Downtown Vancouver Updates II

[officedweller]

Pic by me today.

Not sure when it went up.

[Vancouver_Highrise]

It went up the last 2 days - I watched from my office

[jollyburger]

I was wondering if they would need that office space after the merger. I assume the Exchange building lease will be up in the next 5 years if they wanted to consolidate on West Georgia.

EDIT: They just renewed/expanded on West Georgia to 52K square feet.

https://assets.cushmanwakefield.com/-/me...pdf?rev=c70f1e0ca20f413f982a10c3cb360b64

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I think they're a mix of project completion/start dates.

Reliance is making a sales centre on the 10th floor with hotel room mockups for the Hotel Germain project

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Guest&PosseObjectId=292237446

I'm confused. Why do we think they need a sales center with hotel room mock-ups? Is this some sort of timeshare they're proposing or a small investor-funded hotel conversion? I'm confused

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

I'm confused. Why do we think they need a sales center with hotel room mock-ups? Is this some sort of timeshare they're proposing or a small investor-funded hotel conversion? I'm confused

Back in the 90s there were a number of strata titled hotels sold to the public - Rosedale on Robson, Westin Grand (now Hilton), Le Soleil (on Hornby) and others.

I thought the practice was stopped because it ran afoul of securities legislation requiring prospectus level disclosures, etc.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Back in the 90s there were a number of strata titled hotels sold to the public - Rosedale on Robson, Westin Grand (now Hilton), Le Soleil (on Hornby) and others.

I thought the practice was stopped because it ran afoul of securities legislation requiring prospectus level disclosures, etc.

I'm not sure the sales centre and the hotel rooms mockup are necessarily related. The St Germain deal is a 50/50 ownership with Reliance. They're slowing emptying out the building for the conversion to hotel. They may be just using some of the vacated space for a sales centre and also testing out how the hotel conversion will look, and getting a permit to cover both. It's not clear what the sales centre might be for - maybe another Reliance project.

[bb1510]

Probably the "sales centre" is just a category within the city for the permit.

Typically, hotel flags will require developers to build a couple of mock up rooms prior to the rest of the build out to see what works and what doesn't, along with seeing the quality from different vendors. It's best practice to do so

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by bb1510

Probably the "sales centre" is just a category within the city for the permit.

Typically, hotel flags will require developers to build a couple of mock up rooms prior to the rest of the build out to see what works and what doesn't, along with seeing the quality from different vendors. It's best practice to do so

Yeah they probably can't do a temporary mock up with the spaces zoned as "offices".

[gaviscon]

80 Powell Dev App

Seemingly appeared out of nowhere last year and seems to be moving forward quickly:

https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/80-powell-st

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by gaviscon

80 Powell Dev App

Seemingly appeared out of nowhere last year and seems to be moving forward quickly:

https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/80-powell-st

It was submitted last September. It's a conditional DP, so no rezoning is needed. It's now been revised - the design is slightly different and it's 3,500 sq ft smaller, but fundamentally unchanged. Currently looking at a June Development Permit Board approval.

I haven't seen a developer identified, but as it's associated with Kalido's Block House on an adjacent site, it seems possible it will be associated with them.

[Feathered Friend]

Originally Posted by gaviscon

80 Powell Dev App

Seemingly appeared out of nowhere last year and seems to be moving forward quickly:

https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/80-powell-st

It had a very poor reception at the Urban Design Panel last year, nine recommendations, and a motion of non-support that was approved by 6 - 1. There were even some panel members who felt it didn't belong in Gastown period.

https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/11-12-2025-udp-minutes-chairreviewed.pdf

[GenWhy?]

Do we know why there is a plaza requirement for such a small site that is practically not functional / feasible? Is it purely due to the old rail line?

(I'd spite them and keep it as a heritage parking lot)

[GenWhy?]

THAT the Panel Recommend RESUBMISSION to the project with the following recommendations to be reviewed by City Staff:
1. Reconsider design of the covered plaza to ensure its function as an active, safe, and inviting public space rather than a narrow pedestrian corridor / thoroughfare;
2. Consider further treatment and activation of the blank façade at the lane and sidewall;
3. Revisit elevator access, gateway control, structure at ground level to open up more for public access;
4. Explore opportunities to give ground floor back to the public with further improvements and further activate the public realm;
5. Support for the proposed height and massing if the ground level is further opened up for the public as a series of open spaces;
6. Further design development of contextual fit as it relates to the architectural expression and materiality;
7. Revisit the façade articulation and material palette to ensure compatibility with the heritage context and avoid overly generic or utilitarian expression;
8. Consider material durability that weathers well overtime;
9. Further design development at rooftop crown and soffit treatments at the covered plaza;

[gaviscon]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

THAT the Panel Recommend RESUBMISSION to the project with the following recommendations to be reviewed by City Staff:
1. Reconsider design of the covered plaza to ensure its function as an active, safe, and inviting public space rather than a narrow pedestrian corridor / thoroughfare;
2. Consider further treatment and activation of the blank façade at the lane and sidewall;
3. Revisit elevator access, gateway control, structure at ground level to open up more for public access;
4. Explore opportunities to give ground floor back to the public with further improvements and further activate the public realm;
5. Support for the proposed height and massing if the ground level is further opened up for the public as a series of open spaces;
6. Further design development of contextual fit as it relates to the architectural expression and materiality;
7. Revisit the façade articulation and material palette to ensure compatibility with the heritage context and avoid overly generic or utilitarian expression;
8. Consider material durability that weathers well overtime;
9. Further design development at rooftop crown and soffit treatments at the covered plaza;

Do they still need to follow up on these despite obtaining the dev app perm?
Or did they receive the dev app perm because they fulfilled these requirements?

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by gaviscon

Do they still need to follow up on these despite obtaining the dev app perm?
Or did they receive the dev app perm because they fulfilled these requirements?

Development Permit Board decision looks to be in June. From the drawings available I cannot see what the difference is between the two submissions.

Building is 3,000sf smaller tho

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

Development Permit Board decision looks to be in June. From the drawings available I cannot see what the difference is between the two submissions.

Building is 3,000sf smaller tho

In the elevations it looks like they introduced some kind of variation in the building envelope removing some FSR and making it look more "jagged"



They are using terracotta panels on the facade so maybe it'll look nice.

[jollyburger]

Seems like the Marine Building is getting the facade restored.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1494731435986728&set=a.492985759494639

https://council.vancouver.ca/20250506/documents/r6.pdf

[officedweller]

837 Beatty
By me today:

[jollyburger]

Was just reading officedweller's post about the Beatty Street bike upgrades.

780 Beatty is for sale. I wonder if Reliance would want it to build something in front of the stadium. It's a huge building so probably a bit of a pain to restore.

https://www.avisonyoung.ca/properties/780-beatty-street

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Was just reading officedweller's post about the Beatty Street bike upgrades.

780 Beatty is for sale. I wonder if Reliance would want it to build something in front of the stadium. It's a huge building so probably a bit of a pain to restore.

https://www.avisonyoung.ca/properties/780-beatty-street

The building next door (which is now PoMo teal), used to look a lot like the Holborn building at Georgia & Seymour (similar renos in the 70s?).


https://cdn.sharplaunch.com/v2/client-10/46cb86b6a58bba6/BeattySt780_WEB_Jan2026.pdf