Commercial buildings such as the lower Centre Square Mall, the Gold Range Hotel and the A&W franchise have gone up for sale last month. What is the reason for the influx of commercial buildings going up for sale? Is it a sign of something to come? Yellowknifer asks these questions to owner and broker of Century 21: Prospect Realty, Adrian Bell. He did not seem concerned.
SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 not a sign of much of anything,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淣ormally, a lot of these things change hands without the public ever knowing about it.SA国际影视传媒�
He gave the Nova Plaza as an example, which he said he was apparently involved in selling last year. He also said he was involved in selling Yellowknife Dairies recently, which was also not made public. He said the reason for some commercial buildings not being listed online is because the average purchaser wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 be interested. He attributed the cause of the increase of online listings to his own hands.
SA国际影视传媒淚 think there has been a bit more of an uptick in commercial listings being online, partly because ISA国际影视传媒檓 involved now and thereSA国际影视传媒檚 more of this stuff going through real estate brokerages than before,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
He said that most owners want to pay down their loans, turn a profit, and move on.
SA国际影视传媒淭hatSA国际影视传媒檚 thatSA国际影视传媒檚 the nature of commercial real estate,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
He also said that in some cases, the company that owns the commercial real estate will just move their assets around to another legal entity.
SA国际影视传媒淣ow and then the REITs (real estate investment trusts) just move their assets and then itSA国际影视传媒檒l be a new RIET and you donSA国际影视传媒檛 even really hear about it but they change hands.SA国际影视传媒�
Some years are busier than others for commercial listings, he said.
What are local business owners saying?
Bell said that as a business owner himself and the president of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce (YK Chamber), he does hear what they are saying every now and again.
One of the concerns that Bell said is on the minds of business owners is the impact the closure of the Diavik Diamond Mine will have on the local economy, though the situation is not completely bleak.
SA国际影视传媒淎lthough we have the diamond mine closure on the horizon, weSA国际影视传媒檝e also got the remediation stuff that seems to get bigger and bigger,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淢aybe weSA国际影视传媒檒l weather that change in our economy a little better than we thought we would.SA国际影视传媒�
He was getting mixed messages from businesses about the impact of the pandemic. He said that some of them, particularly ones that rely on tourism, did take a hit during the pandemic but were able to survive because of government subsidies. He said that other businesses thrived through the pandemic.
He said that a struggle that is shared by many business owners are staff shortages, and that the YK Chamber is lobbying for streamlining the processes involved in hiring and to help their members to understand existing processes more.
