Downtown Vancouver Updates II

[SeymourDrake]

Originally Posted by Changing City

The building was sculpted to avoid too much shading of the park across the street. It's going to be a non-profit co-operative housing building, with construction funding coming from the BC Builds program, and the City providing the site.

interesting...Thanks for the info

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Changing City

The building was sculpted to avoid too much shading of the park across the street. It's going to be a non-profit co-operative housing building, with construction funding coming from the BC Builds program, and the City providing the site.

Seems like a good spot for high priced condos instead

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Seems like a good spot for high priced condos instead

Seems like a better one for affordable co-op apartments. At least they're being built. The market for high priced condos has been on life support for a while. Developers have been forced into court ordered sales of sites where they were trying to sell condos on Davie Street in the West End, and on Robson.

Consider Burrard and Davie, where there are two development sites. Google maps shows the gas station on the corner closed in 2007, and turned into a 'temporary' community garden in 2009. The developers have been trying to develop a viable condo project ever since. They been trying to sell the most recent version of their high priced condo tower for a couple of years. Supposedly we can expect completion in 2029 - but nothing is happening on site yet.

Meanwhile, in the same time frame since the community garden plots appeared, the City of Vancouver bought the site on the opposite side of Burrard, and construction is well underway for the 17 storey wood-frame building that will house a community centre and 154 social housing units, 31 to be managed by the McLaren Housing Society.

[officedweller]

Wasn't there also a proposal for the site across the street (Newfie pub site?).
But that was a long time ago.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Seems like a better one for affordable co-op apartments. At least they're being built. The market for high priced condos has been on life support for a while. Developers have been forced into court ordered sales of sites where they were trying to sell condos on Davie Street in the West End, and on Robson.

Consider Burrard and Davie, where there are two development sites. Google maps shows the gas station on the corner closed in 2007, and turned into a 'temporary' community garden in 2009. The developers have been trying to develop a viable condo project ever since. They been trying to sell the most recent version of their high priced condo tower for a couple of years. Supposedly we can expect completion in 2029 - but nothing is happening on site yet.

Meanwhile, in the same time frame since the community garden plots appeared, the City of Vancouver bought the site on the opposite side of Burrard, and construction is well underway for the 17 storey wood-frame building that will house a community centre and 154 social housing units, 31 to be managed by the McLaren Housing Society.

Complexly disagree. Pretty expensive land for social housing being right across from the park.

[jollyburger]

Germain Hotel

Stovell said the office building is 60-70 per cent leased, but will be emptied over the coming year-and-a-half as leases expire.

"We'll work with those tenants too as best we can, and put them in other buildings that we have that we can make that work for them,” he said.

Holding this building as an office was no longer feasible, Stovell said. He noted that vacancy in the city's inventory of class-AAA buildings is low and demand for the new spaces is high, but elevated vacancy remains a challenge in older buildings. Downtown total office vacancy was 13.7 per cent, according to Avison Young's Q4, 2024 Metro Vancouver office market report.

Apart from lower demand, Stovell said the major banks have not been eager to finance new office projects. "The major lenders have got really beat up on office after COVID," he said.

Reliance didn't have the appetite to redevelop the building, and it is already zoned for commercial uses. "We have been, as a company, exploring hotel opportunities quite a bit, recognizing the demand and shortage in rooms," Stovell said, adding the firm has been working with Germain for seven or eight years to partner on a hotel.

Stovell said they have yet to identify a construction contractor for the conversion. He said the process will include stripping the building out and running new mechanical, electrical, water and air conditioning throughout: "These are things we have done before."

https://renx.ca/soft-office-market-tourism-demand-spurs-vancouver-office-to-hotel-swap

[Changing City]

Clifton Hotel

1125 Granville. It closed in 2015, and was bought by Solterra in 2016. It needs extensive restoration and seismic upgrades. The ABC majority on City Council voted to accept $1.1m to remove the 74 rooms from the SRO registry so that it can be fixed up as a 76 room hotel. That's $16,000 a room, while the by-law on SRA conversion allows for a payment of up to $300,000 a room. [CityNews]

[csbvan]

Gaslight Square in Gastown is mostly demolished now. Did I miss a new application here? Or is Marcon moving forward with their nearly decade-old proposal? If so I wonder if the office space will be converted to hotel use now...

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by csbvan

Gaslight Square in Gastown is mostly demolished now. Did I miss a new application here? Or is Marcon moving forward with their nearly decade-old proposal? If so I wonder if the office space will be converted to hotel use now...

There hasn't been any new application since the 2016 Development Permit. When it was submitted it was owned by FDG Property Management Ltd. I assumed Marcon were the contractor; they don't have any mention of 131 Water on their website.

[jollyburger]

Current work

Exterior and interior alterations to retain the facade and install the retention brace on heritage buildings at 115, 117 and 131 Water Street. Remainder of the building to be demolished once salvage and abatement permit work under BP-2024-03600 has been completed.

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Guest&PosseObjectId=237491767

RH Architects/Marcon

New design proposed under the DP-2023-00582.
Meeting held with design team on May 31, 2024. The architect promised to submit updated docs for BP ST 1 within 3-4 weeks.

To upgrade the existing portion of the building as approved under the Heritage conservation plan and construct a 8-storey (7-storey under the Zoning and Development bylaw) mixed-use high building consisting of
1st storey - retail/ restaurant (class 1)
2nd to 4th storey - offices
5th to 8th storey - 41 rental dwelling units
all over 2-level of underground parking.

Stage #1 - excavation and shoring only - in review
3/Sept/2021 - This project will be reviewed under VBBL 2019.

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Guest&PosseObjectId=106409297

Video/photos of the demo work from the heritage consultant (I assume) Donald Luxton & Associates

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIT7EWRJOI_/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DHuYlccvFYd/

The old application

https://web.archive.org/web/20170725211704/https://development.vancouver.ca/pc131water/index.htm

[jollyburger]

(deleted)

[jollyburger]

Most of the materials have been removed from the Dunsmuir Hotel demo site. Looks like they're tackling the foundation/basement.



https://trafficcams.vancouver.ca/richardsDunsmuir.htm

[Zepfancouver]

A demolition post follow by a demolition post, just a coincidence.

Slowly moving along. They had a concrete cutting crew on site (Apr 04th and) all of last week.

How it stands as of this morning Apr 21, 2025. Pics by me.


https://makeagif.com/i/7WVkVz







Panorama

[connect2source]

Progress on the Royal Centre renewal project.
Photos By Me

[officedweller]

Thanks!

[officedweller]

Pic by me yesterday showing the mass timber addition on Beatty St.

[Zepfancouver]

Originally Posted by Zepfancouver

Slowly moving along. They had a concrete cutting crew on site (Apr 04th and) all of last week.

How it stands as of this morning Apr 21, 2025. Pics by me.

How it stands as of this morning. Next update, the complete unfinish product.


https://makeagif.com/i/8Q4wVr








https://makeagif.com/i/5HxBT9

• Video Link

[Zepfancouver]

Originally Posted by SeymourDrake

i was driving along Seymour/Davie and noticed fencing going up around the closed building. Looks like they are starting the recycle/demo process. I guess the construction phase will start this year?

Has anyone heard anything about this lot?

thx

Followed by 8 replies.

This morning


https://makeagif.com/i/ai3mWO

[officedweller]

800 Block Seymour St.

Pic by me yesterday.
I thought both lots (Seymour and Richards sides) were fenced
(despite cars in both)



Pic by me today.
Only the Seymour lot looks fenced.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by officedweller

800 Block Seymour St.

Pic by me yesterday.
I thought both lots (Seymour and Richards sides) were fenced
(despite cars in both)


Pic by me today.
Only the Seymour lot looks fenced.

Looks like it's going ahead they just got their excavation/shoring permits on March 20

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Guest&PosseObjectId=241004433