Sam Cooper
The Province

A prominent West Vancouver realtor is suing a North Vancouver realtor for defamation in a case involving social-media posts that accuse real estate agents of corruption, cheating and cover-ups.

In a B.C. Supreme Court civil claim, Shahin Behroyan alleges that Reza Mousavy “is jealous of the plaintiff’s success,” and has “commenced an unlawful and intentional campaign of threats against the plaintiff, as well as making attacks at the plaintiff and his reputation.”

The claim states Mousavy made and distributed several social-media posts in January, and the posts harmed Behroyan by saying he was crooked and deceptive, corrupt, greedy, he uses dirty money and also is a “stinking cabbage” and a “contaminated product of Islamic Ayatollahs.”

The case has not yet been tested in court, and Mousavy has not yet filed a defence. In an interview Wednesday, Mousavy said he posted online information about other realtors as well and plans to defend himself with a legal response.

Behroyan’s claim says that Mousavy initially threatened him “with bodily harm” in the fall of 2014; and in May 2015, Mousavy went to Behroyan’s managing broker, Denise Salmon, with a series of allegations.

According to the claim, Mousavy alleged that Behroyan had committed “extortion in respect of a property at 2108 King Ave.,” and that “was paying bribes to Ms. Salmon.” It adds that Salmon made a formal complaint about Mousavy’s actions to the Real Estate Board of Vancouver in July 2016.

Behroyan’s claim reproduces a series of online posts allegedly made by Mousavy after Mousavy was sanctioned by the Real Estate Board.

It says that in early January 2017 Mousavy posted in a message addressed to the Real Estate Board: “You have outdone yourself to silence a whistle-blower, me, Reza Mousavy, for exposing a corrupt real estate team named Shahin Behroyan and his enablers.”

According to the claim, the message by Mousavy says the Real Estate Board had sent him “a letter of consent to accept a 90 days’ ‘suspension’ for discrediting a member … you have invoked your … ‘code of silence’ to teach me a lesson.”

Mousavy’s message also asks the Real Estate Board to “investigate thoroughly what Shahin Behroyan … did to a grieving family at 2109 Kings Ave. in West Vancouver in the winter of 2014,” the claim states. 

The message by Mousavy referred also to a deal involving a different address, 2108 Kings Ave., according to the claim, which says the message stated that Behroyan and another realtor “conspired to take $100,000 bonus (extortion, bribery) … their offer presentation to the sellers was contingent upon the seller to accept that bonus money … one does not have to use a gun to force an uninitiated seller to accept an unfavourable situation whose house is on the brink of foreclosure.”

The claim says Mousavy reposted his public message to the Real Estate Board, and made a third online post. In the third post, which is reproduced in the claim, Mousavy allegedly wrote asking other realtors and “builders, investors, flippers” to stop working with Behroyan. Mousavy wrote that he would report people that worked with Behroyan to the Canadian Revenue Agency, “especially those who have forgotten to declare capital gains, false primary-residence claims, income tax fraud.”

According to the claim, Mousavy also wrote in the third post that he planned to name other real estate professionals, including “mortgage brokers who take kickbacks, photo-shop document falsifiers.”

Mousavy also posted that some realtors have suggested “a collective class action against Real Estate Board of Vancouver … the reason for this which has been brought up is ‘cherry picking’ (of the Board) in its treatment of realtors,” the claim says.

In his claim, Behroyan says that Mousavy continues to defame him despite being sanctioned by the Real Estate Board of Vancouver. Behroyan is seeking general damages, aggravated and special damages, punitive damages and an injunction against Mousavy.

“The defendant’s actions have been and remain calculated to cause the plaintiff ridicule, contempt, embarrassment, financial loss and regulatory investigation,” the claims states.

Behroyan is a young realtor who has become a top seller in Western Canada, according to awards listed by his brokerage, RE/MAX. Mousavy, 56, is a veteran North Shore realtor.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Ephraim Vecina
REP

Despite the far-reaching changes brought about by recent rule revisions, the pre-sale concrete condo market in Vancouver has remained relatively unscathed, according to a new report.
 
The study by MLA Canada noted that the sector’s stability—amid the B.C. foreign buyers’ tax and the new federal mortgage regulations—is projected to continue well into 2017.
 
“The various government interventions have shown little effect on the pre-sale market to date, and with over 10,000 concrete units currently being planned for 2017, Greater Vancouver will continue to have steady absorption figures,” MLA stated in its report, as quoted by Business in Vancouver.
 
Investors would be interested to know that activity was strongest in Coquitlam, which saw 1,861 completed transactions for pre-sale concrete condos in 2016. Burnaby’s Brentwood ranked second with 1,784 units sold.
 
Throughout the region, 8,955 units were released for sale last year—and MLA predicted that this number will grow by almost 20 per cent (up to a little over 10,000 units) in 2017.
 
However, housing starts—which have reached a record-breaking high last year—should not be expected to continue growing at the same pace.
 
“Paired with continued low interest rates, steady population growth and stable employment trends, expect to see demand keeping up with supply, maintaining relatively constant activity levels and more modest price increases compared to 2016,” MLA said.

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Pinnacle on the Park to take a convenient, vibrant location

SIMON BRIAULT
The Vancouver Sun

Pinnacle on the Park

Project location: 1708 Ontario St.

Project size: 140 homes; 590 — 1,600 square feet

Prices: $629,900 — $1,399,900 (prices for the sub-penthouses and penthouses available upon request)

Developer: Pinnacle International

Architect: Bingham + Hill Architects

Interior designer: False Creek Design

Sales centre: 1738 Ontario St.

Hours: noon — 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Telephone: 604-874-8368

Website: http://www.pinnacleonthepark.ca

Occupancy: summer 2019

Future residents of Pinnacle on Park, a new tower planned for the Olympic Village neighbourhood, will find no fewer than 10 restaurants, seven cafes and five shopping outlets within two blocks of their building. The 18-storey development will rise just a stone’s throw from False Creek and next to a new City of Vancouver park stretching from the foot of the property down to the seawall.

No surprise, then, that the developer — Pinnacle International — is touting the location as one of the project’s biggest assets.

The neighbourhood boasts such attractions as the Dragon Boat Festival, the Food Truck Fest, Creekside Community Recreation Centre and the 28-kilometre seawall. Heading east, it connects the area to downtown, Coal Harbour and Stanley Park. To the west is Granville Island, Kitsilano Beach and Spanish Banks.

“Having the athletes’ village here for the Winter Olympics in 2010 really put this whole neighbourhood on the map,” said Grace Kwok of Anson Realty, which is marketing the project on behalf of the developer. “Since then, more and more people have come to realize just what a great location it is in terms of the convenience and amenities on offer. There’s a very relaxed atmosphere and people have a great lifestyle, but at the same time, you’re still very much in the city.”

Kwok said that another big selling point for Pinnacle on the Park is how close it is to public transit. The site is in between two rapid transit lines – Olympic Village Canada Line station is 10 minutes away by foot, providing rapid transit access to downtown Vancouver, as well as Richmond and the airport. The SkyTrain station, where trains take you to Burnaby and Coquitlam, is just a five-minute walk in the other direction.

“You could survive without a car, although all of the units come with a parking space,” Kwok added. “The whole area is undergoing a process of regeneration, with St. Paul’s Hospital and Emily Carr University coming soon to False Creek Flats and joining Hootsuite and other high-tech companies in the neighbourhood.”

Pinnacle on the Park is purely residential, with four three-bedroom townhomes on the ground floor. Comprising 140 homes in total, the building has homes of between one and three bedrooms that range in size from 590 to 1,600 square feet. It will also include three sub-penthouses with between two and four bedrooms and huge wrap-around balconies. There are three penthouse plans, again with between two and four bedrooms, that feature large balconies as well as access to private rooftop decks.

All homes at Pinnacle on the Park will be air conditioned and feature in-suite laundry facilities. There’s a fifth-floor podium garden overlooking the park, Olympic Village and False Creek, a fitness centre and multiple lounges. The building also includes secure underground parking and a bike storage area.

Pinnacle International is a Vancouver-based company that has been developing, designing, building and managing residential properties for more than 40 years. The company has built more than 7,000 homes in Vancouver, Toronto and San Diego.

“This latest building has a higher proportion of three-bedroom homes that what we’ve seen in the past and many of them face the park and the water,” said Kwok. “We’re seeing more families and more downsizers moving into the False Creek area and they’re looking for larger homes. A lot of people are moving from places like Coal Harbour and Yaletown. You get a similar feel here, but half the density – the buildings are not as tall on this side of the water.”

Kitchens at Pinnacle on the Park feature designer cabinetry and soft-closing drawers. Buyers can choose between granite and quartz countertops and the stainless-steel appliance package in every home includes a refrigerator with bottom freezer, a four-burner gas cooktop, a built-in wall oven and a microwave oven and hood fan. There are also dual stainless steel under-mounted sinks, faucets with integrated pull-out sprays, in-sink waste disposal, recessed pot lighting and pendant lighting over the breakfast bars.

“Buyers can choose from Classic or Couture colour schemes, there are a range of kitchen layouts to choose from and full-sized stainless steel appliances in all the units,” said Kwok. “Almost every home features a walk-through closet between the master bedroom and the ensuite bathroom. This configuration has proved very popular in the last four Pinnacle developments. The larger units have walk-in closets.”

Bathrooms have designer cabinetry and vanities with granite or marble countertops, American Standard under-mounted sinks, custom designed mirrors, and polished chrome faucets and bathroom accessories. There are also dual-flush elongated toilets, recessed pot lighting and (depending on the plan) soaker tubs and glass walk-in showers.

Pinnacle on the Park is expected to be complete by the summer of 2019 and prices range from $629,900 and $1,399,900. Prices for the sub-penthouses and penthouses are available upon request.

Pinnacle on the Park, By the Numbers:

10: in minutes, the walking distance to the nearby Olympic Village Canada Line station

18: number of storeys in the Pinnacle on thePark tower

28: in kilometres, the length of the seawall

140: number of homes at Pinnacle on the Park

1,600: In square feet, the size of the largest homes

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Intergenerational concept key to innovative OPAL by Element retirement community

JODIE WARREN
The Vancouver Sun

When Element Lifestyle Retirement Inc. was planning OPAL, a new retirement community at Cambie Street and King Edward Avenue in Vancouver, company members had a particular buyer in mind: their family.

“The very selection of the property was based on my parents’ values and needs regarding community and family. I wanted them to enjoy the legacy they’ve created in retirement living,” explains Candy Ho, director and vice-president of marketing and corporate relations. “We see each other every day of the week. I knew that for my parents to be comfortable and happy in their new home, they needed a setting that their children and grandchildren would also enjoy in a carefree, joyful way.”

Ho’s father, company president Don Ho, is considered one of the country’s pioneers for aging-in-place retirement model, having developed numerous retirement communities in the province prior to starting Element. He was instrumental in influencing the B.C. government to create the Assisted Living Registrar of B.C., and led the co-founding of the B.C. Senior Living Association, which now represents hundreds of facilities in the province. OPAL is Element’s flagship and through it, Element leadership seeks to break through the status quo of “senior homes”.

Slated to begin construction in mid to late February of 2017, OPAL is unlike any other retirement living option in the Lower Mainland, if not Canada. The philosophy behind OPAL, which will provide for independent and assisted living through to complex care, is to create an inviting community for not only retirees and seniors, but for family members in all stages of life.

Candy Ho cites several family purchases. One example is a purchaser who just turned 60, who took a unit for herself and her visiting children, a unit for her active mother, and reserved a licensed care suite for her father.

“This is not a retirement home designed with a specific focus only on seniors,” says Ms. Ho. “They will no longer need to experience that limiting sense of stigma.”

Suites have thoughtful features for aging in place, but esthetically, they are beautiful homes. “What really makes it home, though, is the freedom – and encouragement — to invite all ages of family and friends regularly,” clarifies Ms. Ho. “We provide hospitality, support and care services to allow everyone to stay together, regardless of their stage of life or state of wellness. Freed from any feelings of burden and duty, family members are here to enjoy positive dynamics, and meaningful bonding experiences.”

All programming has been designed specifically to foster intergenerational relationships. Private function rooms will have dining tables for 12 to 24 and a living room set-up with board games. In a sound-proofed room, teachers will facilitate older adults in sewing knitting and sharing life stories with children. There will also be times for free play. Element chefs will host cooking demonstrations and classes, allowing residents to share their famous recipes with each other, or to learn with their grandchildren how to make sushi, or ice cream or pasta from scratch. Multiple generations can grow various herbs and vegetables in rooftop planters, and then contribute to the community at local farmers’ markets. All family members – young and old — are encouraged to take part in the many recreational opportunities and fitness classes in the movement studio, fully equipped gym, the Wellness Spa and the theatre.

The community will also feature a multitude of dining experiences, from casual to more formal. Family and friends of residents – regardless of whether they live at OPAL – are invited to dine with each other as often as possible, with increasing discounts for the guests the more frequently residents enjoy visiting company.

All services at OPAL have one overarching goal, says Ms. Ho. “We believe that this intergenerational experience will help people have healthier mindsets and a greater sense of purpose,” she says.

When complete in early 2019, OPAL will be home to 44 condominiums, 56 rental units, and 30 care units (including one with double-occupancy capacity). The condominiums come in studio through to three-bedroom configurations and range in size from 453 to 2,324 square-foot interiors, and 80- to 970-square-foot patios.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

The Province

 

Home sales in Metro Vancouver last month dropped by almost 40 per cent from the year before with the sale of detached houses falling hardest.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says the townhome and condominium markets are more active than sales for detached homes.

Just over 1,500 residential properties sold in January, down 39.5 per cent from about 2,500 sales that were recorded in January 2016.

Board president Dan Morrison says it has been a “lukewarm” start to the year.

“While we saw near record-breaking sales at this time last year, home buyers and sellers are more reluctant to engage so far in 2017,” he said in a statement.

Sales last month were also down about 11 per cent from December, when about 1,700 homes sold.

The benchmark price for detached properties was about $1.5 million in January, down 6.6 per cent over the last six months. The board says townhouse and condominium prices have remained steady.

The B.C. government brought in a 15-per-cent tax on foreign buyers in the Vancouver area last August but some analysts have said the market was already showing signs of softening after months of scorching sales.

Last month, provincial government data showed a steep drop in real estate transactions in the Vancouver area after the tax came in.

Tax revenues from property transfers in Metro Vancouver indicate there were almost 15,000 transactions in a seven-week period ending Aug. 1, but the number declined to a low of about 4,700 in October.

The number of foreign buyers fell from about 1,970 in the period ending Aug. 1, to 60 in the rest of August. In November, about 200 property transfers involved foreigners.

The board says the number of new listings for detached, attached and apartment properties also dropped by almost seven per cent last month compared with January 2016. The inventory of homes listed for sale grew by about 14 per cent in January compared to December.

Royal LePage recently forecasted an 8.5 per cent price correction in Greater Vancouver this year.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

KEVIN GRIFFIN
The Province

The City of Vancouver’s first laneway apartment building may soon be built in the city’s West End.

Council has approved four small rental apartment buildings with a total of 37 suites as part of a program to encourage densification, called Laneways 2.0. 

One project that is awaiting a development permit is on the lane behind 1176 Burnaby, to the south of Davie Village. The five-storey apartment building will have nine suites of between 400 and 510 sq. ft in size.

1. Neil Robertson is a partner with Stuart Howard Architects Inc. which has designed the new apartment building and applied to the city to develop the site.

Robertson said the planned tower is on a site similar to several others in the West End that have a significant paved area off the lane used for parking.

We’re really excited about it. We think it’s a great way to densify,” he said.

“The whole concept is that you take these paved over rear yards and you take some of the parking and you convert it to small micro-apartment buildings that are accessed off the lane.”

Because the new apartment building’s front will be on the lane, it will have a separate address from either of the two streets to the north and south: Burnaby and Harwood. Instead, it will be on what has been designated Maxine Lane. Last November, council named the lane which extends from Burrard Street to Bidwell after Maxine MacGilivray who opened Maxine’s Beauty School at 1209 Bidwell in 1936. The facade of Maxine’s has been retained and is now part of a J.J. Bean.

Along the lane in the 1100-block Burnaby and Harwood there are several other similar sites where towers near the front have extensive paved areas next to the lane which are used only for parking cars and other motor vehicles.

Urban planners call apartment buildings in the lane infill housing. The city sees a transformation of 32-foot back alleys in the West End into pedestrian-friendly areas with better lighting, traffic calming and landscaping.

“Where existing development is of the typical 8 to 12 storey concrete multi-family type, infill development of a townhouse or stacked townhouse will be encouraged where appropriate on these under-utilized rear yard sites … ,” the design guidelines say.

The guidelines say that building heights can vary from 3.5 to 6 storeys. The Laneways 2.0 program is part of the West End Community Plan approved in 2013.

Laneway apartment buildings that have been approved are at 1071 Cardero (11 units), 1529 Comox (17), 1427 Haro (5) and 1546 Nelson (4). Another at 1550 Comox (3 units in infill; 5 in existing building) is also awaiting a development permit.

Laneways 2.0 requires all housing to be secured market rental which means rental housing guaranteed for 60 years or the life of the building, whichever is greater. Condominiums are not allowed.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Canadian Real Estate Wealth

President Donald Trump will order a sweeping review of the Dodd-Frank Act rules enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis, a White House official said, signing an executive action Friday designed to significantly scale back the regulatory system put in place in 2010.

Trump also will halt another of former President Barack Obama’s regulations, hated by the financial industry, that requires advisers on retirement accounts to work in the best interests of their clients. Trump’s order will give the new administration time to review the change, known as the fiduciary rule.

Taken together, the actions are designed to lay down the Trump administration’s approach to financial markets, with an emphasis on removing regulatory burdens and opening up investor options, said the White House official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

The orders are the most aggressive steps yet by Trump to loosen regulations in the financial services industry and come after he has sought to stock his administration with veterans of the industry in key positions. His plans are sure to face fierce criticism by Democrats who charge that Trump is intent on undoing changes designed to protect everything from average investors to the global banking system.

He also could face a backlash from some of his own supporters, whose distrust of big institutions and the financial industry helped fuel the populist anger that propelled Trump to the White House.

‘Big Number’
Trump is scheduled to issue the directives at a signing ceremony around noon following a meeting of more than a dozen top corporate executives led by Blackstone Group LP Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman.

On Monday, Trump promised to do “a big number” on the Dodd-Frank Act during a meeting with small business owners. He said the law had damaged the country’s “entrepreneurial spirit” and limited access to needed credit.

“Regulation has actually been horrible for big business, but it’s been worse for small business,” the president said. “Dodd-Frank is a disaster.”

What’s the problem with Dodd-Frank? — a Q&A explains
Trump’s Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin will meet with members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and report back on what changes the administration should take to alter Dodd-Frank, the official said. Particular attention will be paid to the Volcker Rule limits on banks making speculative bets with their own funds, an restriction promoted by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Immediate Impact
The official wouldn’t say how long the Treasury Department would have to complete its review, but did say that the administration would be looking for ways to make an immediate impact, including through administrative changes and personnel decisions.

Trump’s directive also stalls the so-called fiduciary rule — set to take effect in April — that the Obama administration said would protect millions of retirees from being steered into inappropriate high-cost or high-risk investments that generate bigger profits for brokers.

The review will include examining making personnel changes at financial regulators as a way of accomplishing the administration’s objectives, the official said. They declined to answer a question on whether Trump would try to fire Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The official did say the administration believed that some of the rules created under Dodd-Frank may have been unconstitutional, including the creation of new agencies, an apparent reference to the bureau.

Asked Monday about whether Trump would retain Cordray in his position, White House press secretary Sean Spicer declined to answer. Mnuchin said during his congressional testimony that he believed the CFPB as a whole should be preserved but that Congress should take more direct control of its budget.

The Trump administration doesn’t believe Dodd-Frank measures, including the Volcker Rule, addressed real issues in the financial system, the official said. The president’s team also believes the Labor Department fiduciary rule was unnecessarily restricting investor choice without providing necessary consumer protection, the official said.

Republican lawmakers and some financial firms say the fiduciary rule is deeply flawed, arguing that it will restrict options for consumers and result in some savers being denied advice on their retirements. Trump will call for the Labor Department to stop and review the regulation in its entirety.
While the review will be undertaken independently by the Labor Department, the White House aide signaled that the president was expecting significant change.

Broader Overhaul
Delaying implementation of the Labor Department rule is the first step Republicans and the finance industry are eyeing as part of a broader overhaul of the measure. GOP Lawmakers have argued that the Securities and Exchange Commission, not the Labor Department, should oversee and regulate any changes related to financial firms.

Banks, asset managers and insurers have been fighting the fiduciary rule ever since the Labor Department approved it last year, saying the regulation could raise the costs of providing advice and make it harder to serve lower-income clients. Business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Council of Life Insurers have sued to try to block it.

Still, representatives of some financial services companies said they planned to change practices to meet the regulation’s standard even if it is halted.

“We plan to go forward with the majority of the work we’ve done,” Bill Morrissey, managing director of business development at LPL Financial Holdings Inc., said in an interview before Trump’s order was disclosed. “What investors want is more transparency and lower fees.”

Morgan Stanley, one of the biggest U.S. brokerages, said on Jan. 26 it plans to move ahead with changes designed to comply with the rule, despite uncertainty over whether the regulation will be implemented. Insurers including American International Group Inc. and Principal Financial Group Inc. stressed after Trump’s victory that they would continue to forge ahead as though the rules would be carried out.

“My expectation is that a lot of firms are going to continue installing a best-interest standard, regardless,” said Brian Graff, chief executive officer of the American Retirement Association, a group that represents pension administrators and plan advisers.

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Vancouver home sales slumped last month

Steve Randall
REP

 

There was a sharp fall in the number of homes sold in Metro Vancouver last month with detached homes the largest drag on the market.

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver figures show a 39.5 per cent slump in home sales year-over-year in January with 1,523 homes sold. The number was also 11 per cent below December 2016 sales.

“From a real estate perspective, it’s a lukewarm start to the year compared to 2016,” Dan Morrison, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) president said. “While we saw near record-breaking sales at this time last year, home buyers and sellers are more reluctant to engage so far in 2017.”

Detached homes saw a drop to just 444, down more than 57 per cent from a year earlier. There was a 6.6 per cent drop in prices for detached homes compared to six months earlier; down to a benchmark of $1,474,800, which was also 0.6 per cent below the benchmark in December.

“Conditions within the market vary depending on property type. The townhome and condominium markets are more active than the detached market at the moment,” Morrison said. “As a result, detached home prices declined about 7 per cent since peaking in July while townhome and condominium prices held steady over this period.”

For apartments, there was better news on prices, which saw a 0.3 per cent increase in 6 months to a benchmark $512,300 (0.4 per cent up from December). Sales of apartments slipped 24.7 per cent though in January compared to a year earlier with 825 sales.

Attached home prices were down 0.4 per cent in 6 months (up 0.7 per cent from December) to a benchmark $666,500 but sales were down 32.4 per cent year-over-year to 254 units.

New listings in January were down 6.8 per cent from a year earlier but jumped 215.5 per cent from December to 4,140.

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Beijing’s currency curbs could cool frosty housing market

Joanne Lee-Young
The Vancouver Sun

Beijing’s tight new currency rules designed to make it more difficult for overseas property purchases have Metro Vancouver real estate wondering if the effect will be a further slowdown of the local housing market.

The new edict demands a written pledge that yuan converted into U.S. dollars will not be used to buy property overseas. It also creates a government black list and harsher penalties for violators.

The new rules came into effect on Jan. 1, causing uncertainty in global real estate markets from London to San Francisco and, of course, Vancouver.

Some have been doing back-of-the-napkin calculations to guess at what a sharper chokehold on Chinese funds could mean for a market already reeling from the additional property tax for foreign buyers.

Others wonder how this latest move might compare with past attempts to cool the outflow of Chinese money.

“I think this round of (foreign-exchange) crackdown is much more strictly enforced and (will be) longer lasting,” said Victor Shih, associate professor at the University of California, San Diego, who is researching the impact of elite networks in China. “Prior to the end of last year, even low-level private bank clients for major Chinese and transnational banks can easily transfer money from mainland accounts to offshore (ones.)

Chinese authorities have now stopped this, he said.

“In addition, when exchanging any amount of money in China, one now needs to specify the beneficiaries of the exchanged foreign currency, whether it be an overseas university, a tour group or a hotel,” Shih said.

China’s foreign-exchange reserve has been rapidly emptying since 2015, he added.

“Because money supply in China today is over US$20 trillion, even if a fraction of the money of the money supply were to get out, it can quickly wipe out China’s reserves. Thus, (Beijing) has to impose increasingly draconian restrictions on capital flows.”

In Metro Vancouver, agents say there are signs it is now harder for some property buyers to cobble together dollars for use outside China.

But most are still optimistic that just as there have been ways to skirt Beijing’s official limit of converting yuan to US$50,000 per person, per year, there will be new ways around the new rules. 

While first-time buyers might be more handicapped or wary of breaking the new rules, others — such as those already residing overseas or who are immigrants — will be more able to tap wealth that has already been transferred out of China.

Realtors vetting a serious buyer with money from China had already long been used to asking if funds for down payments and mortgage ones have been moved to an overseas account such as one in Hong Kong or Canada.

“I know people who can’t get their money out, and, in the end, they borrowed from friends” and family who are here and will pay them back in China, said one realtor, who declined to be named. 

Even though the measures by Beijing aim to stem the flow of so-called hot money (that is, large amounts of cash that are transferred quickly for sharp gains or to hedge against a slide), those more likely to be thwarted are middle-class families hoping to buy property and immigrate from China to Canada.

“Those will be the ones affected. They will have more issues getting their money out compared to higher-end Chinese buyers who have businesses here” or elsewhere, that can be used to help consolidate funds in U.S. or Canadian dollars, said Godfrey Chan, a realtor at Re/Max Metro Realty.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

3 Civic Plaza: Surrey tower has sweeping views, unbeatable central location

JODIE WARREN
The Province

Luxury living in the sky is coming to Surrey City Centre. Described by its architect as “the final iconic piece to the City of Surrey’s new civic plaza,” 3 Civic Plaza is a 52-storey highrise taking shape alongside city hall and the Surrey City Public Library, forming the only residences ever available on the civic plaza.

Developed by veteran builder Century Group, which has specialized in creating sustainable, community oriented neighbourhood sin the region for more than 50 years, 3 Civic Plaza promises its residents a luxurious lifestyle that will be enhanced by the Civic Hotel, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, which has just seven such properties in North America. “Century Group is bringing a high-end hotel offering to the City of Surrey, the only type of this kind currently in the city ,” says Sandra Liang, sales manager for Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing. “The homes – atop this elegant boutique hotel — will start where other towers in the area typically end.”

From the 15th floor upward, the 349 homes in 3 Civic Plaza feature sweeping views of the city, mountains and beyond, and are more spacious than any other offerings currently on the market in the area. One-bedroom homes start at 563 square feet, while the two-bedrooms are in the 850- to 1,000-square-foot range.

Designed by renowned ZGF Cotter Architects and slated for completion in fall 2017, Surrey’s tallest tower — a stunning, slender structure whose unique elements include guitar-pick-shaped windows — will serve as a dramatic enhancement to the city skyline. Inside, the homes feature all the luxurious elements that one would expect: engineered hardwood flooring, quartz countertops, European stainless steel appliances and modern flush overlay cabinets in the kitchens and extensive millwork throughout. Both residents and hotel guests will enter through the tower’s grand lobby, where a Prado café/ bakery and high-end restaurant, yet to be named, will be located, as well as a 24-hour concierge service. The tower also features a roof top patio and bar, meeting rooms and event space in two ballrooms.

All residents have access to the hotel amenities, says Liang, which will be offered ‘a la carte’—a nice alternative to paying hefty strata fees. “We want to keep strata fees reasonable and we want to give people the choice to pay for only what they want to use,” she explains. “Residents wishing to order room service through the hotel, or use the fully equipped fitness facility, spa, pool or yoga studio, can do so through paying a membership fee.”

Further enhancing the livability and comfort of 3 Civic Plaza is easy access to SkyTrain. “You will literally be able to come down the elevator and step on to the Surrey Central SkyTrain station platform,” says Liang. Downtown Vancouver is a mere 30 minutes away via SkyTrain and residents will also be within walking distance to all that Surrey City Centre offers, including educational opportunities through Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus, the new KPU campus being developed at the base of the residential tower, and the Central City Shopping Centre, featuring Central City Brewing Pub and Restaurant.

A good selection of one-bedroom plans, and some two-bedroom plans, are still available in this outstanding community, but are selling quickly. To book your exclusive appointment v is it: www.3civicplaza.ca or call: 604-763-5156.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.