As a bare land strata with 21 detached homes across 6.1 acres of land, Taylorwood dealt with difficult obstacles that are not uncommon when trying to sell a bare land strata. Since each home was owned individually, that meant that 21 different owners, linked by common property, had to come together, find alignment, and make decisions as a unified group when it came time to sell the strata. With no formal representation and many different methods at play, the Taylorwood owners were facing the realities of a problem that had plagued them for years: they needed dedicated and experienced representation.
This issue had been showing up for years as they tried to make decisions about common property improvements or upgrades to their homes, but it came to a breaking point when the sale of the bare land strata kept falling through for a period of nine years. In 2017, the Bill 40 strata wind up process was still being developed and had not become law; this meant that 100% of the owners needed to decide and move in the same direction. The Strata Council selected Klein Group from five potential commercial real estate brokerages to push the sale forward because we illustrated our knowledge of the municipality, potential solutions to issues they had faced, commitment to the owners’ best interests and putting unity at the forefront of the process.
Over nine years, there were three failed attempts to sell Taylorwood because any other brokerages involved were representing the developers’ interests, leaving the owners with no support, guidance or market insights. There was never a competitive bid process and instead, developers came forward with excruciatingly low offers or terms and conditions that were very one sided.
Our experience with land redevelopment and strata assemblies gave us the insight we needed to move forward; it was about bringing the owners together and fighting for what they deserved more than anything else. The Strata Council saw our comprehensive plan and felt that our starting points of a thorough risk assessment and the creation of a legal team to defend Taylorwood Place’s best interests were what this sale needed. By understanding the needs of Taylorwood Place on a collective and individual level, the Klein team was able to avoid common pitfalls that the owners had seen time and time again throughout their nine-year journey.
Once our strategy was aligned and everyone involved was working as a unit, the Klein Group completed a multi-scenario proforma analysis for detached homes, apartments, townhouses, and mixed dwellings to showcase the potential of this bare land strata with various density options, based on the current zoning and local precedent. Then, an architect and the district planner assessed the property to provide input on the available building options. With our analysis ready, we nailed down our implementation strategy for the sale to include:
Having led many complicated sales prior to Taylorwood Place, Eugen Klein and Dean Thomas knew what was needed for success and moved the team in the right direction, stating, “Our vision for Taylorwood Place was to provide a strategy and project management system that would effectively deal with all the legal, financial and real estate related frameworks. To do that, experienced, proactive and creative professionals were needed to represent the sellers’ best interests and provide value from start to finish. Land development can be extremely complicated and community stakeholders can affect land values and timing expectations as the process unfolds. Owners need a team beyond the brokerage, that we provided, who could help mitigate those risks and work with the ownership group to ensure their interests are maximized.”
After a grueling nine years, the Taylorwood Place strata owners were able to see phenomenal progress just a few months after working with Klein Group. We marketed the property to more than 80 different local and international developers, some of whom were interested in the property ‘as is,’ while others were interested only with time allowed for a full rezoning.
After assessing the final three offers, all above market and without conditions to financing, the strata voted on the direction to conclude the final sale and close within one year of the contract acceptance. As part of our service offering, Klein Group was also able to co-ordinate, provide market information and property specifics, negotiate and complete over 60% of the relocation services for owners locally and to other areas of BC post sale.
