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VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation’s $100 million purchase of a prime block of land in West Vancouver is one way to raise money for a nonprofit cause, even though the move major real estate makes sense for other reasons, according to its chairman and CEO.

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VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation, which is Vancouver Coastal Health‘s main fundraising partner, had invested its donors’ money, millions of dollars, in market funds.

But for several years, his plank of directors, which included real estate and investment professionals from companies such as Westbank, Peterson Group, Odlum Brown Ltd., CBRE Group, Larco Investments and Rize Alliance Properties, tapped into the lands and properties of Vancouver, especially as charities across the country face more uncertainty about how to maintain past levels of giving.

“We thought, doesn’t that make more sense? Let’s take the dollars that are donated, invest them in our own real estate which then has a double impact,” said Foundation President and CEO Angela Chapman.

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In late March, the foundation reached an agreement to purchase a 1.4-acre property in the 900 block of West 12th Avenue, which sits right next to VGH’s main campus.

This is a site that includes Windermere, a 14-storey long-term care facility with 207 beds, and a rental apartment building with 26 units over three floors.

The foundation will derive revenue from leasing Windermere to Vancouver Coastal Health, which will operate it as a fully public care facility. All of its 207 long-term care beds will continue to be located near VGH.

There are no current plans to redevelop the rental apartment building, but Chapman said the potential exists in the coming years for plans that get much more allowance for density since the location is so close to the Broadway corridor and the main drag of Oak Street.

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To ensure the company doesn’t trigger tax requirements for the foundation as a nonprofit, any redevelopment should stay within the foundation’s mission to support health care, Chapman said.

The city will require the foundation to replace the existing 26 rental units currently in the three-story building, in any future plans.

“We have to do this. So we’re going to have to come up with a plan. Ideally, we would like to do this as part of our health care support mandate. This could mean different types of healthcare related opportunities for these units on site. We are looking at these different types of options with the city. One of them is the possibility of something like a space for healthcare workers due to its wonderful proximity to campus.

Chapman said there were “incredible challenges” in attracting and retaining nurses and allied health professionals and that this was causing issues for health care, “including delays in surgery etc.”

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