The Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee will today unveil a massive clock at the Vancouver Art Gallery to begin counting down towards the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada that will open in exactly three years time and bring the global spotlight to Whistler and Vancouver - the joint hosts of the games.
Little has been said about the impact that the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will have on property in Vancouver and Whistler in Canada and it is only now that public awareness is starting to realise that there could just be a real estate investment opportunity in the offing that deserves closer inspection.
As part of the development and construction work underway in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics all major roads are being improved and seven hundred and seventy five million Canadian dollars is being spent on upgrading the road that links Vancouver to Whistler. What’s more, almost two billion dollars is being spent on a brand new fast transit train line which is being constructed to link Vancouver airport with Richmond, the city centre and the athlete’s village in False Creek – and this transit line has already had a very positive effect on the commercial property market in Greater Vancouver.
The transit line makes certain areas of the city far more accessible now and as a result commercial activity in the West Broadway area in particular is heating up. Companies that are being priced out of the central business district (CBD) are happy to have the opportunity to rent out or buy up real estate and premises in the Broadway corridor now that it is an area of Greater Vancouver so much more accessible than before.
Vacancy rates have dropped dramatically and rental rates have gone up in the last year as demand for light industrial and office space in the Broadway corridor just keeps on increasing. In spite of the increase in rental rates the area is still highly attractive and will remain so because operating costs outside of the CBD are so much more affordable and real estate in this area is now so much more attractive thanks to the Winter Olympics investment into the transit line.
An encouraging knock on effect of the development of this area of Greater Vancouver as a business hub is the fact that retail space is now being constructed in the immediate vicinity to service the greater number of consumers flooding in – this creates more and diverse opportunity for property investors and you could say that the property market in Vancouver is on a positive roll.
But it’s not just the transit line having a positive effect on property prices in Vancouver; all of the massive infrastructure developments for the Winter Olympics will have an incredibly positive knock on effect for property prices. Furthermore, Whistler which is already an incredibly attractive international ski and winter sports resort and which has correspondingly high property prices will gain a global audience when it showcases the superiority of its natural amenities and enhanced facilities in 2010 and this is expected to bring an increase in tourism traffic.
As the resort of Whistler is being made even more accessible to visitors thanks to the Winter Olympics funded upgraded road linking Vancouver, its international airport and Whistler this will have a positive effect on real estate prices going forward and so those who buy in today have a great asset that will derive them an income immediately and generate them a nice increase in underlying capital over the medium term.
In terms of where to buy real estate in Canada and what to invest in, investors need to take a close look at which areas of Vancouver are being positively affected by the 2010 Winter Olympics, where amenities, facilities and infrastructure are being improved upon or added to and then consider whether the benefit will be for commercial or residential interest and purchase property accordingly. In terms of what property to buy in Whistler, anything that will let out to short term tourism traffic will generate the best income potential and be the easiest type of real estate to resell. Bear in mind that those coming for winter sports need to be within very easy reach of slope access as well as close to social amenities.
