The mystery has been solved: it was Concord Pacific, on Burrard Street, with $185 million.
In November, Business in Vancouver reported that the Molson brewery had been sold for well over $100 million over asking price to an undisclosed buyer. At that time, rumour had it that the sale price was $185 million—a figure that has now been confirmed.
The deal closed March 31. According to documents emailed to BIV from real estate market analysis service RealNet, as of the sale date, the assessed value of the building was $15.4 million and the land was worth $33.6 million, for a total assessment of $49 million.
A Concord spokesperson has confirmed that Concord will lease back to the property to Molson to continue to operate until a new brewery is built.
Kirk Kuester, executive managing director for Colliers International Vancouver, told Business in Vancouver Colliers represented Molson in the transaction and would not be providing any further comment on the sale.
Concord Pacific, one of British Columbia’s largest new-home developers, said it plans to “create a…sustainable mixed-use addition to Vancouver,” according to a statement from Concord senior vice-president of development Peter Webb.
“The Concord Pacific group's venture capital arm invests actively in the IT, telecom and green technology industries,” Webb said. “Concord owns and operates Maximizer, a Vancouver-based IT company, Novus Entertainment, a local telecom company servicing thousands of households in Vancouver as well as Concord Green Energy with green power generating projects across the county.
“Concord's long-term vision is to attract knowledge-based local and global tech companies to this site.”
However, in terms of turning the site into mixed-use property, the City of Vancouver emailed BIVa statement saying it has not received a rezoning application for the site.
“The property is zoned industrial and shown in the regional context statement as industrial, any change to that would require a regional amendment by Metro Vancouver,” the statement said.
“The City’s policies for these lands are set, and staff are not contemplating any changes to current policies.”
-With files from Peter Mitham
@EmmaHampelBIV
