Property Managers Source Book 2023

SOURCE BOOK PROPERTY MANAGERS’

Since

Since

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President: Alvin Brouwer

Executive Editor and publisher, Business in Vancouver, and vice-president, editorial, Glacier

Media: Kirk LaPointe

Editor-in-chief: Hayley Woodin

Production: Jodeen Hodgson

Sales manager: Laura Torrance

Advertising sales: Blair Johnston, Administrator: Katherine Butler

Proper ty Managers’ Source Book is published by Business in Vancouver Magazines, a division of BIV Media Group, 303 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B C , V5Y 1J6, 604-6882398, fax 604-688-6058, biv.com BIV Media Group also publishes Business in Vancouver.

Copyright 2023, Property Managers’ Source Book All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or incorporated into any information-retrieval system without permission of Property Managers’ Source Book. The list of services provided in this publication is not necessarily a complete list of all such services available in the Lower Mainland The publishers are not responsible in whole or in part for any errors or omissions in this publication

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Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in its lists, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Anna Liczmanska: lists@biv.com.

Office space

MICROSOFT, LULULEMON LED DOWNTOWN OFFICE SPACE DEMAND IN 2022

Downtown vacancy climbs as new office space hits the market

BY TYLER ORTON

Don’t expect an abundance of topquality office space to last long in Vancouver’s downtown core.

Downtown office vacancy reached 8 per cent as of mid-year 2022, up one full percentage point compared with the first six months of 2021, according to a report from Avison Young (Canada) Inc.

But the real estate firm notes this trend is unfolding “due to significant amounts of new supply” being delivered to the market.

Nearly 570,00 square feet additional AAA space was made available by the end of 2021 and has been “steadily absorbed” into the market, according to the report.

Most notably, this has come from the openings of such towers as the Deloitte Summit on West Hastings Street and Bentall 4 on the corner of Dunsmuir and Burrard Streets.

“While there are still elevated levels of vacancy relative to pre-pandemic levels, the market is starting to stabilize,” the report stated, acknowledging that the hybrid model of work has reshaped demand for office space.

“Further increases in vacancy are likely but will be more attributable to delivery of new buildings on a vacant or largely vacant basis, rather than COVID-19.”

At the end of 2022’s third quarter, the city’s biggest office space acquirers were tech giant Microsoft Corp. and Vancouver-based fashion retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc.

Avison Young said Microsoft inked a

deal for 65,000 square feet at 989 Granville Street and is “widely rumoured” to have acquired 405,000 square feet of space at the B6 building, which is expected to complete construction during the fourth quarter of 2023. The two deals would mean the American tech company secured 468,000 square feet during the first half of 2022 alone.

Lululemon is the only company that has even come close to keeping pace with Microsoft’s expansion. The retailer nabbed 130,000 square feet at Burrard Place and 107,000 square feet at 1380 Burrard Street for a total of 237,000 square feet leased in the first eight-plus months of 2022.

This comes even as Lululemon plans to open a new headquarters with nearly 600,000 square feet in the False Creek Flats area just outside downtown.

Despite office space becoming more abundant in recent months throughout downtown Vancouver, vacancy rates across the Metro Vancouver region shrunk from 8.4 per cent to 7.8 per cent when comparing the first six months of 2021 and 2022, respectively. 

Microsoft office | SUBMITTED

COMMERCIAL OFFICE AMENITIES GET A NEW LEASE ON LIFE

Property owners embrace events, programming to help revitalize office work culture

BY CLAIRE WILSON

Commercial real estate companies in Vancouver are increasingly investing in amenities as tenants attempt to attract employees back to the office.

Beyond bike racks, coffee corners and the standard amenities expected in Class A or AAA spaces, some commercial landlords are going above and beyond to retain and attract tenants in physical office spaces.

“From the commercial real estate side, it’s about being as flexible and adaptable as possible so you can respond to what your tenants need and deliver that,” said Damian Stathonikos, president of Building Owners and Managers Association of BC (BOMA BC).

In some cases, this includes efforts to re-activate commercial spaces with events and initiatives that draw people back to in-person work.

“That’s where commercial landlords are stepping up their game,” Stathonikos

Bark Park is one of the events Hudson Pacific Properties has invested in to create a unique experience employees wouldn’t get if they worked from home | HUDSON PACIFIC PROPERTIES

Amenities

things you can’t get working remotely,” said Chandler in a written statement to BIV.

ASHLEY CHANDLER PROGRAM MANAGER, HUDSON PACIFIC PROPERTIES

“Happy hours on the sun-soaked plazas, workshops to interact with the property’s edible gardens and beehives, networking opportunities through the Bentall Women’s Network and art gallery receptions are just a few events and amenities offered at Bentall Centre.”

Hudson Pacific has been working closely with the City of Vancouver on its engagement projects. According to Chandler, this offers an example of how the city can work with property owners to enhance downtown spaces.

said. “You’re seeing a lot of the more sophisticated landlords also looking at how to activate the space in and around the building. It’s not just coming in because it’s a nice office, but coming in because there’s a cool thing happening.”

Hudson Pacific Properties, for example, added arts and culture amenities to its Bentall Centre Campus.

It also created Bark Park, an off-leash dog space on the roof of the campus parkade.

Bringing more activities to the space –for the purpose of attracting employees –is a priority, said Ashley Chandler, Hudson Pacific’s program manager. She added that Bark Park has been so successful that it has been opened to the public, and the space is now a location for events.

“The need for everyday human connection has become even greater since the onset of the pandemic, and we are focused on re-engaging our tenants through programming to merge the office experience with hospitality. We aim to bring the comforts of home to work while also providing

Oxford Properties offers fitness spaces, running clubs, and scotch-and-suit events at The Stack. According to Ted Mildon, the company’s senior director of office leasing, unique events are key to a good amenities space.

“The real opportunity for landlords is to work on the programming side. And for those who have the amenity piece in place already, it’s an even better starting point to get the programming going and really foster those connections with tenants,” he said.

“The theory is that because we’re a branch-office city, typically with smaller tenants, those tenants don’t have the ability to bring those services within their actual lease premises and they have to rely on it as something that’s offered by the landlord. So, it’s always been needed.”

Post-peak pandemic, the way that tenants use space is fundamentally different, Chandler said, which she says means that the activation of commercial spaces and the industry’s focus on amenities will continue to grow.

“Office workers have gained flexibility in choosing where and when they work,” she said. “Landlords are now being challenged to ‘earn the commute.’ Our goal is to bring life to work.” 

The need for everyday human connection has become even greater since the onset of the pandemic, and we are focused on re-engaging our tenants through programming to merge the office experience with hospitality

BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY INTO GREATER VANCOUVER DEVELOPMENTS

How some local developers are considering environmental goals

BY CLAIRE WILSON

From a zero-emissions office building, to an agrarian community in Tsawwassen, Greater Vancouver developers are finding innovative ways to reduce and mitigate the environmental impact of their projects.

Oxford Properties Group’s The Stack – a 37-storey office tower in downtown Vancouver – has become the first commercial office tower to be awarded the Canada Green Building Council’s (CGBC) Zero Carbon Building – Design standard certification.

According to the company, The Stack is also the largest project in Canada to

achieve this certification to date.

“We’re really excited about this and it’s also significant for the City of Vancouver. It shows what can be done with some innovation and a great team, in addition to what can be done to deliver on sustainability and the zero-carbon objectives that many municipalities are targeting,” said Andrew O’Neil, vice-president of development at Oxford Properties.

Municipalities across B.C. are grappling with how to proactively address climate change and extreme weather events. When the province marked the one-year anniversary of devastating 2021 floods, local conversations shifted to adaptation.

CGBG launched its zero-carbon building

The Stack by Oxford Properties utilizes low carbon building systems, triple-pane glazing on all windows, rainwater management and enhanced air tightness |  OXFORD PROPERTIES

Sustainability

pilot project in 2017, which gave builders a framework for sustainability-focused design decisions, according to O’Neil.

He says that Oxford was a partner in the pilot project from the beginning as part of the group’s overall mandate to reduce its carbon footprint by 30 per cent by 2025.

“I think we’re at the front end of seeing this implemented across the industry. And I do expect further adoption of the standard by other folks,” he said.

“We learned how to apply the zero-carbon standard for this project, and we’re going to carry that forward to future projects that we’re going to develop in Vancouver and elsewhere.”

Traditionally, buildings utilize natural gas boilers to produce heat. In the case of The Stack, Oxford has pivoted away from that to use electrification, according to O’Neil.

“We have a heat-recovery system on this project that allows us to significantly reduce any gas you use to heat the building. And any gas that is used initially, will be offset 100 per cent, so that’s the real differentiator,” he said.

Many other developers are looking for ways to ensure that their builds are carbon efficient, according to Sasha Faris, president at First Track Investment.

“A lot of that is going to start weighing into people’s investment practices from the level that they don’t want to get into buildings that aren’t meeting their carbon emission goals,” he said.

But building with environmental considerations in mind is not without its challenges. The rigorous requirements of the BC Energy Step Code, and the cost of sustainable building, can add complexity to projects.

The code is an optional path that can be used by municipalities to incentivize builders to build projects in a more energy efficient manner, beyond the requirements of the BC Building Code. The City

of Vancouver currently has its own Zero Emissions Building Plan that is similar to blueprints offered by the Energy Step Code.

“It’s very tough from our standpoint, just the sheer construction costs of the materials that are better suited for the environment. The hardest part is that we need to be more efficient. I would say we have to find new economies of scale to make these products a bit more feasible and easier to obtain from a cost standpoint,” Faris said.

Some developers are finding other ways to incorporate sustainability into their projects.

Southlands Tsawwassen, for example, takes inspiration from agrarian communities, and has homes placed next to agricultural land.

“We’re progressively being forced anyway into some very, very high energy and environment standards. And yet, I think the missing piece of sustainability really is that social sustainability piece. Are we really bringing people together?” said Sean Hodgins, president of Century Group, which is developing the Southlands project on 530 acres of land – 80 per cent of which is public.

Social sustainability, Hodgins says, is much harder to codify. He says he hopes Southlands will bring people together in a meaningful way, revitalize the land and promote long-term living.

Faris says that construction is slowly but surely finding new ways to implement climate-oriented initiatives, and to educate buyers about how their dollars are doing more than just buying a home.

“We obviously want to be a part of that conversation and say: Okay, what is it that we can do to make homeowners happy and feel good about their purchase? Does it benefit the current landscape and reduce the carbon footprint in a way where they feel good about the money spent?’”

Doors

• Serving the property management community for 47 years

• 24 hour emergency service security gates

• Installation of radio control systems

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Email: valleyalldoor@telus.net

EarthquakE tip

As British Columbians, we live and work in an earthquake zone where more than 1,200 small earthquakes are recorded annually. One of these could be "the big one." Prepare for an earthquake NOW to minimize and avoid injury and property damage.

EarthquakE tip

Seek advice from professionals – such as building engineers and emergency preparedness authorities – if you are unsure about what to do.

1

2

EarthquakE tip

Discuss earthquake insurance with your insurance broker. Check your coverage – it could affect your financial ability to recover losses after an earthquake.

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There are certain things that just make Vancouver, Vancouver. Landmarks, nature, traditions. And of course, Business in Vancouver.

There are certain things that just make Vancouver, Vancouver. Landmarks, nature, traditions. And of course, Business in Vancouver

In fact, from our perspective, so intertwined are we within the city dynamic, the two are essentially equal parts of the whole. It’s easy, really: Business + Vancouver = Business in Vancouver.

There are certain things that just make Vancouver, Vancouver. Landmarks, nature, traditions. And of course, Business in Vancouver.

In fact, from our perspective, so intertwined are we within the city dynamic, the two are essentially equal parts of the whole. It’s easy, really: Business + Vancouver = Business in Vancouver.

In fact, from our perspective, so intertwined are we within the city dynamic, the two are essentially equal parts of the whole. It’s easy, really: Business + Vancouver = Business in Vancouver.

We are business in Vancouver.

We are business in Vancouver.

We are business in Vancouver.

Overhead Doors

Snow Removal

Why choose ❄SNOWPROS?

❄ BETTER SERVICE

• Short, priority routes to clear snow by 10 am or within six hours of accumulation

• “On the way” text and phone notifications to on-site contacts

• Client Hub for strata and managers to view invoices and request service

• Detailed GPS logs and photos of each visit

❄ BETTER PRICING

• Upfront, fxed-price quotations

• Lock in pricing on a 3 year contract

• NEW: Flat monthly rate unlimited service

❄ BETTER COVERAGE

• Crews based throughout Lower Mainland: Vancouver (incl UBC), Richmond, Burnaby & New West, North Shore, Port Moody, Coquitlam, PoCo, Surrey & Langley

• Seven-day-a-week service throughout the season

❄ BETTER QUALIFIED

• As members of the Accredited Snow Contractors Association (ASCA), we receive ongoing education on industry-best practices to ensure continued risk reduction and safety on your clients’ properties.

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