Cam Appleton | Metro 2050: Vancouver Commercial Real Estate Encyclopedia

For example: A business owner reads Metro 2050's industrial designations to understand land supply. (Illustration only, not a real deal.)

Official source: Metro 2050 (Metro Vancouver)

Example only, not a real client. Say you are looking at land on the edge of the urban area. Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy shows it outside the area planned for urban growth, which makes major development unlikely. You price accordingly.

What I’d tell a friend

Check the regional growth strategy before you pay for development potential.

Why it matters to you

The regional plan protects industrial and agricultural land and steers growth to certain centres. If your property is in a protected area, it can limit a rezoning to housing, which affects what the land is worth and what a buyer can plan.

How to use it in your deal

Buyers of industrial land should check the regional designation, not just the zoning, because a rezoning that conflicts with Metro 2050 also needs a regional amendment. Owners hoping for a higher-value use should talk to the city planner early about whether the regional designation allows it. Tenants can take comfort that protected industrial areas are less likely to be redeveloped out from under them.

Metro 2050 maps are online, and the regional designation of a site can be checked in a few minutes. Do that before you pay for a feasibility study. The regional plan and maps are on the Metro Vancouver site if you want to check a site yourself.

Mistakes I see

Assuming a city rezoning is enough. Paying a land price that assumes a conversion the region won't support. Ignoring the urban containment boundary on fringe sites.

In BC and Vancouver

Regional growth strategies are authorized under the Local Government Act. Metro Vancouver publishes the plan and its maps; municipalities' regional context statements show how local plans line up.

Official sources: Metro 2050 (Metro Vancouver) · Local Government Act (BC Laws)

What it is

Metro 2050 is Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy, guiding where growth, industrial land and green space should be.

Municipal plans must be consistent with it.

Using it

Check your property’s regional designation.

Changes to designations take a regional process and can take a long time, so do not pay for them in advance.

Talk with the municipality about how its local plan fits.

Questions to ask before you sign

What's the regional designation?
Would my plan need a regional amendment?
Is the site inside the urban containment boundary?
What does the city's regional context statement say?

Keep reading

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General information for British Columbia only. It isn’t legal, tax, accounting or financial advice, laws and rates change, and reading it doesn’t make you my client. Any numbers or scenarios are hypothetical. Check the linked official source and talk to a lawyer, accountant or other qualified professional before you act or sign anything. See the terms and disclaimer.