Downtown Vancouver could be down to only one gas station in the near future.
Chevron Canada has announced it has decided to “solicit market interest” in its property located at 1698 West Georgia Street at the corner of Bidwell, one of only two gas stations in the downtown core.
They will also be looking to sell two other Vancouver properties located at 39th Avenue and Dunbar Street and 1st Avenue and Clark Drive.
The 125-by-131-foot Georgia Street property opened in 1995 and was recently assessed by the City at just over $10.1 million, up from $8.8 million in 2015. The increase shows a 14.5 per cent growth year over year.
The Dunbar Street property is assessed at $14 million and the Clark Drive cardlock station is assessed at $2.6 million.
Together, the sale of the three land plots could net Chevron Canada over $26.7 million.
It’s a sizable gain for a company that reported losses of $1.5 billion in the second quarter of 2016, compared to earnings of $571 million for the same period in 2015.
They said in a July 29 release the losses were due to lower oil prices. The average sale price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas was $36 last quarter compared to $50 from a year ago, according to Chevron.
But profits aside, Adrien Byrne, a representative for Chevron Canada, said the land value for these Vancouver properties made the decision to sell financially prudent.
“These particular locations have a higher and greater land-use potential relative to their current operations,” Byrne told Global News. “This is high-volume site but if you look at the neighbourhood we’re in, which is one of the most desirable neighbourhoods in Canada, it’s clear to us the value of the land is put to better use for potential redevelopment.”
Byrne confirms Chevron has not formerly made the decision to sell but are simply “testing the market at this stage.”
He says a developer could build a 385-foot tower on the Georgia Street site. That’s just over half the height of the Shangri-La tower a few blocks away.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said $2.9 billion of commercial real estate was sold in the first quarter of 2016, a 78 per cent increase from the period in 2015.
Land sales showed a particularly strong growth, netting a 118 per cent increase in dollars sold year over year.
While most sales were priced at under $6 million, a total of 10 properties in the Lower Mainland went for $30 million or more.
The Georgia Street parcel is located next door to another under-used city lot, home to a White Spot restaurant. The adjoining property is currently valued at $16.1 million and sits amidst a concrete jungle of high-rise condominium towers. And on the other side of White Spot is a Metro Parking Ltd. parking lot assessed at $8 million.
In theory, the whole block could be assembled and developed into one property.
The sales come at a time when the number of gas stations across Vancouver are dwindling. The city’s business licence database shows there are 63 stations currently operating, with 14 recently shut down. Sixteen are operated by Chevron Canada.
In 1997, there were 103 stations counted across the city.
The City of Vancouver says while gas stations are decreasing, the number of electric vehicle charging stations are growing.
There are currently 51 public charging locations downtown, however electric and hybrid vehicles only account for two per cent of all registered vehicles in B.C.
“It’s not like electric cars are taking over the roadways,” said NPA city councilor George Affleck. “We have mostly cars that run on gas. People who own those cars will have to get creative and think about it in advance, before they get to empty, where they get their gas. It’s going to be tougher and tougher as the years go by.”
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