720 Beatty St | Steam Plant + ??? | U/C

[Glow Fun City]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Here's the design for 'Geo' on the ALign Architecture website. (Residential, Hotel, Retail, Data Center, Energy Center).

Nice to have another hotel right by the stadium for sure.

[seamusmcduff]

If this ends up getting built as shown, it will be pretty iconic

[jollyburger]

Crane removal this Sunday?

Nov 16, 2025
7:00AM - 5:00PM

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public...ctId=279760486

[Feathered Friend]

Building Permit (BP) Inspection | CP Progress
Inspection Number: BP-2021-04972-49
Inspection Date: 04 Nov 2025
Contractor: Icon West Construction Corp
Inspection Result: Performed
Comments: work has resumed

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public...ctId=279784047

[jollyburger]

Crane is setup on Beatty side so it seems unlikely that it's related to the construction site.

[Changing City]

Concrete pour today. Sidewalk closed back to Main Street.

[jollyburger]

Two more concrete pours scheduled.

[gaviscon]

Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Emperor's New Clothes'
Surprising we've made progress because it seems invisible from Beatty.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by gaviscon

Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Emperor's New Clothes'
Surprising we've made progress because it seems invisible from Beatty.

There won't be anything to see from Beatty because they aren't building anything above the height of the viaduct for the time being. But at least they're apparently competing the structure along Expo up to level with the viaduct. It has been paused for several months, so seeing more work here is positive.

[VanDonald]

Kenneth Chan has posted an update: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/150-...reative-energy

the new steam plant project has incurred major delays due to project cost escalation and Westbank’s financial issues ... In July 2024, Westbank informed Creative Energy that it had experienced a funding shortfall and could no longer complete the construction of the new plant premises. ... [But now in 2026] it appears the utility company and developer have found a way to advance the project and address the financial challenges without pursuing strategies that require regulatory intervention by BCUC.

Moving forward, essentially everything below grade — including the new vehicle parking and the Creative Energy facility — as well as the new entertainment pavilion building, will remain unchanged, while the office tower project above grade will not proceed.

Instead, the previous 264-ft.-tall, 17-storey, bulky, S-shaped office tower concept — designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and HCMA — with 583,000 sq. ft. of office space and 12,000 sq. ft. of additional ground-level retail/restaurant space has been completely scrapped and is now envisioned to become a 450-ft-tall, 48-storey, mixed-use hotel and residential tower with a data centre and ground-level retail/restaurant space, for a total of roughly 700,000 sq. ft. of building floor area.

Lots more details in the full article.

[WarrenC12]

Wow interesting update. Great spot for a hotel of course.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Wow interesting update. Great spot for a hotel of course.

Definitely a better location than Pender & Richards!

Aren't data centres huge energy users?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Definitely a better location than Pender & Richards!

Aren't data centres huge energy users?

They consume a lot of energy to power the servers, but around 40% of the facility's energy consumption is to cool the electronics. If that 'waste' heat can be used for heating/ cooling in an industrial scale Neighborhood Energy system, it's much more cost effective.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Changing City

They consume a lot of energy to power the servers, but around 40% of the facility's energy consumption is to cool the electronics. If that 'waste' heat can be used for heating/ cooling in an industrial scale Neighborhood Energy system, it's much more cost effective.

Great efficiency for a data centre setup. There was talk of something similar in the MPIA pushing heat back into the SEFC NEU but I'm not sure if any projects have integrated that way yet.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Great efficiency for a data centre setup. There was talk of something similar in the MPIA pushing heat back into the SEFC NEU but I'm not sure if any projects have integrated that way yet.

It might not be as useful for the steam network.

Both electric boilers and gas-fired boilers emerged as the most viable options for steam and hot water distribution systems, while other lower-temperature resources, such as data center heat recovery, seawater heat pumps, and energy purchases showed significant potential with hot water distribution systems. Creative Energy notes that these technologies are less viable for the steam distribution system as the additional energy required to increase the temperature reduces the overall system efficiency and offsets some of the potential benefits

https://norma.lexum.com/bcuc/orders/...22860/index.do

They got 750K to study it last year from the BC govt

Creative Energy Vancouver Platforms Corp. – Mainland and Southwest, B.C.
Funding Stream: Feasibility Studies
Study name: Data Centre Heat Recovery System
Study description: Creative Energy will investigate the potential for recovering waste heat from a data centre in downtown Vancouver. This technology can reduce emissions by capturing and redistributing waste heat to nearby buildings connected to Creative Energy's district energy system.
Funding: $750,000

https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025ECS0035-000761

[jollyburger]

Not sure what this means for the concept with the data centre/hotel.

At 150 West Georgia, a municipally approved downtown Vancouver site, plans are in place for a 10-storey AI data centre, with BC Hydro committed to providing 39 MW of power and potential for up to 100 MW.

Allied extended Westbank’s loan on 150 West Georgia to Dec. 31, 2026, with additional security, as the project shifted from office to data centre. Allied and Westbank aim to sell a major portion of the site to a Canadian operator, partially repaying Allied’s loan while the REIT would retain a minority interest.

https://renx.ca/allied-to-raise-500m...mory-to-depart

Align deleted their concept for the data centre/hotel but not sure if that's just because of the DH article.

https://web.archive.org/web/20250801...rk/coast-amrt2

The 2019 agreement

The arrangement stipulates that Allied will provide Westbank with up to $185 million, via a first mortgage, to fund the acquisition of the property, pre-development costs and initial construction costs. The mortgage will carry a seven per cent interest rate.

On placement of conventional construction financing, the mortgage will be secured by a second charge, with the construction lender having the first charge. The mortgage will be guaranteed by Westbank.

It is to be repaid upon “substantial completion” of the property. At that time, Allied will purchase a 50 per cent interest in the property at a purchase price determined according to an agreed formula.

https://renx.ca/allied-buying-50-int...e-office-tower

[csbvan]

No way should any council vote to approve a data centre on prime land next to our stadium and key concert venue. Westbank should be ashamed.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by csbvan

No way should any council vote to approve a data centre on prime land next to our stadium and key concert venue. Westbank should be ashamed.

Presumably the point is recover the generated heat to the steam system. The steam plant output is about 210MW for comparison to the quoted ultimate 100MW data centre consumption.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by madog222

Presumably the point is recover the generated heat to the steam system. The steam plant output is about 210MW for comparison to the quoted ultimate 100MW data centre consumption.

I get the practicality of it. But a giant blank building next to the stadium plaza just doesnt work.

[Diegotheartist1]

Why A.I. data center? I thought the data center was going to be for something else, not this uncanny valley of slop. Who’s operating it?