Downtown Vancouver Updates

[hollywoodnorth]

Just talked to a SAVE ON FOODS rep.....the Cambie store is now set to officially open on March 1st! — soooooo long but worth the wait!

[jlousa]

Here's some fuel for the fire, The Sears store is going to get major renos, Blueprints have already been submitted to numerous companies. I don't know what the renos consist of but with the companies involved it appears that this isn't just a facelift.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Here's some fuel for the fire, The Sears store is going to get major renos, Blueprints have already been submitted to numerous companies. I don't know what the renos consist of but with the companies involved it appears that this isn't just a facelift.

a reno??? just blow up the damn thing and build a office skyscraper with the mall on the lower floors.

[hollywoodnorth]

the Granville projects I'm most excited about are the ones around the Bridgehead....that area has lots of potential and free land.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Here's some fuel for the fire, The Sears store is going to get major renos, Blueprints have already been submitted to numerous companies. I don't know what the renos consist of but with the companies involved it appears that this isn't just a facelift.

This is what I have been talking about in the rumours thread... I have seen the plans and I can assure you it is much more than a facelift, and it certainly contains a sizable office tower.

[officedweller]

WRT Sears, hopefully it's a decent architect who would be designing the tower & store renovations. The Eatons/Sears renos by Abbarch (left half complete) look like like a strip mall building rather than a downtown store (I preferred it before those renos). Cadillac Fairview's current project in TO (RBC Tower) is essentially a glass box with a few angles thrown in (and a big trading floor at the base). I wonder what form a new tower would take? Note the 777 Dunsmuir tower bore no resemblance to the older towers at Pacific Centre and Cadillac Fairview seemed to be more than accommodating with Holt Renfrew's ultra modern design "clashing" with it.

Originally Posted by raggedy13

Thanks for the Granville article officedweller. Sounds like some really interesting changes will be coming. I'm not sure what to expect without some sort of renderings but it sounds like it could be a pretty cool looking area once they're through with it.

I sent off a comment to the reps (contact info at the City's website under Major Projects) that I object to the cutting down of all of the mature street trees to replace them with a double row of saplings. i.e. the sidewalks can be widened, road straightened and light features added without removing the mature trees. I got a reply back that that's the type of comments they want at the open house.

[vanman]

^Good on ya. I completely agree with you. Granville st had a certain ambience to it that was partially destroyed when those first trees were cut down. It's hard to explain in words but with those trees gone the street just 'feels' cold and inhumane.

[officedweller]

You should send off an e-mail too. There's too much of a culture of "renovation" happening that throws out the existing for the new. Next up will be Pacific Boulevard. These projects really seem like make work projects. Here are the e-mail addresses of the City Staff:

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/currentplanning/granvilleredesign/contactus.htm

[email protected]
[email protected]

[SFUVancouver]

^ Regarding the culture of renovations, I think the City is going to get absolutely burned when the Cambie Street redesign work begins after the Canada Line work is complete. I can only imagine how incensed the remaining merchants will be once the City starts tearing up the sidewalks directly in front of their stores just when normality was returning. When the Commercial Drive sidewalks were redone last year they had the forethought to do them in tandem with the sewer-storm sewer separation so that there was only one period of construction inconvenience. There is still a lot of work to come on Cambie:

-Adding concrete medians, with plantings in wider places.
-Repaving Cambie Street
-New sidewalks
-New light standards and street furniture commensurate with the new urban design.
-Introduction (possibly) of street trees.

I think that Cambie Village will be the third rail of electoral politics this mayoral cycle.

____________

Regarding the Cambie Street bridgehead, I'm looking forward to it as well. I like the massing and form of the Coopers Quay precinct, though the colouring is not to my liking, but if that sort of clustering is in any way indicative of what Concord Pacific has in store for the remainder of the bridgehead then I am excited.

____________

Regarding the Granville Street redesign, I've emailed them. Thanks for the prompting OfficeDweller.

[nathan6969]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Regarding the Cambie Street bridgehead, I'm looking forward to it as well. I like the massing and form of the Coopers Quay precinct, though the colouring is not to my liking, but if that sort of clustering is in any way indicative of what Concord Pacific has in store for the remainder of the bridgehead then I am excited.

Is this that triangle lot between smithe & nelson??

[officedweller]

Yes. There is also a corresponding one on the east side of Smithe too (though that's probably a separate application. Earlier drawings during the bridgehead studies had suggested an open plaza centred on Smithe with open spaces east and west. Don't know if the massing would have changed.

***

I like the Cooper's Quay area - just not the abundance of spandrel panels on the Mariner and Flagship buildings. I like the rusty red/orange on the Cooper's Lookout (?) building (very cool that the elevator lobbies on each floor have a window). The Mariner and Flagship may also get a similar colour treatment on them too, but by the looks of it they (the more expensive towers) may just get painted concrete(?).

[city guy]

Originally Posted by officedweller

WRT Sears, hopefully it's a decent architect who would be designing the tower & store renovations. The Eatons/Sears renos by Abbarch (left half complete) look like like a strip mall building rather than a downtown store (I preferred it before those renos). Cadillac Fairview's current project in TO (RBC Tower) is essentially a glass box with a few angles thrown in (and a big trading floor at the base). I wonder what form a new tower would take? Note the 777 Dunsmuir tower bore no resemblance to the older towers at Pacific Centre and Cadillac Fairview seemed to be more than accommodating with Holt Renfrew's ultra modern design "clashing" with it.



I sent off a comment to the reps (contact info at the City's website under Major Projects) that I object to the cutting down of all of the mature street trees to replace them with a double row of saplings. i.e. the sidewalks can be widened, road straightened and light features added without removing the mature trees. I got a reply back that that's the type of comments they want at the open house.

the city wil be asking the public to comment on two option, one which retains the mature trees north of georgia, vs replacing them with new smaller trees...the rest of the street, south of robson is to be replanted with a new species, in better growing conditions, all the way to the bridge at drake...the city wants the public to decide on the new tree vs old tree issue north of georgia....and an insider has told me that the vertical tube light system is knock your sock off ultra cool

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

This is what I have been talking about in the rumours thread... I have seen the plans and I can assure you it is much more than a facelift, and it certainly contains a sizable office tower.

That awesome, hope we can see some design soon, that white elephant is ghastly

anything they do to that awful box is an improvement

[MichaelChampion]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

yes that includes Richards on Richards

Ahh —.

[SpongeG]

The city is considering establishing a bollard system, a short post in the middle of the street that would be removable or could come up from the roadbed, to block off the entertainment district.

they have those things on millionaires row in london - they are cool - watched them go up and down a few times wishing i could go see the mansions on the street but its pretty exclusive looking to even get on the street

[osirisboy]

the crane at raffles is coming down right now.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by city guy

the city wil be asking the public to comment on two option, one which retains the mature trees north of georgia, vs replacing them with new smaller trees...the rest of the street, south of robson is to be replanted with a new species, in better growing conditions, all the way to the bridge at drake...the city wants the public to decide on the new tree vs old tree issue north of georgia....and an insider has told me that the vertical tube light system is knock your sock off ultra cool

That sounds reasonable, but there are still a lot of large trees on the 800 block - in front of the Commodore Ballroom. In addition, the cherry trees that the City planted in the 1990s when Granville was widened south of Smithe have grown to a reasonable size. I suspect that a whole string of saplings through the night club district will be battered to death by drunks and need constant replacement - in which case you'd still end up with haphazard tree sizes/ages. The lights sound great! (but you could still install them with trees in place, and the lighting against a mature canopy (during summer) would look better than without.

******

WRT Raffles - saw the MASSIVE crane-removal crane on Robson yesterday.

[vanman]

I suspect that a whole string of saplings through the night club district will be battered to death by drunks and need constant replacement - in which case you'd still end up with haphazard tree sizes/ages.

No doubt. I could easily see that happening.

[vanman]

Random infill behind Tinseltown.

[officedweller]

Thanks, that's 33 Pender St. - you really did the circuit today!

*****

UDP MInutes for 1304 Howe Street (TravelLodge site)

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/udp/2007/minutes/dec5.htm

*******

BTW -

- the footings for the Coast Hotel are already in - looks like the first level of underground parking is being poured

- Vita is one or two levels above grade - some tall columns fronting Smithe

- Donovan is up to about 3 storeys now