coquitlam
Port coquitlam
Port Moody
Large wood-frame buildings one step closer in Coquitlam
Park your bike – safely – at PoCo & other transit stations
Uncertain future for biz in Moody Centre TOD zone
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2020
HAPPENING GUIDE Port Moody residents, find our spring recreation guide with this paper. Register for spring rec programs at
portmoody.ca/signmeup
WaLKInG In a WInTer WOnDerLanD (sOrT Of)
cOQUITLaM
$658M is too low, says city Mall assessment out of whack with smaller biz numbers: Steblin Gary McKenna gmckenna@tricitynews.com
Tuesday’s wintry — if wet — weather may have been more appropriate for the mountainous scene, except this is a mural in downtown Port Coquitlam. By Tuesday evening, the snow turned mostly to rain and the majority of accumulations of the white stuff had washed away by Wednesday morning. MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
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The method BC Assessment uses to value commercial real estate favours larger property owners at the expense of small businesses, according to the city of Coquitlam. Several councillors and staff told representatives from the Crown corporation during a committee meeting Monday BC Assessment is undervaluing the municipality’s biggest land parcels in areas that are prime for redevelopment. And as a result, they said, the tax burden is falling on smaller commercial property holders and businesses that in many cases do not own their land but pay property taxes through triple-net leases. “It seems with the big players, for some reason, their land is worth less per acre than the
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smaller players,” said Mayor Richard Stewart. “Residents are trying to figure out how come this doesn’t seem fair.” One example cited by staff and council multiple times as an undervalued property is Coquitlam Centre. While the most recent assessment shows the overall value of the site is $658.6 million, the land for the 54-acre parcel is only assessed at $337.9 million. That works out to approximately $6.3 million per acre, Stewart said, which is significantly lower than valuations seen in neighbourhoods such as Burquitlam and Austin Heights, both of which are undergoing development. For example, Coquitlam College, a 5.33-acre property located along the North Road corridor, is valued at $78.4 million, or $14.7 million per acre; and Me-n-Ed’s Pizza, a 0.25-acre property on Austin Avenue, is assessed at $3.8 million, or approximately $15.2 million per acre. see
CAN’T COMPARE, page 7
.ca