STEVEN TSE PERSONAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION
  • PROPERTIES
    • FEATURED LISTINGS
    • SOLDS
  • SERVICES
    • SELLERS
    • BUYERS
  • NEWS
  • CONNECT
    • MEET STEVEN
    • CONTACT
  • RESOURCES
    • TESTIMONIALS

Developers making tracks to Vancouver’s Railtown

2/13/2018

 
Picture
Railtown might not be the next Yaletown, but the thin strip of gritty industrial on the lower Downtown Eastside is catching its share of trendy developers.

FRANK O'BRIAN (BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER) Railtown is north of Alexander Street, south of the rail tracks and bordered by Gore Street to the west and Princess Street to the east.

Once known as Japantown, it was first established as a heavy manufacturing zone linked to Vancouver rail and port access.

However, a May 2017 City of Vancouver zoning change has increased the area’s density and expanded the industrial definition to include a range of high-tech, creative manufacturing and other light-industrial uses.

​As in Mount Pleasant, which has similar but less generous density, the zoning change has attracted commercial developers to Railtown.

Mount Pleasant is zoned for a floor space ratio (FSR) density of 3 while Railtown has been granted a 5 FSR density, explained Boe Iravani, a real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield.

Railtown developers are also allowed to include light industrial in an entire project; zoning in Mount Pleasant requires that 80% of new space be offices.

Land values are lower in Railtown than in Mount Pleasant, and Iravani added that the higher zoning density translates into a less expensive cost per buildable square foot of commercial space.

Currently, Railtown would be around $200 to $250 per square foot buildable, while Iravani said Mount Pleasant would be north of $300. “Basically you can build four storeys in Mount Pleasant, but developers can go to five floors in Railtown in new builds [depending on the lot size].”

An example is Maker Exchange, the largest of three new projects now underway in Railtown. The five-storey, 152,000-square-foot Omicron and Rendition Developments industrial complex is designed for creative, digital and other light industry.

Being built at 488 Railway Street on the site of an old boiler factory, it received city permit approval December 17, subject to conditions.

It has some of the largest floor plates (25,000 square feet) of any new commercial building in the city and is the largest industrial project being built in East Vancouver, Iravani said.

Maker Exchange is expected to be completed by 2020.
​
New Class A space in Railtown is expected to lease in the $30 to $35 per square foot range, similar to Mount Pleasant or False Creek Flats Class A, but less than the downtown office average, which is north of $45.


Comments are closed.

    Market Update

    Updates on Real Estate news happening in your city. 

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Architecture
    Banking & Mortgage
    City Development
    City Events
    Home Staging
    Market Trends
    Project Presales
    Strata
    Supportive Housing
    Vancouver Heritage

  • PROPERTIES
    • FEATURED LISTINGS
    • SOLDS
  • SERVICES
    • SELLERS
    • BUYERS
  • NEWS
  • CONNECT
    • MEET STEVEN
    • CONTACT
  • RESOURCES
    • TESTIMONIALS