800 Granville Street | 137.5m | 42, 38 fl | Proposed

[officedweller]

The other Bonnis project closer to Nelson would have more impact if it had retained more retail space for an anchor, but that area is probably too sketchy to attract an anchor.

[officedweller]

800 Granville revitalization project progresses to official application
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties

The fins are gone (so no matchy-matchy theme with 725 Granville (above Nordstrom) and VCII.

The area above the historic facades are still a video screen, so they won't look like a rooftop mechanical enclosure (per first render below)
although it would benefit from some variation in the height of the panels or some other design aspect (i.e. raised panels like Davie St. Safeway)
to add interest when the display is turned off or in disrepair

As a mid-block site on its south end, I don't think they should be allowed to have expansive glass curtan wall on the south facade
since that will impair the future redevelopment of the adjacent sites on the corner.

New renderings:


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties

Old Renderings:


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties

[dleung]

It wouldn't kill their proforma to add a few ripples in the facade to break up the length of the giant alien mothership that is teabagging these heritage buildings. That continuous screen is awful and really disneyfies everything below it - how many layers of stuff do they need?? Would've preferred if they extended the wood reveal or part of the office mass down to a 3rd level terrace instead:

[GenWhy?]

You still can't revitalize an area if you don't deal with the core issues affecting it...

[jlousa]

Exactly. Letting an area deteriorate and then proposing an out of scale development as the answer is one of the reasons people hate gentrification. The city has no will to tackle the real problem and will gladly pretend this will fix things.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Exactly. Letting an area deteriorate and then proposing an out of scale development as the answer is one of the reasons people hate gentrification. The city has no will to tackle the real problem and will gladly pretend this will fix things.

Well, it’s not the city proposing this project, but an independent developer.

Why should they abandon their proprieties / put their projects on hold because the city government can’t get their shit together?

This project won’t solve the issues, but it won’t hurt either bringing in thousands of working class people during the day.

Also fail to see how it is out of scale, it is in the heart of downtown near one of our regions largest transit exchanges. If anything it should be larger.

And if people don’t like the form, we’ll, we can all thank our good old view cone friends for that.

PS, love the screen. The Granville strip needs some bold video animation along it.

[jlousa]

You're right the developer shouldn't abandon their plans because the city can't get their act together. But lets not kid ourselves and pretend they aren't using the current situation to advance their project. And I have as much hope this will change the situation of Granville about as much as the "screen" did across the street, or the hundreds of workers in the Microsoft office above Nordstrom. Streets like Granville and Robson were special because of their low height form, once lost it's gone forever.

[phesto]

If it's a spot rezoning anyway, why not show an alternative massing scheme with same density that goes higher than the height limit/view cone? At least staff and council could compare?

As it is, I'm not a fan of the massing...and I love density.

[GenWhy?]

Well the City has a lot of control over who gets to make millions off real estate... and who can't find an apartment they can afford. Just sayin. The "revitalization" scheme jut has a bad track record with a lot of losers, including cities themselves .

[Metro-One]

If it were overpriced condos they were proposing as “revitalization” I would have concerns, but this is commercial and office which is entirely appropriate for the location. So the argument of people not being able to find affordable housing as a knock against this project doesn’t really fly here.

Even if it does little to “revitalize” the area, the project is still appropriate.

I feel that they almost need to throw in the revitalization buzz phrases for this project as a unspoken formality.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by phesto

If it's a spot rezoning anyway, why not show an alternative massing scheme with same density that goes higher than the height limit/view cone? At least staff and council could compare?

As it is, I'm not a fan of the massing...and I love density.

The city’s stubbornness and inflexibility about the viewcones is well-established. The city has made it abundantly clear that the viewcones (and now select
shadows) trump any and all other desirable urban objectives, no matter how valuable. So, developers probably think, “What’s the fucking point?”

That said, I do wish developers would indeed start releasing renderings of what their projects could look like unencumbered by the city’s idiotic limitations, not for staff or council, but for the public, so they can start judging for themselves whether the city’s intransigence is having a salutary or deleterious effect on Vancouver’s urban realm. The city will change only if the public mood starts to clearly swing against it, and that will happen only when the public begins to see with their own eyes the opportunities current city policy is costing them. The developers need to take this battle directly to the public by explicitly presenting a superior vision of Vancouver.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

You still can't revitalize an area if you don't deal with the core issues affecting it...

Originally Posted by jlousa

Exactly. Letting an area deteriorate and then proposing an out of scale development as the answer is one of the reasons people hate gentrification. The city has no will to tackle the real problem and will gladly pretend this will fix things.

Totally agree with you. The rot continues south of this block with so many shanty buildings housing problematic individuals. The homeless will still camp along the sidewalk or shoot up if the City doesn't care.

A large pretty building won't create a shield to prevent all the lawlessness, addictions and anti-social behaviour from coming to this block. Tough law enforcement and suitable alternative housing elsewhere will. Everything bad is now concentrated on this one strip where developers have shied away from for the longest time due to the City's (and Province's) own making.

Even if this project is approved, I have a feeling it is more because the City is attempting to block the view of Granville's rot from the eyes of visitors and shoppers along the popular Robson Street than anything else. Out of towners are always shocked to see the level of depravity in our town: one that is surrounded by so much natural beauty.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by officedweller

As a mid-block site on its south end, I don't think they should be allowed to have expansive glass curtan wall on the south facade
since that will impair the future redevelopment of the adjacent sites on the corner.

Hopefully that's just wishful thinking in the render 'cause yeah it doesn't make sense to have glass on the end wall when a new building would sit right next to it.

Originally Posted by dleung

It wouldn't kill their proforma to add a few ripples in the facade to break up the length of the giant alien mothership that is teabagging these heritage buildings. That continuous screen is awful and really disneyfies everything below it - how many layers of stuff do they need?? Would've preferred if they extended the wood reveal or part of the office mass down to a 3rd level terrace instead:

I prefer the boxier shape and the bigger continuous screen. I'm with you on the wood though - it would be good to see more of that shown off.

Originally Posted by Metro-One

If it were overpriced condos they were proposing as “revitalization” I would have concerns, but this is commercial and office which is entirely appropriate for the location. So the argument of people not being able to find affordable housing as a knock against this project doesn’t really fly here.

[Klazu]

I still like it but the design has taken some steps backwards. Like, why did they have to remove the fins? That can't make any difference on anything except how the building now looks more bland.

[officedweller]

When viewed down the street from an angle, fins end up aligning and looking like a solid surface. They may be trying to avoid that look. It could also be that the fins have been used on too many surrounding buildings, reducing the uniqueness of this one, or maybe they actually factored-in maintenance (window washing) issues caused by fins.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

You still can't revitalize an area if you don't deal with the core issues affecting it...

Yep, much like Cllr Kirby-Young's well-intentioned drive to put patios on Granville. It helps make it a bit nicer but does nothing to clean-up the area directly.

The building itself is attractive enough but it totally overwhelms the heritage buildings contained within it.

[Tysonbrown]

Until you get rid of the "TRASH" bars, nothing is going to work.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by officedweller

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/800-...nis-properties

Originally Posted by dleung

of course, they got rid of that twisting up at the corner to make it a flat boring box; sigh.

[jollyburger]

Only people on the Urban Design Panel and this forum care about a little twist on the corner of a building. I think at some point when you get that high up unless you have a unique building like Vancouver House with unobstructed viewpoints from distance that most of those details just end up being lost in the overall mass of the building.

[Feathered Friend]

Granville Street is located in the heart of downtown and is one of Vancouver's iconic pedestrianand transit-priority commercial high streets. It is characterized by a dense cluster of historicallysignificant buildings and residential hotels or Single Room Accommodation (SRA) By-lawdesignated buildings. Proposals including heritage buildings and designated single room occupancy hotels (SROs) should align with the applicable policy direction including the height provisions of the Downtown Official Development Plan.

Staff have provided a preliminary assessment of the proposal to rezone 800-876 Granville Street from DD to CD-1 and determined the application has not demonstrated sufficient justification to deviate from existing policies. Other similarly situated properties have successfully complied with the policy provisions set out in the policy plans noted in this report.

This property has no special considerations or constraints that warrant deviation from the established policy framework. Neither have staff identified a compelling public interest to construe a benefit on this property that would not be available to other nearby properties.

The proposal significantly contravenes Council-approved policy. In this way, the application disregards the policy framework and public trust. Staff are seeking Council’s direction regarding these policies, prior to submitting the report to Council for referral to a Public Hearing.

The General Manager of Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability recommends completing the review of the rezoning application at 800-876 Granville Street in accordance with existing policy, recognizing that this may lead to a staff recommendation of non-support. Should Council adopt the report Recommendation A, staff would continue processing the application, including public consultation, prior to bringing forward a rezoning report for Council’s consideration.

https://council.vancouver.ca/20220719/documents/r7.pdf

The application to allow consideration of rezoning 800-876 Granville Street will on the July 19th, 2022 council agenda, and if approved as staff are recommending, will lead to an official rezoning application, which they caution may not end up being supported.

If anyone's interested, here's the link to register to sing up to speak to this item.
https://vancouver.ca/your-government...ng-form-1.aspx