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Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village
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12-14-2015, 11:32 AM,
(This post was last modified: 12-14-2015, 04:50 PM by Skook.)
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RE: Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village
December 14, 2015 Update
You would think keeping track of 6 condo units in one small complex would be a piece of cake...well, not if its Blue Heron Village. You’ll read why further on. Phase 1 Blue Heron Village, a small, quirkily designed commercial/retail complex was a ripping success. Anchored by the Bank of Montreal and the successful Sheer Bliss Bakery on the ground level, the building has become an iconic landmark along the Gibsons Way strip. No one would blame the developer, Longman Development Ltd, for having high hopes for Phase 2 in the proposed multi-structure BHV development project. Unlike Phase 1, Phase 2 would be a commercial/residential mix. The ground level would offer up to 5 retail/office leasable units and the levels above would house 6 (one- and two-storied) purchasable condo units. Now, what was unique about Phase 2 besides the buildings design was that the upper levels were zoned “live/work.” My earlier posts above explain that what in theory might seem straight forward was anything but when it came to the marketing of these condo units. To start, each unit was given a separate residential and commercial listing (result: 12 unique listings). In the marketing, it suggested potential buyers for four of the units could live in one portion and rent out the self-contained ‘studio’ space as a mortgage helper; and, investors could purchase those same units and rent out the residential portion and the studio portion separately. I really questioned how this ‘fish and fowl’ mix would play out in the long run. Pre-construction sales began in fall 2013. Well, when it comes to real estate timing is everything and Blue Heron Village faced the exact same issues as Soames Place further down “The Way” – a slumping market and changing demographics. Brief History: Pre-construction sales began November, 2013 with residential and commercial listings. The units were posted to Craigslists, too. Three units sold by early July, 2014: #201 (1 storey, no extra studio space), #206 (2 storey, no extra studio space) and #205 (2-storey + studio space). Construction completed by end of summer, 2014. #202, #203, #204 were listed on MLS until fall 2015. Currently: #202: only unit on MLS and it remains the original 2013 pre-construction listing with same price and same write-up. The commercial listing is gone. Quote:Offering six Live/Work units with dual purpose space. Uses include residential only, commercial only or mixed use (commercial/residential). Completion options to help visualize possible uses. Elevator or stairs from street level for easy access. An opportunity for professionals, entrepreneurs, artists etc. to own a space that's well suited to serve both home and work needs. Featuring a clean contemporary look including, h/w floors, 9 ft ceilings, glass detail, Granite counters, & s/s appl pkg. Spacious patios and a large communal sundeck where neighbors become friends. Exterior design with an Urban look and feel. Offering a "Walk to everything" convenience ... a carefree lifestyle you deserve! Call Agents for full pkg. Also Listed on MLS as Commercial/Office - MLS# V4038095. #203: MLS dropped in fall 2015. I’ve not seen any MLS sales data for this unit nor any rental ad; but, maybe its rented. #204: MLS listing dropped fall 2015. Rental ad appears on Craigslist in October with two exterior pics. Craigslist ad re-posted November 26th and an interior pic is added. The image below shows the ads, the pics and the write-up. Now, I’m looking at this and wondering, “Really? Has someone lost interest?” Whoever put this ad up wasn't going to work at it. Yep, good enough. #205: Sold in June, 2014. Owner tried renting out the “studio” portion and placed ads on Craigslist starting in November, 2014. Asking $415/mth for $170sf. No idea if it worked or owner gave up (See previous BHV post directly above for details). Unit 206: Purchased in April 2014. Owner tries to rent unit for $1200/mth via November 2014 Craigslist post (See previous post above for details). Owner puts unit up for sale May 27, 2015 and in October removes the MLS listing and does this... Members can be very forthcoming in their AirBnB profiles and here we learn that the owners, Trudi and John Verge, have called the Sunshine Coast home for 25 years and operate a business called DV LogWorks. A quick Google search shows home and business are in Halfmoon Bay and DV Logworks was contracted to add the external wood beam trimming on Blue Heron Village. So, they bought and couldn’t get a long term renter; decided to sell and couldn’t find a buyer; and, now have it up on AirBnB. So, now they have to deal with bookings and unit clean-up (minimum 2-day stay). Will Trudi make that almost hour drive there and back again from Halfmoon Bay to Gibsons three times per week to clean the unit or will she hire a company to do this? This really sounds like fun...not! I beginning to think one of the few growth industries on the SC might be in the managing and cleaning of AirBnB units. Commercial Units: probably the only bright spot for the developer as the total ground level commercial space was leased as one unit in May 2015. The new tenant calls itself Coast Naturals; opened for business in early June; and, according to its website is... The business’ Facebook page really promotes all its supplements and they stock a lot – I know because I paid a visit after they opened. Well, I would say that’s the other growth industry on the SC with its ever aging population and retirees moving in: prescription drugs and supplements. Good choice guys. So, here’s the update spreadsheet for Blue Heron Village, Phase 2. Hopefully, the colour-coding helps make sense of it all: (click on image) To Save/Print the Spreadsheet: The best procedure is to save it to your hard drive first. So, click on the image and after it opens in a new tab, right click and click ‘Save image as...’ (exact wording depends on your browser). With Windows OS, you will save it in your Pictures Library. After saving the image, find it and click on it and it should open in the ‘Windows Photo Viewer.” Click on ‘Print’ in menu bar and then click ‘Print’ again and the print dialog box will open. You want ‘Full Page Photo’ and most importantly at the bottom you want to remove the checkmark for ‘Fit picture to frame’ (click in box to remove checkmark). Set the other options to your own preferences; however, ‘Letter’ size paper works best unless you can choose something larger like ‘Legal.’ |
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Messages In This Thread |
Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village - by Skook - 11-14-2013, 05:45 PM
RE: Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village - by Skook - 12-16-2013, 03:18 PM
RE: Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village - by Skook - 06-21-2014, 11:14 AM
RE: Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village - by Skook - 08-24-2014, 11:33 AM
RE: Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village - by Skook - 12-20-2014, 12:24 PM
RE: Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village - by Skook - 12-14-2015, 11:32 AM
RE: Gibsons Development - Blue Heron Village - by Skook - 12-18-2015, 01:25 PM
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