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President Don Forsgren is clearly excited about the year ahead – with no small reason. With projects ready to launch in Burnaby and Toronto, and more on the books for later in the year, 2012 is looking very bright.

A tale of two megacities…

Timing couldn’t be better for this edition of EXTRA as we are on the verge of launching two truly exceptional projects. And while they are both residential towers, they are very different from one another.

The first is Silver. If you’ve read previous issues of EXTRA, then you probably already know something about this modern 38-storey tower situated in Burnaby’s Metrotown area. It will mark our continued commitment to the transformation of Beresford Street and the surrounding neighbourhood. Silver follows on our highly successful sell out of MetroPlace.

Construction is well under way for MetroPlace – a 46-storey icon that is the first of three towers planned to help transform Beresford Street and the

Maywood community in Burnaby. It will be well out of the ground this year with anticipated completion in 2014.

The second building about to launch is The Massey Tower. It’s a new venture for us in the Toronto market with partners MOD Developments and Tricon.

The Massey Tower is located next to the famous Massey Hall – the venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The Massey Tower will be 60-storeys of mixed use located across from the landmark Eaton Centre on the corner of Yonge and Queen Streets. It’s the focus of our project feature in this issue, so be sure to read on.

(continued…)

Intracorp – Building the Extraordinary

Two megacities continued

Overall, there is a very good book of business planned for Intracorp. We are active in Burnaby, Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, as well as Toronto and we anticipate launching more than 1500 residential units in pre-construction sales before the end of 2012.

Included is a 548-home community at Cambie and Marine in Vancouver. It is a prime example of our strong belief in transit-oriented communities. And while the majority of the development will be market condominiums, there will also be more than 100 market rental suites.

We have another project in the North Shore to bring to market; an anticipated launch of our third new tower in Metrotown in the fall; and we are working with the City of Richmond to bring to fruition a new project in the Richmond Oval Village neighbourhood.

Much of this growth and progress are as a result of streamlining our internal processes so that we are now in a position to focus on truly great execution. In real ways, this gives meaning to our company’s philosophy of “Building the Extraordinary”. Rather than just a company slogan, it is a promise to our customers and partners – and a rallying cry for our team.

‘Extraordinary’ is our benchmark. That attitude and commitment is ingrained in all that we do. We look forward to demonstrating this in 2012 and beyond.

Best regards,
Don Forsgren
Don Forsgren, President

Silver - by Intracorp

Ben West’s mom grew up on a floating log camp. His great grandfather was a lighthouse keeper. And, Ben spent his summers as a harbour master. It seems a pretty far cry from heading up two of the coolest technology companies in BC.

INTERVIEW: Ben West – Big Green and Xomo

From somewhat unexpected beginnings as a harbour master, Ben West has gone on to create some of the most interesting new technology companies in Canada. And now, he and his partners are poised to go ‘intergalactic’.

First, with some friends, Ben created stockhouse.com – at the time, a revolutionary portal site to track stock performance and perhaps the first to incorporate a discussion forum. After the dot com bubble burst in 2001, he took some time to decide what he really wanted to do.

It turned out that he wanted to create a “techies first” company where staff were allowed and encouraged to explore the boundaries and develop new solutions. It would be a place where they were

recognized and rewarded – that didn’t see the techies stuck in a dark room and out of sight. So, in 2004 Big Green Technical Solutions was born.

This led to his first 3D rendering opportunity – and being the sort of fellow who doesn’t like to fail, he engaged three different renderers to do the same illustration for his first client. He then chose the best of the three to present to his client, knowing it would cost him more than he could sell it to his client for, but that wasn’t the goal. The goal was to deliver the best.

Soon, real estate developers sought them out and Big Green became the largest provider of 3D renderings in western Canada. This led to interactive touch-screen experiences like you’ll see

in the presentation centre at Silver, and all sorts of rich, immersive experiences for new home buyers in the Lower Mainland and beyond.

In 2008, two important things converged: Ben had one of the first iPhones in town and his longtime friend Jeff Sinclair was consulting with VANOC for the upcoming 2010 winter games. Ben suggested they create an app for the games, so Jeff became a partner in Big Green and the two of them formed a new company called XOMO – specifically to develop eventrelated apps for smart phones.

Their first event app was for the 2009 Vancouver Jazz Festival – which helped serve as a case study for VANOC’s app developed for the winter games. And then, it snowballed.

XOMO has since created event apps for South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Vodaphone events in the UK, Super Bowl for ESPN, and are now working on one for the 2012 summer games in London, England.

Given that they have grown to have a global presence, they have decided to change their name from Big Green to Intergalactic. As Ben says, Big Green is a digital agency with a nerd core.

Big Green will still continue to push the envelope for more enriched experiences for new home buyers. We’re pleased that they are a part of the Silver team, and think that you’ll be excited by what they have created for you to experience.

Intracorp partners with MOD Developments of Toronto and Tricon to bring The Massey Tower – a 60-storey mixed-use tower on Yonge Street in the celebrated Theatre Block in downtown Toronto.

The Massey Tower

Massey Tower - Toronto

Designed by the renowned architectural firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, past winners of the coveted Governor General’s Medal for architectural excellence, the proposed 60-storey mixed-use project will include street level retail, an above-

grade automated parking garage and almost 700 residential homes.

Currently on the site is the historically designated Canadian Bank of Commerce Building. Originally designed by Darling & Pearson

Architects in 1905, ERA Architects will oversee the restoration of the four-storey portion of the bank, which will become the front entrance and street-level presence of the 60-storey tower behind the historic landmark.

A portion of the site connects to Victoria Street, which will be donated to Massey Hall, enhancing the neighbourhood even further.

“The proposed gift of this key portion of land at the south of Massey Hall is an incredibly exciting development for the Hall and for the city of Toronto,” said Charles Cutts, President and CEO of the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall. “It presents us with multiple options to revitalize Massey Hall and we’ll be studying them closely in the coming months.”

The location is ideal for a residential development, with the Queen Street subway station steps away, world-class shopping at the Eaton Centre across the street, and the Financial District and Ryerson University nearby.

“This is a win-win situation for everyone,” says Gary Switzer, President and CEO of MOD. “Massey Hall will expand their facility, MOD will breathe new life into a downtown landmark, and the purchasers in this exciting new tower will experience the energy and excitement of downtown living within one of the most architecturally innovative complexes to grace the skyline in recent years.”

MOD Developments has brought together an impressive ensemble of talent to work on The Massey Tower. It’s a team (continued…)

Massey Tower – Toronto

that they’ve used before successfully, and some of the players are familiar to the Vancouver market as well.

The interior design for The Massey Tower is inspired by the ongoing legacy of Massey Hall. This centuryold eclecticism will be expressed in a melody of forms, volumes, materials and colours, harmonizing diverse styles from past and present.

The Massey Tower brings together an award-winning team that includes interior-design consulting firm Cecconi Simone Inc., previous collaborators on such projects as Uno and Centrepoint with Intracorp in Vancouver and Five Condominiums with MOD in Toronto.

The interiors will be a perfect counterpoint to the juxtaposition of historic and modern architecture that will be seen from the street.

With the rich history of the iconic Massey Hall to draw inspiration from, it’s no small wonder that the team settled on the positioning line, “Live on Yonge” – and however one pronounces “live” you get a sense of connection to the richness of life here.

Massey Conductor

Built in 1894, Massey Hall has been a premier performing arts venue in Toronto for more than a century. Many famous figures have appeared on the broad stage of this stately hall, including William Booth, Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Winston Churchill, George Gershwin, Glenn Gould, the Dalai Lama, Gordon Lightfoot, Luciano Pavarotti, Neil Young, Oscar Peterson, Arturo Toscanini and Rush.

It was the site of the legendary Charlie Parker-Dizzy Gillespie concert, recorded as Jazz at Massey Hall, in May 1953. Accompanying Gillespie and Parker in this acoustically sound hall were Bud Powell, Max Roach and Charles Mingus. And the music still echoes and moves us. The Massey Tower. Live on Yonge.

If you’d like to know more about this exciting new iconic Toronto project, sign up here for updates and announcements.

Massey Rendering

Where do you want to live? Close to shopping? Transit? Schools? Whether it’s the North Shore, Richmond, Burnaby or even downtown Toronto, every community has something unique to offer. And Intracorp has a residential development to suit your locational desires.

Location. Location. Location.

You may have heard of – or even used – the interactive website called Walk Score®. Walkscore.com is a great site that allows you to see what’s in your potentially new neighbourhood.

Essentially, Walk Score® maps out everything that’s in your neighbourhood and gives you a score out of 100, rating how walkable your community is.

For example, The Versatile Building is located at 3rd and Lonsdale in North Vancouver, and it receives a score of 98! That’s what they call a Walker’s Paradise. Then, the site goes on to list the things that are close, ranked in order of proximity. Categories such as Restaurants – which for The Versatile Building really is paradise. There are more than 15 restaurants within less than half a kilometer, in addition

to grocery stores, schools, parks and pubs. And, of course, The Versatile Building is also a couple of blocks from the SeaBus terminal which takes you to downtown Vancouver. There you can work, study or find an additional plethora of shops and restaurants.

All communities are not created equal,

Walkscore

but you will see from these scores that all of our current and upcoming projects are in areas that are already well serviced. And the promise of more services will only see them get better over time. So, let’s look at a couple more.

How about downtown Toronto? Not surprisingly, The Massey Tower location also gets a Walk Score® of 98 and a perfect transit score of 100. But, it might please you to know that some of the country’s best colleges are within walking distance. Ontario College of Art and Design. Ryerson College. Canada’s National Ballet School. Not to mention the shopping, pubs, restaurants

and entertainment that are literally at its doorstep. There’s Massey Hall (of course), Eaton Centre and all of the great places along Queen Street including the legendary Horseshoe Tavern.

Our new project in Metrotown – Silver – scores a 97. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Silver is just 200 metres from the 300 shops of Metropolis at Metrotown. And, with the SkyTrain station 120 metres away, it’s pretty easy to see how this great location gets such high marks.

So, wherever you’re looking to move to, the old adage “Location. Location. Location.” is more true than ever. And, now it’s measurable thanks to Walk Score®. Check out your potential new community for all it has to offer at www.walkscore.com

Once again, we spoke with Tony Kaleel, Intracorp’s Vice President of Acquisitions to help us better understand BC`s Lower Mainland real estate market. And this time, he even gave us a visual aid.

Real Estate Roundup

As Tony Kaleel explains it, one has to look at the real estate market – and all places where money goes – in a global context. Money doesn’t disappear. It moves. It gets shifted from all over the world to places that are perceived to be safe. Metro Vancouver real estate is on a very short list of places thought to be safe havens in this uncertain world.

For example, in the past five years, apartment resale values are up 15.5%* in Burnaby South.

In absolute terms, the benchmark price for a condominium apartment in Burnaby South was $373,300* in January 2012. That’s where our new development Silver is located – where you can find more than 100 homes priced below the current benchmark price.

There’s more good news. When you look at the five year trend, you can see that while prices have risen, they are really quite metered in their growth. You’ll also see that prices have fully recovered from the 2008 downturn.

The five-year trends are similar for apartments in other communities:

North Vancouver: Up 9%*
Richmond: Up 14.6%*
Vancouver West: Up 16.8%*

In fact, in all of the communities where we have new residential developments on the go, the trends are performing above the Greater Vancouver averages. Meanwhile, in Toronto 2011 was a record year for the new condominium market in the CMA (census metropolitan area) – a total 28,190 homes sold,

which beat the previous record set in 2007 by 24%. The average sold index price in the Toronto CMA in Q4-2011 was $509 psf, up 8.2% over Q4-2010 ($471 psf).

In the past 5 years, sales in the downtown Toronto core for new developments have risen 113% with an

average annual increase of 10.6%.** This bodes well for those who choose to buy a home at The Massey Tower.

Clearly, the long term trend is for values to go up. That’s why Tony believes that the best option for buyers is right now.

House Price Index: Vancouver vs. Burnaby

CURRENT AFFAIRS – All of the projects that are new and upcoming from Intracorp

The Versatile Building
North Vancouver, BC

Now Selling

The Versatile Building

The Versatile Building is at the heart of Lower Lonsdale, located on the corner of 3rd and Lonsdale. The wood frame building will consist of 4 floors of 62 residential homes, with a complimentary mixed-use component on the ground floor. Design will be reminiscent of Yaletown with heritage detail and brick accents, mixed with modern details. Construction started February 2012 with anticipated completion in August, 2013.

MetroPlace
Burnaby, BC

Sold Out

MetroPlace

MetroPlace is the new standard for urban sophistication. At 46 storeys of glass and concrete at the corner of Beresford Street and Telford Avenue, it will be instantly recognizable as one of the highest buildings in Burnaby. MetroPlace will set a new standard for Town Centre development in Burnaby’s newest community and become a focal point for public events. Currently under construction, MetroPlace is anticipated to complete Fall 2014.

Silver
Burnaby, BC

Coming Early 2012

Silver

Silver will be Intracorp’s second residential tower continuing in the transformation of Beresford Street into Burnaby’s newest “great street”. The sleek and modern tower with clean edges rises 38 storeys and will be located at the corner of Silver Avenue and Beresford Street. Silver will incorporate ground oriented retail spaces, providing a human scale and promoting a pedestrian friendly community building upon the municipality’s “town centre” vision.

Cambie & Marine
Vancouver, BC

Coming Fall 2012

Cambie & Marine

Located between 64th Avenue, Cambie Street and Marine Drive, Cambie & Marine is a sustainable project that encourages the use of transit, walking, biking and Co-op cars, while reducing the reliance on the automobile. With two towers and attached podiums with residential, retail and rental units, Cambie & Marine is an affordable, mixed use development. To be built to a LEED® environmental standard.

221 East 3rd
North Vancouver, BC

Coming Soon

221 East 3rd

221 East 3rd follows a west coast style defined by strong horizontal lines, large windows and generous decks and balconies. This wood frame building will consist of 6 floors of 104 homes. Located on the south east corner of 3rd Street and St. George, 221 East 3rd is within 5-10 mins walk to the pedestrian friendly neighbourhood of Lower Lonsdale.

The Massey Tower
Toronto, ON

Coming Soon

The Massey Tower

We’ve all got a song that speaks to our soul. One that makes us smile. One that makes us cry. One that makes us want to get out of our seat and dance til sunrise. Life at The Massey Tower hits that same sweet note. Register today and write the soundtrack to your new life.

He shoots. You score! – Rivalries are the stuff contests are made of. Toronto? Vancouver? Either way you win.

Pick a team. Any team.

NHL playoff season is just about upon us. Who will make the playoffs is anybody’s guess (unless you actually happen to follow and are a wizard statistician) in which case you might really know. But, this little game is designed to level the rink, and a chance of winning a fabulous prize. Not Lord Stanley’s Cup. But pretty good.

Just click below to see how easy it is to enter.

Enter

It’s so easy. Just submit your choices and be eligible to win a Ticketmaster gift card to attend the home game of your choice. We’ll hold a random draw for the winners.

Contest rules.

Official Contest Rules

  • Entrants must be at least 19 years old and live within Canada and the USA.
  • No purchase is necessary. No skill testing question required to answer.
  • Entrants can participate more than once, with only 1 entry per day.

Contest closes April 1, 2012.

Hockey Contest

Last issue’s Oscar movie contest winners:
1st prize worth $100 (dinner and a movie for 2) – Ms. R. Yee, Burnaby
2nd prize worth $50 (popcorn and movie for 2) – Mr. A. Kursar, South Surrey
3rd prize worth $25 (movie for 2) – Mr. G. Chan, Vancouver

Reach out… and touch your send button.

Vancouver

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Write, call or email us

Intracorp Projects Ltd.

900-666 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC
V6C 2X8

Phone: (604) 801-7000

EXTRA is published four times a year by Intracorp Projects Ltd. If you have an idea for an article or would like to share your thoughts with us, then send us an email at vancouver@intracorp.ca

We hope that you have found this magazine useful… or at least entertaining.

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Interested in knowing more about upcoming Intracorp projects? Just CLICK HERE and you’ll be taken to our online registration form.

Watch for the next issue June 15.

Intracorp

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