TD names president and CEO of key unit

Fergal McAlinden
Mortgage Broker News

Toronto-Dominion Bank has announced that the company’s chief financial officer Riaz Ahmed will take over as president and chief executive officer of TD Securities following the retirement from both positions of Bob Dorrance on September 01.
Ahmed will take the reins from Dorrance, who’ll remain as chairman of TD Securities and serve as special adviser to CEO Bharat Masrani, at a unit that has sometimes underperformed rival banks.
TD’s capital-markets business accounted for around 15% of its revenue in the last fiscal year – a smaller share than rivals including Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada.
An 8.2% drop in revenue from the bank’s wholesale division in 2021’s second quarter compared to last year also lined up unfavourably against competitors.
The 58-year-old Ahmed has been with TD since 1996, initially serving as an investment banker in TD Securities’ infrastructure and independent power team before becoming the unit’s CFO, and eventually its vice chair and chief administrative officer.
Read next: TD reports financial results
He was named senior vice president of corporate development in 2004 and became CFO in 2016 following spells leading its insurance, credit cards and enterprise strategy.
Ahmed’s replacement in the CFO role is the current executive vice president for enterprise finance, Kelvin Tran, with Moti Jungreis and Robbie Pryde set to step into executive vice chair roles at TD Securities.
Another new move will see executive vice president of corporate development, treasury and strategic sourcing, Barbara Hooper, join the senior executive team.
Dorrance, 67, joined TD in 2000 following its purchase of Newcrest Capital Inc., which he co-founded and served as CEO. He had led TD Securities since 2005.

Copyright © 2021 Key Media

Co-Ownership Agreements: “Till Dispute Do Us Part” #539

Lisa Niro
BCREA

With the cost of properties continuing to rise in most parts of British Columbia, many people are looking to invest or acquire properties with others. While the co-ownership of property can have financial benefits at the outset, it can also come with a host of problems and disputes. Therefore, parties should consider entering into a co-ownership agreement setting out the rights and obligations of the parties, and mechanisms for resolving disputes.

Co-ownership agreements should be negotiated and entered into prior to purchasing the property, or shortly thereafter to ensure everyone is in agreement before any potential disputes arise. Co-ownership agreements should contain provisions addressing the following basic items:

• how ownership of the property will be registered on title to the property;
• what percentage interest in the property each party holds;
• the initial capital contributions of each party;
• how mortgages will be handled and paid;
• how the property will be used, for example as a rental, for owners use, etc.;
• how will expenses be allocated between the parties;
• what happens if someone doesn’t pay their portion of the expenses;
• what happens if a co-owner passes away, loses capacity, divorces, or becomes bankrupt;
• do co-owners have the right to purchase each other’s interest, and if so, what are the mechanisms for this;
• what happens if a co-owner is in default of their obligations under the agreements;
• how are disputes going to be resolved; and
• when and how can the property be listed and sold.

In addition to the items noted above, co-ownership agreements may also address the renovation or redevelopment of the property, equalization payments if one co-owner has exclusive use of the property, responsibility for maintenance and landscaping, etc.

Partition of Property Act

In the absence of a co-ownership agreement, parties need to rely on the courts to resolve disputes, and often these disputes are addressed by one co-owner requesting the court-ordered sale of the property under the Partition of Property Act[i] (the “Act”).

Section 6 of the Act allows any co-owners holding at least half of the interests in the property to request the court to order the sale of the property. Whereas section 8 of the Act allows for the other parties not requesting the court-ordered sale to undertake to purchase the interest in the property of the person requesting the sale from the court. If the undertaking is given by the other owners, then the court can order the valuation of the property and give direction on how the requesting owner’s interest is to be sold to the other owner(s).

In Machin v Rathbone[ii], the court confirmed that where one party (or parties) who hold more than 50% of the interests in the property request the sale of the property under section 6 of the Act, and the other party requests the sale of the original applicant’s interest in the property, section 6 will prevail, and the property will be listed for sale by court order,

“I find that s. 8(2) of the Partition of Property Act does not act so as to deprive an owner of at least one-half interest in land of the right to sell on the market that is conferred by s. 6.  I find rather that the intent of s. 8(2) is to enable a majority owner to purchase the interest of a minority owner who has sought a forced sale under s. 6.”

The court in Machin also confirmed that any of the co-owners could submit an offer to purchase the property once it was listed for sale. It is quite possible the litigation in Machin could have been avoided had the parties entered into a co-ownership agreement that provided clear mechanisms for how to deal with the property in the event of a dispute between the parties.

In Vetter v Bolivar[iii], the court confirmed that an application under the Act was not applicable as the co-ownership agreement entered into between the parties was valid and that the dispute between the co-owners could be addressed through arbitration as set out in the co-ownership agreement.

Conclusion

Co-ownership of properties is likely to increase in the future as the value of property continues to rise. It is very important for licensees to advise their clients to obtain legal advice regarding the co-ownership of property when multiple parties are involved in a purchase. Well drafted and thought-out co-ownership agreements can lower the potential for disputes, and provide co-owners with clear rights, obligations, and mechanisms for resolving disputes.

[i]Partition Of Property Act, RSBC 1996 CHAPTER 347.

[ii]Machin v Rathbone, 2006 BCSC 252.

[iii] Vetter v Bolivar, 2010 BCSC 652.

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Copyright © 2021 British Columbia Real Estate Association 

Register for The Saint George, now previewing in Mount Pleasant

Reliance Properties
Livabl

 The Saint George is a boutique, 91-suite condominium coming soon to 471 East Broadway in Vancouver’s coveted Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. The mid-rise residence by Reliance Properties boasts contemporary exterior design by Integra Architecture, modern amenities, and an innovative collection of floorplans that maximize usable space and functionality.

Situated on East Broadway and Saint George Street, The Saint George offers a rare opportunity to live in one of Vancouver’s most  desirable neighbourhoods. A unique area where tree-lined streets and peaceful greenspaces blend with shops, cafes, restaurants and nightlife, Mount Pleasant is a place that caters to everyone. Local favourites include Tacofino, Old Bird, Red Truck Beer, Purebread and Catoro Café, just to name a few.

Young families will appreciate the development’s proximity to schools like Mount Pleasant Elementary School, while commuters will benefit from the proposed Broadway SkyTrain extension just steps away. Nearby parks include Guelph Park, home to grassy lawns, a playground, tennis courts and a community garden. The park is also known for the Dude Chilling Park sign, an installation that was originally created as a prank but is now an official public art piece.

Available suites are bright and spacious with open-concept one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. Each home offers a new level of human-centred design with living spaces that are customizable and can be changed to adapt to individual needs. Design details include a ‘Living Wall’ with integrated kitchen appliances and custom millwork that incorporates ample storage, workspaces, and an entertainment area with built-ins. Select homes also sport discreet glass sliding walls that create distinct living areas and private bedrooms, or slide back to increase light, air flow and mobility. 

Onsite amenities include a top floor lounge made for entertaining. The space comes complete with a media lounge, kitchen, wet bar, dining room and workspaces for remote employees and entrepreneurs. Step outside onto the expansive rooftop patio to take in the views, relax on the sculptural wooden lounge chairs, or work your green thumb in the herb garden. The rooftop is also equipped with firepits and dining tables.

To learn more about The Saint George, be sure to register online at thesaintgeorge.ca to book a private appointment.

For more information, please call 604 229 6965 or email [email protected].

© 2020 BuzzBuzzHome Corp.

Vancouver lands giant bio-tech facility

Tyler Orton
Western Investor

AbCellera Biologics Inc. expands its footprint in Vancouver after selecting a site in the city’s east side for a manufacturing plant worth up to $250 million,

AbCellera’s new manufacturing facility will be built on the 900-block of Evan Ave in East Vancouver| Submitted

AbCellera Biologics Inc. expands its footprint in Vancouver after selecting a site in the city’s east side for a manufacturing plant worth up to $250 million,

AbCellera Biologics Inc. is set to further expand its footprint in Vancouver after selecting a site in the city’s east side for a manufacturing plant.

The B.C. biotech company revealed June 21 its new 130,000-square-foot facility specializing in the production of therapeutic antibodies will sit on the 900-block of Evans Avenue.

A new 380,000-square-foot headquarters is also under construction three kilometres west in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

“Up until now we’ve been a research-based company,” Murray McCutcheon, AbCellera’s vice-president of corporate development, told BIV.

“We are tremendously excited at this announcement, which is allowing us to move forward with the construction of the GMP [good manufacturing practices] manufacturing facility so that we can develop and manufacture the antibodies that we discovered.”

He said the plant is meant to operate in a tightly integrated way with the new HQ.

“Ultimately, we prioritized this location because we are growing the company in Vancouver, we’re located here, we want to plant our flag and build an anchor company,” McCutcheon said.

“Proximity is incredibly important because we see there’s an opportunity here not just to manufacture therapies — it’s also to connect the research, development and … make that process faster to deliver therapies to patients more quickly.”

The biotech company, best known for specializing in antibody discovery and partnering up with American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. on a COVID-19 treatment, raised US$555 million through a blockbuster initial public offering in December 2020.

Its new facility is being funded in part by a grant from the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).

In May 2020, Ottawa earmarked $175.6 million from the SIF to AbCellera to bolster the country’s response to future pandemics both through the company’s existing drug discovery technology as well as the development of a manufacturing facility.

The deal struck with the federal government will see AbCellera match the SIF funding dollar for dollar.

“It’s still early in the design process at this stage, but we think that the costs are likely to run in the $230 million to $250 million range when it’s fully operational,” McCutcheon said.

“We know that we have grounds to make up in terms of biomanufacturing nationally, and we’re incredibly excited to partner with the Government of Canada in the development of this facility and help us respond faster next time.”

The facility, due to break ground later this year before opening in 2024, would be the first of its scale in Canada capable of going from a patient sample to manufacturing antibodies for clinical testing.

In addition to offering biomanufacturing capacity, the plant will also feature lab, office and warehouse space.

Meanwhile, the new HQ will sit on West Fourth Avenue between Columbia and Manitoba. One building will measure in at 210,000 square feet once complete and the adjoining building on the new campus will come in at 170,000 square feet. Those sites are expected to be completed in 2023 and 2024.

AbCellera sent out requests for proposal a year ago across Metro Vancouver and Ontario in a bid to find a site for its new campus, which will feature labs custom-designed to bring together research that cuts across biology, software development and machine learning.

Fifty responses came back but it was ultimately the two sites located blocks away from the current headquarters on Yukon Street that ended up being the best fit.

While B.C.-based digital technology firms have been enticing global talent to work for them remotely, McCutcheon told BIV back in the spring a biotech company — one heavily dependent on lab equipment and in-person collaboration — needs to have all its workers based in Vancouver.

“Historically they’ve [local university grads] had to seek those opportunities south of the border,” AbCellera CEO Carl Hansen said in April.

“That’s one of the reasons it is so important to have these facilities here in Vancouver. You don’t want to push people out to the suburbs if you can be anywhere. People want to have that great place to work, the environment, the energy of the city, and they want to be working at the cutting edge of something they think is moving the needle for society.”

AbCellera has a headcount of 300 workers and plans on hiring about 1,000 employees over the next seven years.

The new manufacturing plant will likely be home to about 100 workers initially but McCutcheon said he expects “hundreds” to be based there in the coming years.

© 2021 Western Investor

$12 million sale sets housing record in Victoria

Carla Wilson
Western Investor

Waterfront house on 67 acres in Metchosin achieves the highest selling price on Greater Victoria’s multiple listing service

Waterfront house on 67 acres in Metchosin achieves the highest selling price on Greater Victoria’s multiple listing service

The $12-million sale of a home on 67 acres of Metchosin waterfront has set a new record for the highest selling price for a house through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service.

It topples the record of $10.5 million set in 2006 for an Oak Bay estate.

Sales outside of the board’s listing service or in other categories of property, such as farmland or islands, are not included in establishing the record.

The Metchosin home, at 529 Swanwick Rd., is 10,500 square feet, was designed by architect Marko Simcic, was built in 2006 and is surrounded by a Garry oak environment.

It won the Canadian Architect Award in 2003 and a Lieutenant-Governor’s Award in 2008. It is notable for water running between branches of the house.

The seven-bedroom and seven-bathroom home was originally listed at $14.1 million.

It was previously owned by Raoul Emil Malak, who bought it in 2012, government records show.

Ecoasis, the company behind Bear Mountain Resort on Skirt Mountain in Langford and the Highlands, sold its hotel in 2019, describing the sale at the time as a working alliance with Malak who would take control of the Westin Bear Mountain.

In May, the benchmark price for a single-family home in the core of Greater Victoria surpassed $1 million for the first time. The core is made up of Victoria, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, ­Saanich and View Royal.

Greater Victoria’s luxury real estate market is flourishing, coinciding with low inventory of properties for sale, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada said in a statement.

“Victoria’s luxury real estate market has experienced a surge in interest and activity in recent months,” said Logan Wilson with Sotheby’s, who represented the seller of the Metchosin home. “The diversity of interest we saw in this property reflects the fact that Victoria is not only increasingly desirable amongst Canadian home and recreational property buyers, but also a coveted destination on the global real estate stage.”

Philip DuMoulin, also with Sotheby’s, represented the buyer, who was not named.

In 2012, a luxury home on Towner Park Road in North Saanich was advertised for $18 million. That listing was not part of the multiple listing service and the sale price was not made public.

The highest residential price on the listing service at this time is $18.8 million for Queen Mary Bay Estate at 1850 Lands End Road in North Saanich, where many of the region’s most luxurious homes are located. The house is on 24.5 acres. It is one of four residential properties in the capital region on the realtor.ca website priced above $10 million.

Note: See Western Investor’s August 2021 issue for a full report on trophy and waterfront real estate listings in Western Canada.

© 2021 Western Investor

Rural real estate buyers: check your boundary survey

Freddy Marks
Western Investor

A professional property boundary survey is money well spent when purchasing B.C. recreational property

Realtor Freddy Marks is a Fraser Valley-based specialist in B.C. rural and recreational land transactions. | Submitted

A professional property boundary survey is money well spent when purchasing B.C. recreational property

There has been intense interest this year from B.C. urbanites buying recreational and rural property, partly spurred by the number of people working from home and those seeking a retirement destination.

One of the first investment such buyers should make is a professional boundary survey to make sure you know exactly where your piece of paradise begins and ends.

Knowing where your property pins are located and having clearly marked and maintained boundaries is one of the most important parts of rural land ownership. Erecting a fence is just one of the reasons you need to know where your exact property boundaries are. Even with established smaller lots it can be hard to know where the property pins are after landscaping, fencing, vegetation and outbuildings get established. At the time they were placed in the ground – perhaps decades ago – the top of the pin marker was at the surface. Final grading and landscaping buries the survey pins deeper into the soil, so when you look for them, they can be up to a 10 inches underground and not easily locatable.

If you have a title map with measurements, a hand-held GPS and a metal detector can locate the original pins yourself with some effort. But, If you have a property with many different angles or property that is split by a road or other easement you could have 10 or more locations to determine and it may be much easier to hire a survey company to complete a property boundary survey.

A boundary survey crew will triangulate and place highly visible ribbons at all the boundary points of a property with exact accuracy. If a survey crew cannot locate a property pin because it was removed or lost over time, they have the authority to calculate and replace the lost pin and ensure that the new pin coordinates are legally registered with the correct districts land title office.

In British Columbia we have seven land title districts, respectively known as the Kamloops, Nelson, New Westminster, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Vancouver and Victoria Land Title District, with their respective district boundaries as defined in BC’s Land Title Act. The purpose of land title registration is to foremost protect property rights, and secondly to facilitate transactions in land, a registered title enables land to be used as collateral for lending. A title provides incentives for investment in land and therefore stimulates development.

Just 5 per cent of BC’s land base is private saleable land, and at some point a land survey was completed to calculate lot size and place property pins at the exact corners to mark the boundaries of every legal land title in B.C.

When you buy land in British Columbia, you or your lawyer files a Freehold Transfer at the Land Title Office, and the Land Title Office then issues you a “Certificate of Indefeasible Title”. Which means that the Province of British Columbia guarantees your title. There are a few exceptions, but, the registered owner, the person with the Certificate of Indefeasible Title, and no one else, is the true owner.

The basic rule is in the Land Title Act, section 23. It states: Every indefeasible title, as long as it remains in force and un-cancelled, shall be conclusive evidence at law and in equity, as against the Crown and all other persons, that the person named in the title is indefeasibly entitled to an estate in fee simple to the land described in the indefeasible title. An ‘estate in fee simple’ is the legal term for the maximum interest that any individual can have in land.

Many rural and remote acreages are being purchased this year and lots of buyers are discovering that they need the professional services of a surveyor to begin the process of securing the land with gating and fencing and to plan out the location of new dwellings and outbuildings. A boundary survey adds value to your title, it allows the title owner to confidently create a land use plan and develop the acreage to add maximum value and comfort.

– Freddy Marks is managing partner, 3AGroup, Re/Max Nyda, Agassiz, B.C. Phone 604-997-5398  

© 2021 Western Investor

Tunnel will ease traffic stress during SkyTrain construction

Nelson Bennett
Western Investor

Tunnel being bored beneath Vancouver’s Broadway will lessen business disruptions during subway extension work

Tunnel boring was used for part of the 

Evergreen SkyTrain extension. | Evergreen Line Project Office

Tunnel being bored beneath Vancouver’s Broadway will lessen business disruptions during subway extension work

Retailers, other businesses and commuters along Vancouver’s West Broadway corridor can expect a few years of traffic disruptions when the contractor for the new line begins construction in earnest.

However, it should not be as bad as the Canada Line’s construction, part of which was cut-and-cover, which caused major disruptions along Vancouver’s Cambie Street.

The provincial Transportation Investment Corporation gave an update June 16 with a technical briefing on plans to build the new Broadway subway extension, which it has slated for operation in 2025.

The new Broadway subway will be built mostly underground using tunnel boring, but temporary traffic decks will need to be built at each of the new subway stations to allow for station construction.

The Broadway subway extension project will include six subway stations and will run 5.7 kilometres from near Emily Carr University on Great Northern Way to Broadway and Arbutus.

The new subway line will have the capacity to move three times as many people as the current 99 B line bus, and will shave roughly 30 minutes off the typical commute.

The first 700 metres of new line will be elevated, from VCC Clark Station to a tunnel portal near Great Northern Way. The rest will be built underground using tunnel boring under West Broadway Avenue.

There will be a direct underground connection to the Canada Line at Broadway and Cambie. The 99 B line bus will connect the terminus – Arbutus and Broadway – to the University of BC.

Temporary street-level traffic decks will need to be built at each of the six stations. Traffic deck construction has already begun in the Mount Pleasant area. The decks are expected to take about six months to build.

The stations will be built at the following locations:

Emily Carr, Great Northern Way

Mount Pleasant, Broadway and Main Street

Broadway–City Hall, Broadway and Cambie Street

Oak–VGH, Broadway and Laurel Street

South Granville, Broadway and Granville Street

Arbutus, Broadway and Arbutus Street

© 2021 Western Investor

Downton Abbotsford retail corner site sells for $1.57 million

Frontline Real State Services
Western Investor

The 6,977 square foot retail building has “exceptional exposure and retail frontage” in the historic downtown area of Abbotsford, B.C.

Frontline Real Estate Services, Surrey, B.C., for Western Investor
Type of property: Retail
Location: 33761 Essendale Avenue, Abbotsford, B.C.
Size of property: 6,977 square feet
Sale price: $1.57 million
Brokerage: Frontline Real Estate Services, Surrey, B.C.
Brokers: Rebecca MacLeod and George Richmond, Frontline, with Mike Grewal of Colliers International, Surrey, B.C.

© 2021 Western Investor

Downton Abbotsford retail corner site sells for $1.57 million

Frontline Real State Services
Western Investor

Downton Abbotsford retail corner site sells for $1.57 million

Frontline Real State Services
Western Investor