It’s less than an acre in size.
But a White Spot location on West Georgia Street in Vancouver just sold for $245 million.
Coverage of Vancouver real estate:
The site was purchased by Carnival International Holdings Ltd., a company based in Hong Kong.
And while it’s not unusual to see land sell for exorbitant prices in Vancouver, this sale has set the bar higher.
The old Chevron station next door was sold to Anthem Properties for a reported $72 million.
READ MORE: Last gas station in downtown Vancouver put up for sale
But at $245 million, condos on this site would have to sell for at least $2 million.
Who can afford that? People who have sold their homes on the North Shore or Vancouver’s west side and are ready to move into units that are anywhere from 1,400 to 1,600 sq. ft. in size, said real estate consultant Allan De Genova.
“They’ll be able to have some money in their pocket,” he told Global News.
Vancouver has a plan to build several new high-rises along West Georgia Street, and nine of them on the site where the White Spot currently stands.
Passersby saw it as unlikely that they could ever afford to live in one of those units.
“We’d love to but the price is really, really expensive there,” said one person. “Even more expensive than Dubai, I cannot imagine owning a place.”
READ MORE: Canada’s housing has never been less affordable than it is in Vancouver right now: RBC
The sale of the White Spot isn’t exactly the most expensive one that Vancouver has ever seen.
The Oakridge Transit Centre sold for $440 million, but that site is 13.8 acres.
Nevertheless, the price that the new owner paid makes it unlikely that affordable housing will ever be built there.
But that doesn’t mean the city can’t squeeze developers.
An amenity contribution could help to revitalize city facilities like the West End Community Centre, De Genova said.
In any case, a sale like this shows that that pay dirt is the new gold dust. At least in Vancouver.