Receivership clouds new Vancouver office building, but construction presses ahead | Daily Hive

Construction presses on at near-complete Vancouver office building despite receivership

Construction progress on the Nexus office building at 220 Prior St., Vancouver, as of Sept. 8, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

There is a degree of uncertainty over the future of a new mid-rise office building at the northwest corner of Vancouver’s False Creek Flats, but local developer Keltic Development says construction on the near-complete building is still moving ahead despite financing setbacks and the project’s receivership.

This is the project to build Nexus, a 10-storey office building with 100,000 sq. ft. of medical and research office space — situated at 220 Prior St., located immediately north of the future St. Paul’s Hospital campus, just south of the eastern end of the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts and the historic Chinatown district, and roughly a five-minute walk north from SkyTrain’s Main Street-Science World Station.

As reported by Daily Hive Urbanized in January 2025, U.S.-based medical technology company Masimo cancelled its plans to expand into Vancouver and occupy Keltic’s entire office building. At the time, construction had already advanced to the concrete pour of the seventh-floor slab, and the developer had quickly shifted its focus to securing new tenants.

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Upon inquiry, a spokesperson for Keltic told Daily Hive Urbanized last week that Masimo’s decision to withdraw from its purchase commitment led to “immediate and material impacts” on the project’s construction financing, which ultimately triggered the receivership process.

Very few sizeable new office buildings have begun construction in Metro Vancouver since the pandemic’s onset, with Nexus being among less than a handful. However, construction only moved forward on Nexus after Masimo signed on in 2022, a commitment that enabled the project’s groundbreaking that summer.

nexus 220 prior street vancouver office building keltic construction september 8 2025

Construction progress on the Nexus office building at 220 Prior St., Vancouver, as of Sept. 11, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Construction progress on the Nexus office building at 220 Prior St., Vancouver, as of Sept. 8, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

After Maismo retreated, Keltic’s lender — Shape Capital, the subsidiary of Shape Properties (the developer and owner of The Amazing Brentwood and the City of Lougheed) that provides other developers and builders with construction loans — subsequently reduced the loan facility from $85 million to $65 million, required an immediate $10 million paydown on the outstanding balance, and directed the developer to self-fund the project during this period. The receivership process was triggered by Shape Capital in August 2025.

“Contrary to recent reports, Keltic has met the required initial equity obligations,” said the spokesperson.

Strategically located next to the future St. Paul’s Hospital campus, Keltic first acquired the site for its development potential in 2021. The developer says it has already invested more than $20 million in equity for land acquisition, design, applications, and soil remediation.

“These circumstances placed additional pressure on project cash flow. Keltic, like many in the real estate industry, is facing a difficult environment shaped by external market and financing conditions,” the spokesperson told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“We remain committed to acting responsibly, transparently, and in good faith, and continue to believe the real estate sector needs constructive support from government, financial partners, and professional services to move projects forward successfully.”

So far, they have completed three office unit sales on the sixth floor of Nexus. However, one of these sales was rescinded following the project entering receivership. Currently, there are also five letters of intent in the signing process and another six units under “positive discussion,” however the negotiations have been impacted by the receivership process.

Commercial real estate firm CBRE is also actively marketing the project’s leasing opportunities.

Construction progress on the Nexus office building at 220 Prior St., Vancouver, as of Sept. 8, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Upon inquiry, the spokesperson told Daily Hive Urbanized that construction at the site is still ongoing, as both Keltic and Shape Capital determined that completing the building, which is already mostly finished, remains the best way to minimize the losses.

“After Keltic funded the project in January and February, Shape has continued to fund work through at least July, and Syncra (the contractor) has moved forward on that basis,” they said.

As of last week, the construction site remained visibly highly active, with the glass facade largely complete and interior work underway. Local architectural firm Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership designed the project.

In addition to the premium AAA-class office space, and although it was originally positioned for medical research uses, this building also has space that can be used for creative/light industrial uses and ground-level retail/restaurant units.

nexus keltic development 220 prior street vancouver

Site of Nexus at 220 Prior St., Vancouver. (Keltic Development)

Currently, Vancouver’s office space demand remains relatively weak from the continued impacts of semi-remote work, and overall economic challenges both domestically and globally.

However, over the longer term, commercial real estate analysts anticipate a resurgence in office space demand in the immediate area — buoyed by the immense need for clinic and research space to support the future St. Paul’s Hospital campus.

Providence Health Care’s new $2.8-billion hospital building — a major provincial-level hospital with specialized services and research and teaching programs — is expected to reach completion and open in 2027, with its operations slowly ramping up from the gradual relocation of staff, services, and patients from the existing West End hospital campus.

In 2025, Providence Health Care began construction on the second building of the St. Paul’s Hospital campus — a 12-storey building with 370,000. sq. ft. of clinic, medical, and research office space, such as physician practices to complement hospital care. This $638-million Clinical Support and Research Centre building is expected to reach completion in 2028.

new st pauls hospital csrc building construction september 8 2025

Construction progress on the new St. Paul’s Hospital building (right) and Clinical Support and Research Centre building (left), as of Sept. 8, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Construction progress on the new St. Paul’s Hospital building (left) and Clinical Support and Research Centre building (right), as of Sept. 8, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

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