Downtown Vancouver Updates - Page 135

rather_draconian · #**2681** Posted **Nov 18, 2008, 5:21 PM**

Onni 1022, taken by Cult Iconic on flickr last month. Does this development include office space?

officedweller · #**2682** Posted **Nov 18, 2008, 7:16 PM**

Yeah, the 2nd and/or 3rd floor were supposed to be ONNI's corporate offices, but their project took too long so they leased space at L'Aria on Robson (3rd floor former health club).
BTW - walked by on Saturday after voting and there's brick on the podium just to the south of the part pictured - red brick - looks OK next to the brick on Freesia. The brick stops at the entrance to the tower and the rest of the podium will have the commercial curtain wall and probably painted concrete. The mullions are up on most of the commercial part facing Nelson and facing the alley (can't recall about the Seymour side). This shot could be old.

jlousa · #**2683** Posted **Nov 18, 2008, 11:48 PM**

If anyone is in the area they should take some pics of the Shaw X-mas tree, it's on the west plaza of Shaw Tower next to Thurlow St. It's 50ft tall and has 18,000 lights. Don't worry they're leds.

It looks pretty bad during the day but once lit up it looks good.

jlousa · #**2684** Posted **Nov 19, 2008, 5:35 AM**

Well the Opus hotel's rooftop restaurant was voted down tonight due to a David Cadman motion. The only ones that were in favour of it were a couple of the of the NPA councillors.

amac · #**2685** Posted **Nov 19, 2008, 7:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delirium

cbc update (from oct.25)

photo by elfrieda on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/elfrieda/3038242221/in/set-72157600460814759/

An ugly building deserves and ugly addition. Go CBC.

raggedy13 · #**2686** Posted **Nov 19, 2008, 8:13 AM**

^I actually like it so far. It's pretty basic but I like how the curves, glass, and clean white panels contrast with the drab, concrete bunker that is the original building.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlousa

Well the Opus hotel's rooftop restaurant was voted down tonight due to a David Cadman motion. The only ones that were in favour of it were a couple of the of the NPA councillors.

Ugh... what was the reasoning for this? I really hope this new council arrangement doesn't result in the NIMBY-fication of City Hall.

LeftCoaster · #**2687** Posted **Nov 19, 2008, 5:00 PM**

It doesn't look great from above, but it looks much better from the street... at least so far.

And City Hall will assuredly become much more NIMBY friendly. The NPA is about as developer friendly as city hall will ever get.

mr.x · #**2688** Posted **Nov 19, 2008, 6:29 PM**

^ well, it'll likely only be for the next three years right before everyone gets pissed off at the current council party and elects the NPA again. And it's not like we'll see any major developments (except for the current ones that have already been approved - but are being heldback by the financial crisis), being in a recession and all that will likely last for at least a year and perhaps up to three years or the effects of it lasting for three years, so a pro-NIMBY government would probably hamper little.

officedweller · #**2689** Posted **Nov 19, 2008, 8:37 PM**

I think the CBC broadcast pavillion lacks detail.

WRT the Opus Hotel - I don;t think that the rooftop restaurant was a good idea for that area. Maybe on Granville (but that still fronts condos) but better in the CBD.

zivan56 · #**2690** Posted **Nov 19, 2008, 9:50 PM**

They just need to power wash the old building. Look at SFU before and after they powerwashed the AQ last year.

officedweller · #**2691** Posted **Nov 20, 2008, 10:52 PM**

From the Vancouver Sun:

Quote:

Opus Hotel's proposed patio defeated

Marke Andrews, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 20, 2008

A controversial plan to open a 250-seat rooftop patio on the seven-storey Opus Hotel in Yaletown was defeated by a 5-2 vote at Vancouver city council.

Councillors David Cadman, Heather Deal, Tim Stevenson, Raymond Louie and B.C. Lee voted against the proposal, while outgoing Mayor Sam Sullivan and Coun. Suzanne Anton voted in favour on Tuesday night. Cadman also made a motion that council formulate policies with regard to rooftop patios.

"Council has seen, and the Opus has seen, that there's a real sense of community in Yaletown," said James MacKenzie, a nearby resident who opposed the project.

John Evans, president of Trilogy Properties Corp. and the developer, owner and manager of the Opus, said he will talk to city planning staff, who supported the proposal, and meet with the newly elected council in the new year before making any decisions about whether the hotel will try again.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Quote:

Residents win this round
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)

11/19/2008

They sat through six separate gatherings at City Hall for a decision to be made but for Yaletown residents opposed to a restaurant and bar atop the Opus Hotel, it was worth the wait.

Vancouver City Council has voted against a rezoning application by the Trilogy Yaletown Development Corporation in order to build a 250-seat establishment that supporters say would have added more to the neighbourhood than what it could have taken away.

But Jean Francois Guimond says he and other Yaletown residents had no choice but to oppose the proposal, as their concerns over increased noise and reduced privacy were simply ignored by the developer, "The area that we love about Yaletown has been changed by outsiders coming in and treating it as a party zone, and basically we don't want to be treated as a dirty Kleenex. essentially that's how we feel, we feel really beseiged."

Trilogy President and CEO John Evans declined to comment on Council's decision, but said he was open to reducing the capacity by 50 seats as a compromise.

Of the 180 people who spoke at the public hearing, nearly two-thirds opposed the application.

Metro-One · #**2692** Posted **Nov 20, 2008, 11:11 PM**

I love it when articles quote such things as "over two thirds of the people at the meeting were opposed to the project." Of course they were! People only show up to such events when they are opposed to something, but it doesn't mean that two thirds of the populous are opposed. Such as you don't see people organizing pro-Gateway rallies, many people support such measures, but are not as motivated to express their feelings as someone who is opposed to something.

This is not about this project in particular but all such articles.

raggedy13 · #**2693** Posted **Nov 21, 2008, 12:33 AM**

Quote:

But Jean Francois Guimond says he and other Yaletown residents had no choice but to oppose the proposal, as their concerns over increased noise and reduced privacy were simply ignored by the developer, "The area that we love about Yaletown has been changed by outsiders coming in and treating it as a party zone, and basically we don't want to be treated as a dirty Kleenex. essentially that's how we feel, we feel really beseiged."

If residents want privacy, all they have to do is close their blinds. Their privacy is their own responsibility, not the responsibility of the people living their lives on the other side of the window. And if they can live with the noise of constant street traffic and of the numerous patios that already line the streets there I don't see how one rooftop patio will make things so much more unbearable.

Also, how can they complain about "outsiders" changing Yaletown. It seems rather hypocritical of them. Yaletown has been in a constant state of change for the last few decades and virtually all the residents that live there now (including the one being quoted) took part in that change when they bought their new condos/lofts there so as far as I'm concerned they can take their sense of entitlement and exclusivity and cram it. Who are they to determine what a neighbourhood as "new" as Yaletown should be when they themselves are relatively recent arrivals on the scene?

duener · #**2694** Posted **Nov 21, 2008, 10:14 AM**

What ever happened to all the talk about expanding the sidewalk patio program? There was a lot of talk but nothing seems to have changed.

I think rooftop restaurants should be discouraged in favour of large street-side ones. When they're on the street they add to the vibrancy of the street; they also integrate better into the city making it feel more dynamic. Whereas roof top ones essentially segregate a group of people and there's no opportunity to watch people go by.

Maybe there's room to remove some parking spots and widen the sidewalks so Opus can put in this:

http://photos.igougo.com/images/p35145-Paris-Caf_du_March_Paris_France.jpg
Igougo image

officedweller · #**2695** Posted **Nov 21, 2008, 7:11 PM**

Having a rooftop patio for the types of "have to be seen at" events that the Opus Hotel hosts would be like having a boat cruise outside your 8th floor window every weekend. It wouldn't be the quiet sidewalk patio some people are envisaging.

officedweller · #**2696** Posted **Nov 21, 2008, 8:36 PM**

From the Sun:

Quote:

Developers found liable in investor suit
Financial projections for Westin Grand Hotel were overly optimistic and negligently prepared, judge rules

Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, November 21, 2008

VANCOUVER - The developers of the Westin Grand Hotel have been found liable to pay compensation to investors as a result of false financial projections that were overly optimistic, a judge has ruled.

The 1996 financial projections for the hotel, which opened in 1999 on the northwest corner of Robson and Homer, were not reasonable and were negligently prepared, B.C. Supreme Court Justice John Truscott found in a ruling released this week.

The judge found the developers and their directors liable to pay compensation to investors for making a material false statement under Section 59 of the Real Estate Act.

The financial statements projected occupancy rates for the hotel would be 72 per cent, at an average room rate of $167, during the hotel's first year of operation. They said it would reach 80 per cent occupancy by 2003, when average room rates would climb to about $200 a night.

The 207-room hotel, jointly developed by Trilogy and Cressey Development, sold out every strata unit offered -- a total of $42 million, at an average price of $225,000 -- in less than a week.

"This hotel has never performed anywhere near what had been projected as reasonable," said Brad Dixon, the lawyer representing half the plaintiffs, who are unit owners collectively known as Strata Plan LMS 3851.

"The false comparisons were based on the hotel outperforming its competitors," he said.

Some investors were from Asia but most were local people investing for retirement income, Dixon said.

Still to be proven in court during the next phase of civil trial is whether the investors relied upon the unreasonable financial projections to purchase strata units, the lawyer said.

The next phase of the trial may be delayed because the defendants plan to appeal the liability ruling, Dixon added.

The court found liability against the defendants Homer Street Development Limited Partnership (formerly Cressey Homer Limited Partnership), Trilogy Robson Development Limited Partnership and 455322 British Columbia Ltd., carrying on business as The Grand Development Partnership, Cressey Development Corporation, and 511953 British Columbia Ltd., formerly Trilogy Pacific Enterprises Corporation.

The directors -- Norman Cressey, Joan Cressey, Scott Cressey, John Evans, Jonathon Wener and Douglas Pascal -- also were found liable.

The judge found the unreasonable occupancy projections were done by MM&R Valuation Services, Inc., doing business as HVS Hospitality Valuation Services Canada.

"The defendant HVS owed the plaintiffs a duty of care in preparing its opinions and the standard of care was that of reasonable care and skill of a hotel valuator," the judge said in a written judgment. "The projected occupancy rates for the Westin Grand Hotel for the period 1999-2003 were unreasonable and ... were negligently formulated by HVS."

The judgment is available online at: http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/Jdb-txt/SC/08/15/2008BCSC1564.htm

[email protected]

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

jlousa · #**2697** Posted **Nov 21, 2008, 10:37 PM**

Looks like the St Regis has finished with their renos, they spent over $11Million sprucing the place up. After looking at their site the place looks pretty damn good and the prices are dirt cheap. Some of the bigger hotels should visit their website and learn what a proper website looks like.

http://www.stregishotel.com/

vanlaw · #**2698** Posted **Nov 22, 2008, 12:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlousa

Looks like the St Regis has finished with their renos, they spent over $11Million sprucing the place up. After looking at their site the place looks pretty damn good and the prices are dirt cheap. Some of the bigger hotels should visit their website and learn what a proper website looks like.

http://www.stregishotel.com/

Agreed - there is really no excuse for a decent sized business having a crappy website these days. There have been a few in the past few weeks from major companies (can’t recall exactly which ones) that were so crappy they astounded me.

dreambrother808 · #**2699** Posted **Nov 22, 2008, 2:50 AM**

Pacific Centre is a good example. Very basic website.

Hed Kandi · #**2700** Posted **Nov 23, 2008, 1:39 AM**

Bank pulls funding on luxury Jameson House condo project
$180-million downtown Vancouver tower featured conveyor belt to park resident's vehicles
Susan Lazaruk

Province

Sunday, November, 16, 2008

A room with a simulated view in Jameson House's presentation centre. Photograph by : Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province

A splashy jewel of a downtown condo development -- which included plans for a parking lot in which residents' cars would be whisked away on a conveyor belt -- has been put on hold after a bank pulled funding, the latest in a growing list of failed residential projects.

The sales presentation for Jameson House, a 37-storey tower on West Hastings Street near Hornby, was closed and dark yesterday, a regular sales day.

At the site, a crane sat idle and there was no activity in the partially completed seven-storey-deep hole at the $180-million project that was scheduled to be finished by spring 2010.

Developer Tony Pappajohn of Jameson Developments Corp. confirmed in media reports a major unidentified Canadian bank had withdrawn its loan, despite pre-sales of 105 of the 144 upscale suites ranging from $500,000 to more than $5 million.

He couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

At an average price of $3 million for each suite, buyers had committed over $300 million in total sales and had put down secured deposits of 15 to 25 per cent.

The project was being marketed by Vancouver condo king Bob Rennie. He didn't return a message yesterday.

The development also included several floors of office space, a majority of which was spoken for, and retail on the ground floor.

"This is not a surprising development in this economic climate," said Peter Simpson of the B.C. Home Builders Association.

"When the banks look at its economics and if its economics don't work, they won't advance the money."

He said banks are being "very vigilant" these days.

"He may have done nothing wrong, but he got caught up in the global economic restructuring," he said.

"The banks aren't willing to take risk."

Jameson Developments is looking for another investor or to sell the project.

The space-age-looking tower with rounded corners, designed by famed London architects Foster and Partners, was described as minimalist and "sexy" by Rennie two years ago.

The kitchens were to include countertop islands that could be hydraulically raised and lowered and the suites were to have in-floor radiant heating throughout.

They were to include membership in the exclusive Terminal City Club across the street and the robotic parking lot.

Jameson House is one of several condo projects suspended or halted, including:

- Onni Group's the Whittaker in New Westminster and its proposed V6A development in Vancouver's Chinatown.

- Two Surrey residential towers, Infinity and Sky Towers.

- Lucaya, a $30-million condo development in Kelowna, and Capella, a $1.4-billion luxury project on Vancouver Island.

- Millennium's $400-million Evelyn towers near Park Royal mall in West Vancouver.

- The $500-million-plus downtown Vancouver Ritz-Carlton hotel-condo project has also been put on hold.

"There is no precedent for what's happening today," said Simpson.

But he said banks are continuing to lend money to clients with a long history with them. He added that the West Coast is better positioned to rebound than other areas.
© The Vancouver Province 2008