'No showing of property at seller's request': Land value behind $10.5M listing for Vancouver teardown

A modest, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home on Vancouver's west side is currently listed for sale for more than $10 million, but prospective buyers aren't allowed to take a look inside.

"No showing of property at seller's request as it is being sold for land value only," reads the listing for 448 W. 41st Ave. 

It's being pitched as a "prime and fantastic development/holding property" in Vancouver's rapidly developing Oakridge neighbourhood, which is designated as a "municipal town centre" in the city's Cambie Corridor Plan. 

The centrepiece of the "town centre" is the massive and ongoing redevelopment of Oakridge mall, which is just a block away from the listed property.

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Numerous other redevelopment projects are also in progress in the area, including on either side of the property in question.

Any buyer looking to redevelop the home would need to first get the land rezoned, as the city's zoning map shows it and numerous other properties in the area are still zoned RS-1, meaning the only thing that can be built on them without approval from Vancouver City Council is a single-family detached home. 

The city's rezoning policy for the property, however, indicates that council will consider changing the zoning to allow a tower of up to 18 storeys on the 680-square-metre (7,300-square-foot) site. 

That redevelopment potential is the likely reason for the sky-high asking price. 

Listing agent Cynthina Lo told CTV News the property is far from the only one on the market in the neighbourhood with similar redevelopment potential and a similar price.

Properties two blocks away at 5629, 5609 and 5583 Ash St. all have similar lot sizes and 18-storey-tower development potential. Each one is being offered for $10.5 million. 

Other nearby properties have the potential to be redeveloped into smaller multi-unit buildings and are being offered for sale for upwards of $7 million. 

"My client is not asking high," Lo said. 

For its part, BC Assessment values the home at $2,724,400, well below the $10.5-million asking price. This reflects the fact that the property is subject to an exemption under section 19(8) of the Assessment Act, which allows properties to be assessed based on their current use, rather than their development potential.

To qualify for a section 19(8) exemption, a homeowner must have lived on the property continuously for the last 10 years, and must reapply for the exemption annually.

The vast majority of the property's assessed value comes from the land. The existing building on the site is assessed at just $34,400.