Downtown Vancouver Updates

[excel]

nice.

[Hed Kandi]

New high-density hub planned for False Creek
Four property owners are collaborating to create a cultural district near BC Place
Frances Bula

Sun

Saturday, May, 17, 2008

Computer-generated renderings show the changes planned for BC Place Stadium and the surrounding area, including a retractable roof and a waterfront site for a new Vancouver Art Gallery. Now property owners in the area are making plans for a cluster of mixed-use towers, hotels, multi-level walkways, green spaces, plazas and a ceremonial staircase to create an entertainment zone.



A Vancouver Art Gallery on the waterfront and a refurbished BC Place are only the first steps in what could be a new high-density urban entertainment/cultural hub on False Creek, the likes of which Vancouver has never seen.

The four property owners in the northeast sector of False Creek are collaborating to create a new district that would see a cluster of mixed-use towers, hotels, multi-level walkways, green spaces, plazas and a ceremonial staircase in the area around BC Place and the Plaza of Nations at the south foot of Georgia.

Those ideas have until now been working their way slowly through a high-level city planning review, with some uncertainty about whether city and developer visions for the district meshed.

The Plaza's owner, Canadian Metropolitan Properties, commissioned the London firm that includes renowned "eco-skyscraper" architect Ken Yeang to come up with a design, one that startled city planners last October with its soaring angular towers, sky walkways and density. The developer was told to take it away until the review is complete.

But the province's announcement Friday that the gallery will be built on the site of the old Expo 86 Enterprise Hall at the Plaza, which occupies a prominent position on False Creek, firmly orients the planning to the landowners' vision. It will require city planners to design a district to mesh with such a prominent cultural institution, and it will also force them to adjust their planning for a cultural precinct higher up Georgia, around the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

"We think the city now has the pieces to rethink this whole area," said James Cheng, the architect working with Canadian Metropolitan, which sold the land for the art gallery for $1 as part of a complex negotiation with the province. "And we think it's a very, very exciting vision."

He has developed a plan for the Plaza specifically and he is part of the collaborative landowners' team that has developed a plan for the whole area. Cheng said that plan will take Vancouver to a new level of innovation, beyond its current success with its podium-and-tower downtown that has achieved international recognition. The city was taken by surprise.

Deputy city manager Jody Andrews said staff only found out about the province's decision Friday morning, hours before the announcement.

Andrews refuted the idea that the city was bypassed, but he did say the city's two related planning reviews -- of northeast False Creek and of the cultural precinct -- will now have to be "re-reviewed."

"There's no question with this new announcement that we will have to factor that in. Staff are going to work very hard to fold that into the review."

Besides Canadian Metropolitan, the other owners in the district are Concord Pacific, with land on either side of the plaza, with whom Cheng also works; the province, which owns BC Place and land around it; and Aquilini Investments, which owns GM Place and land around it. Cheng said there has also been some discussion about the idea of relocating the existing casino, now in Enterprise Hall, to a large new River Rock-style facility on the Smithe side of BC Place. All four developers want to build towers of some description and one of the biggest debates between them and the city is what mix there should be of office and residential.

The city has been pushing to get developers to build office space in downtown Vancouver. Many of them, who have become accustomed to the dynamics and profit levels of the residential market, say there's not enough demand outside the central business district. The Aquilini group recently abandoned a project to build an office tower beside GM Place, saying it couldn't make it pay.

Cheng said if the area is going to work as an entertainment and culture hub, it has to have a strong proportion of residential property or it will be a dead zone at night.

Another issue that's being debated is how much activity to have on the waterfront, both on the private land and in the park that will be developed between the Plaza and Science World.

That's something that an American public-space expert, Fred Kent, also said when he did consultation work for the city recently, said Cheng.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008

[officedweller]

Typical City of Vancouver - sounds like we'll end up with a "standardized" design once the City decides what it wants (i.e. the usual):

The Plaza's owner, Canadian Metropolitan Properties, commissioned the London firm that includes renowned "eco-skyscraper" architect Ken Yeang to come up with a design, one that startled city planners last October with its soaring angular towers, sky walkways and density. The developer was told to take it away until the review is complete.

[subdude]

Robson street update:

Small condo project at Robson and Nicola nearing completion:


More info http://www.lestwarog.com/legacy/index.html

[Canadian Mind]

Well, tell the city you want somethign extravagant. geeze. I'd mail em and say i liek it. But what good am I sending a letter from CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick?

[jlousa]

Damn why didn't I read this before I emptied my paypal account.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/colum...5466b683-2c10-44ac-891d-1226b322d4cd&p=2

If you want to live dangerously, then the ParaYso Hotel project at 620 Seymour St. might be just the investment for you.
The project, as envisioned by promoter Graham Gordon Alexander, would consist of a 14-storey building containing 91 suites. Total cost would be $27 million.
Alexander's company, Rancho Santa Monica Developments Inc., plans to raise the money by offering convertible debentures paying 10.75 per cent per year. "It's the perfect time for a project like this," he told The Vancouver Sun in a story published on May 10.
I would suggest that no time is the perfect time for a project like this.
My first concern is that Graham has a sketchy background. He was licensed as a stock broker in December 1997 and worked at Canaccord Capital Corp. until May 2000, when he was fired for bad business practices.
While the Investment Dealers Association of Canada was investigating, Alexander found a new home at Global Securities Corp., a Vancouver brokerage firm that has a history of delinquent brokers, controversial dealings, and regulatory problems.
In June 2003, the IDA finally caught up to him. Rather than fight the matter, Alexander signed a settlement agreement admitting he had accepted a trade order from a client knowing it amounted to manipulative trading, and had accepted remuneration from a client in connection with the sale of shares to another client without his employer's knowledge or consent.
He was ordered to pay $35,000 in fines and costs, and slapped with a two-year licence suspension.

This is not the sort of thing a prospective investor wants to see on a promoter's curriculum vitae.

My second concern is that Graham's company, Rancho Santa Monica Developments, has not actually bought the proposed property location.

It has simply paid a $50,000 deposit on the total purchase price of $5.5 million. Another $2.45 million is due in installments over the next year, at which point the vendor will take back a $3-million mortgage.

Investors will not be able to get mortgage security until the property purchase has been completed. And if the deal is not completed, any installments paid to the vendor will remain with the vendor. This makes the deal very risky.

The only security that investors will get is a charge over all the assets of Rancho Santa Monica, which isn't much. This company trades on the lowly pink sheets in the United States at pennies. The book value of its equity was only $136,000 as of Feb. 29 (the date of its last financial report).

On its website, the company gives the impression it has a successful track record: "Our first hotel, located in the Mayan Riviera, Mexico, is doing fantastic. Now the hotel is full almost 365 days a year, an average of one beach wedding a week, and positive reviews featured in Zest magazine. Once we complete this deal, we plan to go to a more senior exchange such as Nasdaq or Amex. We will be ready!"
Not mentioned is the fact that the hotel only has 11 suites, and Rancho Santa Monica doesn't actually own the hotel, it simply manages it. All it owns is a piece of land behind the hotel, which it acquired in late 2005 for $80,000 in cash and notes. And due to Mexican law, this property cannot be pledged and there are severe resale restrictions, which means it has very questionable security value.

I think investors who are contemplating this deal might consider something less risky, like wrestling crocodiles in Zambezi or plunging over Niagara Falls in a styrofoam barrel.

[hollywoodnorth]

Business in Vancouver May 20-26, 2008; issue 969

Tech park ambitions adrift

Promise of Great Northern Way Campus unfulfilled as little progress made on 20-acre Vancouver site after more than six years

Ian Bickis

Metro Vancouver’s aspirations to build a technology park at the Great Northern Way Campus (GNWC) as part of wider ambitions to establish the region as an international technology hub appear to be as far from being realized as they were six years ago.

GNWC has no new construction scheduled since it lost the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability to UBC’s Point Grey campus in April. New building construction is now likely years away, and there’s no clear picture of what will be built on the campus or who will occupy the space. Finning International Corp. (TSX: FTT) donated the roughly 20 acres of False Creek Flats land to a consortium of Vancouver post-secondary schools in November 2001. But the property is still largely barren industrial land.

GNWC president Dennis Pavlich, however, is still optimistic about the campus: “I think we have made significant progress. There are some pretty big complicated chunks in this wonderful engagement that need to be defined and need to be synchronized, so that has taken a bit of time.”

The major success so far is the centre for digital media, which opened in September 2007 to house the masters of digital media program. Even that building, however, is a retrofit.

The digital media program is unique in that graduates are awarded degrees with the seals of the four institutions that co-operatively own the campus: the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

The plan is to do the same with all degrees awarded from the campus, something Pavlich said is being done nowhere else in the world. He said the possibilities are exciting, but co-ordinating between the four institutions has been a challenge.

“There’s a lot of distinguishment that exists at least within universities. It’s a form of academic snobbery to be blunt.”

Along with pioneering a new academic collaboration, GNWC has been hailed as the next major technology park. It also has ambitions to be a hub for sustainability and the arts. But while the academic model is in place, the money isn’t coming in to develop the site. Pavlich said finance is a major hurdle for the project: “we’re always having to face the question of money.”

GNWC board chairman Warren Gill added that the private sector has not been forthcoming. “No one is beating down our door to buy land from us.”

The board has therefore organized a series of meetings, or charettes, this summer with stakeholders to find out how best to proceed.

Pavlich said one of the charettes’ purposes is to find out from companies what will make the development attractive to them and what the key planning ingredients are.

The IT industry met May 7 with board members to give input. Pascal Spothelfer, president of the B.C. Technology Industry Association, said there’s a lot of potential for the site, but the GNWC board needs to get moving.

“Listening to some people, they find it amazing that the four academic institutions have gotten this far. I think the faster the better, and it’s certainly time to get something going there. There has to be a plan, there has to be a timeline and there have to be numbers on the table.”

Mark Betteridge, executive director and CEO of Discovery Parks, said the board needs to develop a clear vision and stick to it. He said the vision GNWC released in February is too long and lacks focus .

Betteridge and BCTIA acknowledged that combining technology, sustainability and the arts in an academic framework takes more time than a pure tech facility like the Vancouver Island Technology Park.

They also pointed out that the False Creek Flats site presents a huge opportunity and that the IT industry is watching it closely, but more needs to be done before it will invest.

Gill also emphasized that the importance of the land was another reason it was taking so long to develop the site. “You want to do it right. It’s such a critical piece of land,” said Gill. “It’s a legacy and a responsibility.” •

[hollywoodnorth]

Opening doors

Another type of restraint on development could be lifted after Vancouver city councillors voted in favour of scrapping a provision that had long required redevelopment projects in the Oppenheimer district (an area including Hastings Street from Heatley to Columbia, and the district north to Alexander Street from Main to Heatley) to allocate at least 20% of newly developed area above 1.0 FSR to social housing regardless of whether the project was residential, commercial or industrial.

No such provision is in place for any other area of the city, and city councillors voted to eliminate the requirement for the Oppenheimer district. The move promises to create a better environment for new commercial and industrial projects in an area that’s attracting greater interest from residential developers and others. The May 1 vote promises to open the door to development of commercial capacity to meet the needs of newcomers and create jobs for area residents.

While revitalization is often a code-word for gentrification and displacement, groups such as Building Opportunities with Business Inner City Society and Junebug Enterprises are working to stop displacement by helping to secure space for small businesses. Junebug has opened three locations on both Hastings and Main streets – art studios with retail shops at the front.

Council’s vote isn’t a done deal, however: the community must be consulted on the required amendments to the Oppenheimer district plan. Moreover, the city plans a full-fledged review of zoning in the Oppenheimer district in 2009.Next year’s review, says Jessica Chen, senior planner responsible for the Downtown Eastside, will ensure that district zoning meets housing objectives – both market and non-market – for the area as well as economic revitalization objectives.

[jlousa]

Deasine, use your program on the following file and post the pics.

http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20080527/documents/a9.pdf

COV is going to spend $450,000 to re-install a gantry crane on parcel 5 at SEFC.

[phesto]

Originally Posted by jlousa

The only security that investors will get is a charge over all the assets of Rancho Santa Monica, which isn't much. This company trades on the lowly pink sheets in the United States at pennies. The book value of its equity was only $136,000 as of Feb. 29 (the date of its last financial report).

On its website, the company gives the impression it has a successful track record: "Our first hotel, located in the Mayan Riviera, Mexico, is doing fantastic. Now the hotel is full almost 365 days a year, an average of one beach wedding a week, and positive reviews featured in Zest magazine. Once we complete this deal, we plan to go to a more senior exchange such as Nasdaq or Amex. We will be ready!"
Not mentioned is the fact that the hotel only has 11 suites, and Rancho Santa Monica doesn't actually own the hotel, it simply manages it. All it owns is a piece of land behind the hotel, which it acquired in late 2005 for $80,000 in cash and notes. And due to Mexican law, this property cannot be pledged and there are severe resale restrictions, which means it has very questionable security value.

I think investors who are contemplating this deal might consider something less risky, like wrestling crocodiles in Zambezi or plunging over Niagara Falls in a styrofoam barrel.

LOL, you can't make this stuff up!

[jlousa]

An update on the Emery Barnes park I know a few of you are interested in.

There is copy of what it will look like here.

http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/board/2008/080526/emery_barnes_park_phase2_app1.pdf

Phase 2 is set to commence, the total park will be just under 9000sq meters, not a bad size.
Here is a report on it from the Parks board.

http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/parks/board/2008/080526/emery_barnes_park_phase2.pdf

[ahill]

I'm glad to see that park finally moving forward. But I thought that the original concept was for a more open design so that the park could be used as an outdoor venue for films presented on the front of the film centre on Seymour. Maybe I just imagined that.

[flight_from_kamakura]

thanks jlousa, awesome news.

here's the plan:

[raggedy13]

Looks like we'll be getting some great green space additions. Thanks for all the info jlousa.

[deasine]

I'm so happy they are getting rid of the small crappy buildings/shops on Seymore =)

[SpongeG]

speaking of parks when is nelson going to be done? they still have the fencing up

and the last few times i have passed it its actually being used - people enjoying it and the new playground looks good and useful

[worldwide]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Deasine, use your program on the following file and post the pics.

http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20080527/documents/a9.pdf

COV is going to spend $450,000 to re-install a gantry crane on parcel 5 at SEFC.

[Delirium]

here's a couple shots i took last night from a friend's place..

Donovan (1022 living is behind it on the right)


H&H - gets my vote for one of the blandest new buildings around.


i wasn't able to get a picture of it but Townline installed a huge scale model of 999 seymour in their sales office on Homer. it looks really good!

[excel]

^dont know how buildings like that are designed and constructed in downtown vancouver.

[agrant]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

speaking of parks when is nelson going to be done? they still have the fencing up

and the last few times i have passed it its actually being used - people enjoying it and the new playground looks good and useful

I believe the fencing was part of the plan. It would be for dog owners wanting to let them run off leash.