Inside Vancouver Oct. 1, 2022

Tee-off time: The Homebuilder Association Vancouver (HAVAN) Annual Fall Classic Golf Tournament, presented by BAKA Communications with partners BELL and Google, was held Sept. 7 at the Swan-e-Set Resort Bay Golf & Country Club. As the province’s largest corporate golf tournament, it was attended by 292 golfers, with 60 industry supplier sponsors and 350 banquet guests, including special guests Neil Moody, CEO of the Canadian Homebuilders’ Association of BC (CHBA BC), and CHBA BC chair, Cassidy deVeer of 3rd Generation Homes. A live auction, hosted by former BC Lions Grey Cup winner, Marco Iannuzzi, raised $10,000 for HAVAN’s British Columbia School of Technology (BCIT) scholarship program. The trophy and green HAVAN Fall Classic hard hats were awarded to the winning team from Miracon Development.

New residences coming to downtown Surrey

Landa Global Properties acquired its first Surrey property, a 31,000-sq.-ft. site at 135A Street and 106 Avenue, which will soon be home to 404 residential homes. This will not only be the company’s first development in Surrey, but it will also be its largest single 26-storey tower project. The developer says its goal is to contribute to the transformation underway in the rapidly evolving downtown core of Surrey.

“This new development provides walkability and a wide range of housing options for Surrey residents in a great location that is in close proximity to many amenities, recreation facilities, transit, City Hall and the new UBC campus,” says Kevin Cheung, Landa CEO.

Mortgage relief

Gryphon Development has announced that until Oct. 31, it is offering to pay the mortgage for six months on select homes sold at its westside Vancouver project, Gryphon Nova. In this time of rising interest rates, this cash incentive could assist first-time homebuyers to save money that they could, for example, use to furnish and decorate their new home. Gryphon Nova is a nine-storey mixed-use concrete building featuring 43 residences comprised of one, two and three-bedrooms as well as three townhomes. These new residences are a five-minute walk from the new Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre that the City of Vancouver recently announced.

Building partnerships

The Urban Development Institute (UDI) hosted a luncheon on Sept. 22 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver with the theme: Building a Strong Partnership with First Nations - A Conversation with MST Development Corporation and Nch’Kay Development Corporation. The in-person and virtual luncheon focused on exploring how to establish, nurture and grow quality partnerships between builders and First Nations to best address current and future housing needs. Moderator Anne McMullin, along with Mindy Wight, interim chief executive officer and chief financial officer with Nch’Kay Development Corporation and David Negrin, chief executive officer of MST Development Corporation, discussed moving forward together, while acknowledging a shared past.

Did you know?

The King George Hub in Surrey officially opened Sept. 19, consisting of 738 market condominiums, 371 rental apartments, 130,000 sq. ft. of retail space and 350,000 sq. ft. of office space.