Downtown Vancouver Updates

[deasine]

So are they going to reconfigure the Granville Street interchange with the new development?

[jlousa]

The plan is to get rid of the loops.

[Delirium]

to clarify my point above about the building being rejected by the UDP -
the initial rezoning application was rejected but their second try won support in Dec.2007 - based on changes made to the building;

"In response, the applicant has added some additional height to the building and reduced the floor plates. As well the applicant has sculpted and shaped the building for a more slender expression and has also relocated the parking and loading access. The podium set back has been increased by three feet for a total of nine feet and a continuous glass canopy has been added. The retail has been wrapped around the corner and the outdoor amenity space has been moved to the roof of the smaller building at Drake Street."

the building will now be 300 feet (30 storeys) and total FSR would be increased from 5.0 to 7.0 through transfer of heritage density.

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

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by deasine

So are they going to reconfigure the Granville Street interchange with the new development?

thats how it is already - its right where the granville ramp is

[muzhav84]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-11-2008/0004810860&EDATE=

ParaYso Hotel Vancouver Announces Restaurateur Sean Sherwood as Director of Operations



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rancho
Santa Monica Developments, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: RSDV), ('the
Company'), has signed a consulting agreement with Sean Sherwood and has
appointed him as Director of Operations.

Mr. Sherwood will be architecting the concept of the new hotel, which
will be a tribute to the west coast lifestyle. "This is one of the greatest
places to live on the planet, and visitors here want to experience what
makes us unique. This hotel will emulate the west coast lifestyle, and
celebrate the incredible bounty that we are lucky to have right at our
doorstep." Mr. Sherwood will also assist in promoting the Hotel via various
media and press related channels in order to assist in the capital raising
efforts of the Company.

Mr. Sherwood has opened and owned various restaurants in Vancouver
including Fiction, Lucy Mae Brown and Century. His staff have included
people such as Andrey Durbach (Parkside, La Buca, Pied a Terre), Nico
Shuermans (Chambar), Andre McGillavray (Boneta), and brings a tremendous
passion for the local dining scene, and the people involved. "The brand of
a boutique hotel must be tied to the people involved, it must have a heart,
a soul so to speak, if it is to be truly boutique," says Sherwood.

The F&B program will be a continuation of that philosophy, and with the
hiring of Mr. Sherwood, the search begins for a chef who will best deliver
on a program of local, sustainable and ultimately west coast cuisine.

"This location is perfect. You will be able to feel the pulse of the
city while sitting on our rooftop lounge with a glass of Okanagan wine and
some Saltspring Island cheese," quoted Sean Sherwood.

"Mr. Sherwood is building the buzz and the awareness of this fantastic
new hotel. Our focus right now is doing our raises so that our new director
of operations can put his fine plans for the hotel into action," quoted
company President, Graham Alexander.

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: The statements in
the press release that relate to the Company's expectations with regard to
the future impact on the Company's results from acquisitions or actions in
development are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements in this
document may also contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Since this information may contain
statements that involve risk and uncertainties and are subject to change at
any time, the company's actual results may differ materially from expected
result


For Further Information please contact:
Graham Alexander
President, Director
Rancho Santa Monica Developments, Inc.
604-689-0938 or
604-537-5905
[email protected]
http://www.rsdv.net

[jlousa]

It's a shame I guess Nelson Skalbania was already busy. Maybe they need to team up with Chandler developments while they're at it. They could use his expertise.

[Hed Kandi]

Originally Posted by jlousa

The plan is to get rid of the loops.

Any timeline?

[officedweller]

The Cressey project is supposed to be compatible with the street configuration after the loops are removed - i.e. not many blank walls on the alley marked "Rolston Cres." on the DP sign pictured above.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by Hed Kandi

Any timeline?

Yeah that was actually my question XD They said they'll get rid of it for a while now, and it was even in the 2004 DTP but nothing's been done =(

[officedweller]

BTW - the lighting feature atop L'Hermiatge does look great - the colour progresses across the width of the tower and then doubles back with a different colour - I don't think it travels around all 4 sides in one sequence - I think each side has it's own sequence, but I could be wrong.

One dumb thing is that the opaque spandrel panels go right to the top of the tower - i.e. even on the freestanding curtain wall part around the top - so those spandrel panels block the coloured lighting whereever they occur.

[leftside]

Looks like the Greenwich project by Concord Pacific at 58 West Hastings might be in danger of being rejected. Apparantly the "activists" have kicked up a real fuss about this one, as they are concerned their community of drug takers and drug dealers might be upset with "regular" folk moving into the neighbourhood.

There is a City board meeting scheduled for June 23rd to discuss the issue. You can sign up to speak at the board meeting, but I wouldn't advise it. The last one I went to consisted of a bunch of "activists" who were ready to lynch anyone who opposed their views.

You can also send an email to Alison Higginson[[email protected]] to lend support to the project (or voice concerns - if you are so inclined)

[jlousa]

It's just paperwork, the project will go ahead regardless of the activists. The only issue is they have asked for an increase in height due to the main level being CRU I beleive the increase is either 2 or 4ft in height. So even if they make alot of noise and manage to disallow the increase in height the project will still go ahead, the retail will just get stuck with normal height ceilings. They are not asking to change exisiting zoning for this project.

[leftside]

Ok, thanks for that.

[Jacques]

Looks like the Greenwich project by Concord Pacific at 58 West Hastings might be in danger of being rejected. Apparently the "activists" have kicked up a real fuss about this one, as they are concerned their community of drug takers and drug dealers might be upset with "regular" folk moving into the neighbourhood.
🞵🞵🞵 and a crock of 🞵🞵🞵🞵
let the drug takers and the drug dealers go elsewhere

[hollywoodnorth]

Business in Vancouver May 13-19, 2008; issue 968

Vancouver planning to lease Storyeum site to house bowling alley and European furniture store

City staff hammering out final agreements to fill vacant Gastown location

Andrew Petrozzi

A high-end furniture retailer and family bowling and entertainment centre will likely be the first tenants in the vacant Gastown building formerly occupied by Storyeum.

John Breckner, associate director, real estate services, for the City of Vancouver, said discussions with potential tenant Eco Fitness LP ran aground on zoning issues.

City council had given the go-ahead January 31 to begin lease negotiations with Eco Fitness. The approval was based on a January 15 staff report recommending the American fitness company’s plan to open a 24-hour 31,544-square-foot gym fronting onto Cordova Street.

Council simultaneously approved the staff recommendation that the remaining 72,456 square feet, including the Water Street frontage, be leased.

However, Breckner said that while staff waited for council’s decision on the report, it was approached by Mona Euro Furniture Ltd. The high-end furniture dealer, which has retail outlets in Iran and Germany, had not been involved in the previous request for proposal process. But after council approved marketing the space, the city offered to lease Mona Euro roughly 27,000 square feet of the building on the Water Street side, including the basement. While the use fits the zoning, the store’s proposed floor plate will require a variance, which Breckner said would likely be successful.

After Eco Fitness bowed out of negotiations, the city approached Surrey’s Xcalibur Bowling & Entertainment Ltd. to review its proposal. Xcalibur had been one of three staff selections considered in the January 15 report. Breckner said staff had not recommended its proposal to council because Xcalibur had requested a percentage rent formula.

He said the city is now hashing out the final details of a conditional lease offer to Xcalibur, which has proposed a 76,000-square-foot bowling and entertainment centre that includes a licensed restaurant and lounge, a youth lounge, day-care facilities and a children’s activity room.

“The money they’re going to invest into the building makes us comfortable with their plan in the sense that they have a lot at stake,” Breckner said. “They’ve agree to pay us a reasonable base rent and then a percentage of gross revenue.”

Breckner declined to provide any financial terms of either lease.

But he said both have been offered “as is, where is” lease agreements. The city has retained a project manager and an electrical/mechanical team to divide the building into two premises.

He said city revenue from the lease agreements will be “significantly greater” than what was being generated from Storyeum.

The Gastown Business Improvement Society is comfortable with another furniture store in the neighbourhood, although Breckner said there’s concern about its size and knowledge of the local market.

Nearby Inform Interiors is concerned that should Mona fail, it would reflect poorly on the business and the area’s retail environment, he said.

Breckner said calls to chop up Storyeum’s Water Street frontage into smaller retail units are not financially practical. He added that trying to lease the basement also poses unique challenges.

Mona Euro could open for business in the fall, with the front of the store partitioned from the rear where the city would be working, said Breckner. Xcalibur’s proposal is at least two years away from being instituted.

“It has taken longer than anybody hoped,” Breckner said. “We’re a little different than a private owner, and we do move perhaps a little slower because of our process here.” •

[Delirium]

^ thanks. I think the bowling alley/entertainment centre is great use of that space and should keep the area busy. hope it moves forward.

not too keen on another furniture store though. the ones we currently have on water st. always seem dead.

are there any plans for the cordova frontage? that stretch is pretty barren (facing woodwards).

[SFUVancouver]

East


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Carrall Street Greenway


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Beautiful Chinatown Restored Bldg (It won the 2009 Lt. Governor General's award for architecture)


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Woodwards


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.

Woodwards growing behind the wonderfully restored Flack Block. Just look at that entranceway.

Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.


Waterfront Station expansion for the Canada Line


Taken by SFUVancouver, May 13th, 2008.

[jlousa]

Another great set of pictures. Looks like you took some pictures in the middle of them moving the forms up for level 35 (The abbott tower will top out at the same height that the W tower is at right now.)

Also in the 4th pic you can see the site of Salients upcoming 99 Pender Project, should be interesting to see what Salient will do with a clean slate.

The Carrall St Greenway is looking impressive, can't wait to see it completed.

[SpongeG]

the flak looks nice

[officedweller]

Thanks!

The entrance to Flack looks way out of proportion with the rest of the building - wierd (i.e that it was origibally builtthat way) Hopefully the carving won't be trashed.

East would have looked better in a contrasting colour to its neighbours.