General Vancouver Updates

[s211]

Originally Posted by djh

The release says we're still at least 10 months away from any more details. So does this mean they are still working on the designs? If you already have the plans and renderings, why the 10 month wait?

Can you at least tell us, are we looking at interesting architecture, or more of the same?

Conceptual designs were already circulated a few years ago. There were a few WTFs, IIRC. Lots of "trying too hard".

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Why are you guys thinking condos? You should be thinking office!



I dont think hed will find it too interesting, but it is well designed imo. Lots of curtain wall and wood accenting.



It is both sides of the bridge, one tower just to the NE of the ugly green building on the north side of Burrard/Cornwall and the rest along Penyfarthing Dr and into that empty triangle shaped property.

The nice thing is it looks like there will be an effort to better connect the land south and north of the bridge through public space and an upgraded seawall.

I was thinking a few months ago that the abandoned CPR tracks that curve beside Pennyfarthing Dr. would be the right alignment for a streetcar / tram / lrt to begin its dive under False Creek towards Burrard Street, and then continue north as a subway under Burrard St. from False Creek to the Convention Centre. The tunnel portal could be where Pennyfarthing Dr., 1st Ave, and Fir St. meet, and the tracks can then continue south to the abandoned Arbutus Corridor, and east to connect with the Olympic Demonstration tracks that are part of the planned Downtown Streetcar system.

It would be a shame to lose this opportunity to have a future connection from South False Creek to downtown using Burrard St. Perhaps a tunnel and station could be incorporated into this development, or it could be built so that space for a station & tunnel portal is set aside as a later addition to the site.

[Prometheus]

Here is the latest photo from Global Air Photos which covers the area under discussion:



http://www.globalairphotos.com/image...h2010_0132.jpg

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by jlousa

you'd be closer if you guess a large drug store at the 2300.

sounds like a London Drugs.....and one would go perfect in that area for sure

[SpongeG]

they could shut down the crappy one in collingwood

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Here is the latest photo from Global Air Photos which covers the area under discussion:



http://www.globalairphotos.com/image...h2010_0132.jpg

Unbelievable that tour buses are banned from those streets.

[SpongeG]

its a pretty tight area

and who really goes to the museum anyway? lol

[SpikePhanta]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

its a pretty tight area

and who really goes to the museum anyway? lol

School trips?


I remember a couple years ago(5years) in grade 4 we went there but had to go by parents driving since school buses wern't allowed to go there. Which I find pretty stupid.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by bils

not sure if this has been posted, if so, i apologize!

http://www.700west8th.com/

Thanks for posting.

It always amazes me how a 1300 sq ft condo can have a living dining area the same size as a 1 bedroom suite.

Maybe there should be a separate thread?

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

its a pretty tight area

and who really goes to the museum anyway? lol

It's just a few blocks into the neighbourhood, into the MOV/Space Museum and the Maritime Museum. There was a dip in attendance when the neighbourhood banned buses.

And really, this part of Vancouver should be quite a bit denser considering how close it is to Downtown.

[flight_from_kamakura]

wow, from the air, that park looks like a real piece of shit. nominal greenspace, grossly excessive parking, like ~15% dedicated to asphalt walking trails. i realize the northern portion fall is squamish, so one imagines that the land has just sort of sat there as the courts figured it all out, but still, it's pretty bad. also, man, hope we don't lose that little forest.

as for the tour buses, with the massive quantities of parking just down the road at kits beach, is this really an issue? i love the beachiness of that little kits point hood, reminds me of california, and i've had some pretty wild nights in that particular square km (paradoxically, maybe). and i can totally see being annoyed with diesel-belching tour buses full of fools taking pictures of me and my apartment. so i say, let's protect the integrity there.

but actively opposing a tram line going in there? it's inconceivable to me. high percentage of renters looking for convenience + owners looking for increased rental income = no prob. so all of this should get sorted one way or another with this new development, one hopes. with 3/4 of the streetcar alignment already in there from olympic station over, it's hard to imagine the city not pushing for at least preservation in view of a future line. having and those nodes (main street station, olympic station, yaletown station, waterfront station) on a tram link to kits beach via granville island, you have to imagine some planner rubbing his hands together, or staying up at night or whatever...

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by flight_from_kamakura

wow, from the air, that park looks like a real piece of shit. nominal greenspace, grossly excessive parking, like ~15% dedicated to asphalt walking trails. i realize the northern portion fall is squamish, so one imagines that the land has just sort of sat there as the courts figured it all out, but still, it's pretty bad. also, man, hope we don't lose that little forest...

Grossly excessive parking?! Ever been there during the Childrens Festival or Bard on the Beach?

Its outageous that there are no checks on First Nations projects that are plonked right down in the middle of a city. The City should withhold water and sewer connections until they get right of approval for what goes on there. On the bright side, I'm sure Kits Point residents are having a sh!t fit about the prospect of thousands of more cars using "their" roads.

The aerial reminds of what a bad rap the "green monster" at the West end of the Burrard Bridge gets on this board. Repaint it and it would be OK. From the air you can tell that it was first envisioned to be a hotel, a la the Ilikai in Waikiki:
http://www.wizardpub.com/media/or-ilikai.jpg

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Grossly excessive parking?! Ever been there during the Childrens Festival or Bard on the Beach?

Its outageous that there are no checks on First Nations projects that are plonked right down in the middle of a city. The City should withhold water and sewer connections until they get right of approval for what goes on there. On the bright side, I'm sure Kits Point residents are having a sh!t fit about the prospect of thousands of more cars using "their" roads.

The aerial reminds of what a bad rap the "green monster" at the West end of the Burrard Bridge gets on this board. Repaint it and it would be OK. From the air you can tell that it was first envisioned to be a hotel, a la the Ilikai in Waikiki:
http://www.wizardpub.com/media/or-ilikai.jpg

Love staying at the Ilikai whenever I'm in Waikiki.

I was there in 2004 for the 40th Anniversary of the tower, and met an elderly couple from Seattle who had been vacationing at the Ilikai for over 50 years. I asked how that was possible if the tower was only 40 years old, and he explained that before the tower was built there were actually huts on the beach that were rented out by the week. Every few years after getting married they took a trip to Hawaii, but one year they arrived to find the huts on the beach had been torn down to start construction of the Ilikai Tower. The husband was so impressed by the picture of the tower on the sales brochure, he bought an apartment based on the blueprints, but didn't tell his wife until the night before they went home.

She was FURIOUS! "you BOUGHT an apartment we'll only be using a few weeks of the year, in a building that ISN'T EVEN BUILT YET?!??!" On the flight back to Seattle, she worried herself sick wondering "where do we find $19 every month in the family budget to pay the mortgage for that place in Hawaii we'll hardly ever use?"

They were laughing while reminiscing, because they were retired and spent their winters at the Ilikai, and rented out the Ilikai apartment when nobody in the family was using it.

The husband whispered to me "Nowadays, the waiter's tip for a meal or drinks is more than what our monthly mortgage was"

[flight_from_kamakura]

DUDE! i write this from a room on the 10th floor of ilikai tower, looking out over the little marina! like right as i type this. funny.

the green monster is a pretty cool design, i even like the color. what it lacks, imo, is a bunch of neighbors.

[officedweller]

Of interest, 1945 shot of Vanier Park area:

Oblique view. Photograph shows Kitsilano swimming pool, Kits Point and the R.C.A.F. Equipment Depot.

http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/archive...ub1/A23415.jpg

Note the building at Kits Beach that's probably bigger than the controversial Watermark restaurant building.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by SpikePhanta

School trips?


I remember a couple years ago(5years) in grade 4 we went there but had to go by parents driving since school buses wern't allowed to go there. Which I find pretty stupid.

i was being sarcastic - stupid millio9anaires in their exclusive enclave - they really do staree at you if they see you walking around their hood

[sacrifice333]

^I've never felt out of place walking around Kits Point... but it is a pretty quiet neighbourhood.

On another note... Emery Barnes is coming along very nicely... looked like a bunch of grass had been laid and the various features are looking really great!

[SFUVancouver]

BC Cancer Agency Cyclotron

Taken by SFUVancouver, May 19th, 2010.

BC Cancer Agency Cyclotron

Taken by SFUVancouver, May 19th, 2010.

Robert H No Research Centre

Taken by SFUVancouver, May 19th, 2010.

Spruce

Taken by SFUVancouver, May 19th, 2010.

Broadway and Alder tower

Taken by SFUVancouver, May 19th, 2010.

700 West 8th

Taken by SFUVancouver, May 19th, 2010.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by mr.x

So, it's the big wooded lot plus the big parking lot at the Coast Guard station just west of the bridge and the big storage lot (it was used by VANOC for vehicle storage) north of the brewery and east of the bridge?

Sound's incredibly promising, thanks for the info.

No its not the big wooded lot, the bulk of the project is S of Burrard along Pennyfarthing. The N side of the project will only be in the lot directly NE of the green building.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Of interest, 1945 shot of Vanier Park area:

Oblique view. Photograph shows Kitsilano swimming pool, Kits Point and the R.C.A.F. Equipment Depot.
...
http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/archive...ub1/A23415.jpg

Note the building at Kits Beach that's probably bigger than the controversial Watermark restaurant building.

did anyone else notice the trolly tracks cutting through Kits Point & the loop right at the beach?