The Victory Square heritage building Vancouver city hall took over after the Olympic Villages November 2010 receivership now belongs to a health food tycoon.
The 105-year-old, seven-storey Province Building at 198 West Hastings sold for $18.01 million in June 2012 to 0929767 B.C. Ltd., a numbered company whose only director is Natures Path organic cereal cofounder Ratana Stephens.
The building was assessed at $7.8 million in 2012 and $13.8 million in 2013. It is, coincidentally, across Hastings from the Flack Block headquarters of influential Vision Vancouver backer Joel Solomons Renewal Partners. Ratana and husband Arran Stephens are prominently profiled on Renewals website. A month before the transaction, Arran Stephens agreed to pay a $32,000 fine for illegally cutting trees at the couples $7.7 million Point Grey home.
Ratana Stephens said she wanted to keep this very private, because it is a family
investment.
We bought this building because we feel that we wanted to invest in a heritage building, she told the Courier. We are pleased to be caretakers of this historical building, a Vancouver landmark.
City hall revealed in April 2011 that it assumed 32 Canadian properties appraised at $82.2 million from Millennium Development, the company that defaulted on $740 million owing for the Olympic Village. The approximate net value of the portfolio was $45.48
million.
By April of this year, the city said it grossed $34.86 million on the sale of 22 properties, including the $3 million paid by city hall for the vacant 177 West Pender lot. After deductions for existing mortgage payouts and closing costs, the city netted $26.04 million.
City halls communications department and Freedom of Information office both refused to identify individual buyers and prices paid or disclose how many offers were received and whether highest bids were chosen.
B.C. Land Title and Survey records show Polygon Development bought six of the former Millennium properties on West Esplanade in North Vancouver for a gross $47.72 million in May, including an entire commercial block and a parking lot near the SeaBus terminal.
Two of four ex-Millennium retail buildings in West Vancouvers Ambleside area sold in summer 2012 to Pui Ying Christian Services Society (1846 Marine, $5.01 million) and Feaga Experts (1379 Marine, $2.108 million). Bids were due June 28 for the 1583 Marine Shoppers Drug Mart and parking lot, assessed at $6.98 million.
A deal for the $6.58 million-assessed 1327 Marine property fell through after an Oct. 29, 2012 restaurant fire. West Vancouver Police suspect arson and appealed July 9 for public help to solve the crime. A city communications employee, who refused to be identified, said the insurance claim was settled, demolition will happen and the property will be re-offered for sale.
Meanwhile, the site of a FedEx outlet at 4270 Dawson in Burnaby is under a binding purchase contract, but the transaction has not closed yet, according to the city communications employee. The property registry shows the land is owned by 0677201 B.C. Ltd., whose directors are Millenniums Peter Shahrokh Malek and Shahram Malekyazdi. The address listed is the city hall-retained Farris law firm.
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