Loonie deal: City of Vancouver may resell portions of Arbutus corridor for $1

For $1, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) can get back portions of the Arbutus rail corridor in Vancouver.

These are lands on the east side of Fir Street between West 1^stand West 5^th avenues.

Before the City of Vancouver bought the nine-kilometre rail corridor from CPR in 2016, it determined that these properties will be of no use for its planned greenway.

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As Susan Haid, city assistant director of planning for Vancouver South, recalls in a report to council, there are “engineering and safety constraints” regarding the utilization of these so-called “Option Lands”.

In the purchase agreement between the city and CPR, Article 11 stipulates that if these properties, which have a total combined area of 0.62 hectare, are removed from Arbutus Corridor Official Development Plan, CPR will have the option to buy back the lands for $1.