Granville Island

Granville Island Video Tour with Amy and Laura

Amy Kizaki and Laura Howren take you on a tour through one of Vancouver’s most popular tourist attractions. Granville Island is a small shopping district located on False Creek under the South side of the Granville Street Bridge. Main attractions include the Public Market, Marina, Emily Carr Institute, Arts Club Theatre, Kids Market and the Granville Island Brewery.

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Granville Island was originally a heavy industrial site before it’s transformation in the late 1970’s. It is now one of the most successful redevelopment sites in North America with over 10 million visitors annually.

Granville Island is a huge supporter of local Vancouver businesses. At the main attraction, the Public Market, you will find local organic produce, one of a kind art pieces and fresh baked goods, just to name a few.  As well, Granville Island is the heart of Vancouver’s art community as it is home to theatre, galleries and fine arts education.

Most of the real estate on and surrounding Granville Island is owned by the city, which makes the title to land leasehold. What this means is that the government owns the land and that you are leasing the land from the city and would own the improvements to the land. With this type of ownership in Real Estate there is usually a monthly lease fee associated with the property. As a result, property prices are significantly lower than a property that has a Freehold title. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss Real Estate leaseholds in further detail.

Laura Howren @ Blu Realty
604.209.3674
laura@vancouverpowersearch.com

Whether you are a local or a tourist, Granville Island is a must see. Enjoy the Granville Island video tour!

Vancouver Real Estate Sales break records in July

And we thought June was a great month for the Vancouver real estate market.

The Vancouver Sun reported a couple of days ago that both the Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley real estate boards reported record home sales for the month of July. Below are the juicy details (aka the numbers)!!

July Sales for Vancouver Real Estate

4,114 sales in Metro Vancouver (via MLS)
–> 89% increase from July 2008
Price of typical single family home in Greater Vancouver area: $711,702
–> -5.5% since July 2008
–> +10% since beginning of 2009

2,089 sales in Fraser Valley (via MLS)
–> 62% increase from July 2008
Price of typical single family home in Fraser Valley area: $477,420
–> almost -6% since July 2008
–> almost +4% in the last 3 months

Of these sales, a whopping 37% were comprised of first time home buyers.

#1 Place to Live!!

Vancouver has come out on top of a recent Livability survey!

Its not that surprising for the people that have already moved here, lived here or has ever been here.  But it might surprise people who have not been to Vancouver. Here is the Full Story.

http://www.news1130.com/more.jsp?content=20090608_174330_9272

Makes me proud to be living in a world class City!

Granville Island

Granville Island is a small island and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in False Creek directly across from Downtown Vancouver’s peninsula, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge. The island is now more or less connected with the mainland so it is not technically an island.

Granville Island was once an industrial manufacturing area, but is now a major tourist destination, providing amenities such as a public market, a large marina, a hotel, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design (named in honour of the artist), various theatres including the Arts Club Theatre Company and Carousel Theatre, and various shopping areas clustered around the one industrial outpost remaining, a cement plant. The island is very popular with tourists and locals alike.

Passenger ferry service from Granville Island to Downtown Vancouver is provided by two ferry companies, False Creek Ferries and Aquabus.
Since its redevelopment in the 1970s, Granville Island has maintained a healthy community of craft studios, including a glassblowing studio, a printmaking shop, a luthier, a master shoemaker, various jewellers, and the B.C. Potter’s Guild. A weekly farmer’s market has also been ongoing since the island’s redevelopment.
Granville Island Brewing Co. is also the name of a beer company which originated on Granville Island in 1984, but whose main base of operations was moved to Kelowna, British Columbia some time later. It does continue, however, to brew some of its varieties at the original site, and offers beer-tasting tours.

In 2004, Project for Public Spaces named Granville Island “One of the World’s Great Places”.