POLICY REPORT
REAL ESTATE
Date: April 23, 1996
Dept. File No.: 108
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Manager of Real Estate Services and Director of Legal
Services
SUBJECT: Standing Authority to Execute Various Agreements
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council authorize the Manager, Deputy Manager, or
Supervisor of Negotiations of Real Estate Services to execute
Licence Agreements, Month-to-Month Leases, and Offers to Lease
and Leases where the total rental value is less than $250,000
and the term (including renewal options) is no more than 10
years ("Commercial Lease");
FURTHER THAT the Director of Finance be authorized to approve
the material terms of the Commercial Lease.
B. THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to
execute Statutory Right-of-Way agreements on City-owned land
in favour of B.C. Hydro, where required as a condition of
subdivision approval and for utility purposes only, after
consultation with the General Manager of Engineering Services.
C. THAT Council authorize the General Manager of Corporate
Services or Director of Finance to execute Land Title Office
transfer documents, in addition to the present signing
officers who are the Manager of Real Estate Services, the
Deputy Manager of Real Estate Services and the Supervisor of
Negotiations.
D. THAT Council authorize the Manager of Real Estate Services to
use real estate marketing practices and commission rates, in
accordance with industry standards, when leasing property on a
short-term basis.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Corporate Services RECOMMENDS approval of
A,B,C and D.
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COUNCIL POLICY
Section 190 of the Vancouver Charter authorizes Council to provide for
disposing of any real or personal property of the City by lease or
license when in the Council's opinion such property is not required by
the City, upon such terms and conditions as may be deemed expedient.
The Director of Finance can approve leases and lease renewals, if the
total value is less than $150,000 and the term is no more than
5 years.
Regarding the City's real estate marketing practice, Council resolved in
part on January 17, 1995:
"...the Manager of Real Estate to use marketing practices and real
estate commission rates in accordance with real estate industry
standards for the sale or long-term lease of properties other than
single family residential lots;.."
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to request Council approval:
i) to delegate the signing authority of various routine documents to
designated staff positions, and
ii) to clarify that the City's current real estate marketing practices
and commission rates also apply to short-term leases.
DISCUSSION
Presently, the Director of Finance can approve leases if the total value
is less than $150,000 and the term is no longer than 5 years. While
there is no direct authority, it has been the practice of the Manager of
Real Estate (and formerly the Supervisor of Properties) to execute
month-to-month leases and License Agreements. These precedent documents
have been prepared by the Law Department.
The following changes to existing authorities are proposed.
1. Lease and License Agreements
(Recommendation A refers):
In an attempt to standardize the City's procedures, to provide more
certainty to tenants and to reduce staff time, Real Estate Services
and the Law Department have been working on
standardizing a number of documents which will be updated from
time-to-time. A precedent document (a form of contract
pre-approved by the Law Department) has been prepared for
Month-to-Month leases, Offers to Lease, Commercial Leases and
License Agreements. Prior to negotiating, Real Estate Services
staff request Engineering and Planning clearance on the lease term
and conditions.
Real Estate transactions based on these precedent documents will
not be prepared by the Law Department, so staff feel that it would
be more efficient if the Manager, Deputy Manager or Supervisor of
Negotiations of Real Estate had the authority to execute such
documents. In addition, staff are seeking authority to increase
the total value of the Commercial Lease from $150,000 to $250,000
to reflect today's rental market, noting that the Director of
Finance would still approve all Commercial Leases. Council is
requested to confirm the long standing practice of execution of
License Agreements by the management staff of Real Estate Services.
2. Subdivision Requirement for Utility Statutory Right-of-Way
(Recommendation B refers):
There are situations where the City is required to provide a
statutory right-of-way to B.C. Hydro for utility purposes on
City-owned land, as a condition of subdivision approval.
Currently, Council approval must be granted each time for this
administrative matter. Staff request that the Director of Legal
Services be authorized to execute these agreements on behalf of
Council but only after consultation with the General Manager of
Engineering Services.
3. Land Title Office Transfer Documents
(Recommendation C refers):
The Manager, Deputy Manager, or Supervisor of Negotiations of Real
Estate is authorized to execute Land Title Office transfer
documents. This can cause a delay in processing the documents,
when all of these staff are out of the office on business. This
situation occurs frequently. We therefore recommend that two
additional senior staff be authorized to execute these documents;
the General Manager of Corporate Services and the Director of
Finance.
4. Real Estate Marketing Practice and Commission Rates
(Recommendation D refers):
With the exception of single family lots which are publicly
tendered, Council policy is to sell or long-term lease City
property using industry real estate marketing practices and at
industry commission rates. Staff recommend that the previous
Council resolution be clarified to explicitly include short-term
leases in this policy.
CONCLUSION
We recommend that staff be authorized to execute the documents named in
this report in light of changing market conditions, and to improve
efficiency.
* * * * *
General Manager Report dated April 23, 1996
Date Author Anne Bancroft-Jones
This report has been prepared Phone 7422
in consultation with the
departments listed to the
right, and they concur with its IRTS Number
contents. Concurring Departments
Division Head
Engineering
Date
Director of Legal Services
Date
HP5-6742.COV