of the
real-estate and construction industry
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