Real Estate

Big Fat Deal: $5.7 Million for a Keefer Street Penthouse

BCLiving takes you inside one of the most outrageously upmarket real estate offerings in the province 

By Renata Triveri /


































BCLiving takes you inside one of the most outrageously upmarket real estate offerings in the province

Address: 50 – 133 Keefer Street, Vancouver
Price: $5,688,000
MLS: R2087602
 
The skinny: Two-bedroom, two-bath, 2,181-square-foot penthouse with 3,000-square-foot patio and rooftop pool.
 
The bling: Fancy a piece of Hollywood North? Here’s your chance. Originally constructed in 1907 for the Vancouver Gas Company, the long-derelict Keefer building was fully renovated as condos in 2010—just in time for the world economy to hit the skids. Hastily reimagined as a boutique suite-hotel, it quickly drew a guest list that was decidedly A-list. With its wall-to-wall artworks by the developer’s famous chum Douglas Coupland and its swanky pool (whose floor forms part of the penthouse roof—better than TV, right?), it’s not hard to imagine the likes of Clive Owen (reportedly once a resident) here at the end of a hard day, chilling out with a glass of chilled Pouilly-Fuissé and staring out at the rooftops of the city… But those halcyon days are over, and now—with the market fully revved and out of control—the Keefer is ready to cash in its premium Airbnb chips and sell up. You can take one floor (this one, natch), or you can take them all. Yes, really—add the 2,500-square-foot unit below and the upscale bar/restaurant on the ground floor (hello: room service!), and the entire building is yours for a cool $16 million. Just imagine, you’ve spent the evening in Tinseltown (sorry, International Village), and you bring your date home and say, “Clive Owen slept here.” Priceless.
 
The hidden extras: Car lift for two cars, hot tub, pool, silent electric blinds and oh, yes: no property taxes for eight years. Let me say that again: no property taxes for eight years. Just don’t tell the neighbours.