Downtown Vancouver Updates

[Vancity]

Why would the city redirect office developers to Surrey and Burnaby? They should build them in the downtown core.

[Spork]

Originally Posted by Vancity

Why would the city redirect office developers to Surrey and Burnaby? They should build them in the downtown core.

Exactly. That would create a reverse commute. A livable region is all about balancing the amount of residential and commercial in one area, not increasing residential to an infinite level. This would just make the Downtown more of a super-dense suburb.

[ckkelley]

Level, Dovovan update





Pictures by me.

[phesto]

Austeville had been planning an office development on the Budget site on and off for the last few years and had several informal discussions with the City - not sure how far along it got, but for whatever reason they couldn't make it work, even at the peak of the office market.

Officedweller - I agree, I think apartment use is inappropriate for a central site on Georgia. Hard to feel sorry for Geller/Austeville since surely they knew the City's policy direction was towards commercial only. Proposing apartments sounds like a last-ditch attempt to develop the site in the short-term (since the City seems so keen on apts right now).

[vanman]

Geller wants more debate and is not opposed to another solution, as laid out in region's growth strategy. Rather than lose residential development in downtown, the city could direct office developers to Burnaby and Surrey.

Good thing this idiot is not on city council.

[vanman]

Originally Posted by Architype

'Greenest city' plan touts economic growth
Renowned environmentalist advocates planned recession, higher density

I somewhat agree with some of the concepts of Bill Rees, but in that article he comes off looking like a condescending hypocrite:

On a couch in the spacious living room of his heritage home, nestled among trees in a quiet corner of Dunbar, University of B.C. professor Bill Rees adjusts his eyeglasses, strokes his salt-and-pepper beard and leans forward to speak.

So he lives in a sprawled out leafy suburb.......

He created the "ecological footprint" method of measuring human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. A respected and admired voice in North America's environmental movement, he's advised governments and politicians, including former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan who enlisted Rees as an unpaid adviser for the city's EcoDensity initiative.

But he advocates the reduction of humanity's "eco footprint"

He takes dead aim at Vancouver's condo development boom, which has speckled the city's skyline with construction cranes and high rise apartment buildings, and the venerated LEED system, which rates new buildings on their water efficiency, construction pollution, public transit access and other environmental considerations.

"The big companies spend years mining the resources and the building's create huge daily electrical bills, but because it's LEED certified they say it's good for the planet. No! It's grey, it's not green."

But he thinks that somehow LEED certified condos are bad for the environment!!! This guy needs to take a look in the mirror.

[rather_draconian]

This Geller guy seems to be spewing — just to protect his own developer oriented interests. The CBD should remain commercially oriented. There are tons of condos around the CBD, and residential is threatening commercial uses, and has been for some time. When there's a surplus of residential and a lack of commercial, don't you think it makes sense to protect current commercial and expand zoning for it?

[quobobo]

Originally Posted by rather_draconian

This Geller guy seems to be spewing — just to protect his own developer oriented interests. The CBD should remain commercially oriented. There are tons of condos around the CBD, and residential is threatening commercial uses, and has been for some time. When there's a surplus of residential and a lack of commercial, don't you think it makes sense to protect current commercial and expand zoning for it?

If residential prices are high enough to make developers more interested in residential units, that's a pretty obvious price signal - the general public wants more residential downtown, this isn't only because of a "greedy" developer.

(just playing devil's advocate, I haven't really made up my mind about this policy either way)

[jlousa]

Geller is actually one of the most respected guys out there, I was surprised when he ran for council. I disagree with him on this issue but i understand his concerns and they are valid. Anytime you regulate something you lose efficiency and lose flexibility.

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by vanman

I somewhat agree with some of the concepts of Bill Rees, but in that article he comes off looking like a condescending hypocrite:

So he lives in a sprawled out leafy suburb.......

But he advocates the reduction of humanity's "eco footprint"

It says he lives in Dunbar, along with West Point Grey the only other neighbourhood to border the UEL/UBC. A 10 to 20 minute bike ride to his job. It makes sense to me...

I'm guessing you didn't think that one out before you posted.

The last bit he's also saying that its still less green than building nothing, which I guess is true.

[vanman]

^ Even if he does bike to work, my point is that living in a single family house is vastly more inefficient than living in a highrise, let alone a LEED certified one. He uses the same logic as the CATO Institute. Of course a large building is going to use more resources than a small dwelling, that is obvious but irrelevant. What is important is the amount of resource consumption per capita of the residents, which I can guarantee is going to be much lower in a condo tower than in a detached home.

[TwoFace]

For all you boozers that can’t wait for the upcoming Liquor Store to open at the new Safeway on Robson/Denman, there is a new Wine & Beer store opening up at 1200 Block W. Pender (The Ritz Building).

[officedweller]

Thanks for the pics!

[sacrifice333]

Originally Posted by TwoFace

For all you boozers that can’t wait for the upcoming Liquor Store to open at the new Safeway on Robson/Denman, there is a new Wine & Beer store opening up at 1200 Block W. Pender (The Ritz Building).

Brilliant locale!

[officedweller]

From the Vancouver Sun - not sure how only having 20% of the stalls electrified will work since stalls are assigned to suites. Presumably on a resale you'd need to find a suite for sale (if any) that have that feature if you need it.
No indication if they are separately metered or if the strata will be fueling your car!

Downtown condo tower to be Canada’s first plug-in electric vehicle building

By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
May 6, 2009

Condo buyers at Concord Pacific’s new Cosmo building in downtown Vancouver will have the capacity to plug in and charge their electric vehicles.

“This is about sustainability,” Concord senior vice-president Peter Webb said in an interview after Wednesday’s announcement.

“We’re saying it’s no longer science fiction. It’s a reality. “It’s also not long before high-density projects without plug-in capability will be obsolete. It will be like buying a TV today without high definition. We think for the purchasers, this project will give them a longer market advantage.”

According to a release, the planned 23-storey building at the corner of Georgia and Beatty — to be ready for occupancy by 2012 — will have 220v plug-in capability in about 20 per cent of the stalls.

Webb said it will cost up to $5,000 per parking stall to be plug-in ready and that part of that cost could potentially be passed on the purchaser.

He also said that all of Concord’s future downtown towers will have plug-in capability, but that the company hasn’t decided if that’s the case for other areas.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a statement that Concord is showing leadership in pushing for electric vehicle infrastructure in their buildings.

“We're excited that Concord is leading on this green initiative — they’ve actually come out in front of our Greenest City Action Team’s recommendation to expand plug-in infrastructure across Vancouver. By providing the first 220v charging stations in a downtown building, Concord’s development is helping us to become the greenest city in the world, and make Vancouver a hub for electric car technology.”

Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association president Gerry Martselos also praised Concord. “EV charging is fast becoming a checklist item for future home buyers, as the majority of EV charging will be done overnight at home,” he said in a statement.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

[rather_draconian]

That's something to look forward to...a bit before its time but probably a wise decision. Architecturally speaking, I am just waiting to be hugely underwhelmed by yet another Concord building.

[WarrenC12]

The strata will probably be fueling your car. Which I'd be ok with, many buildings already have shared natural gas, which is far more expensive.

Most stratas also get bulk commercial rates on gas and electricity.

What kills me is the $5k price for "installation". Rip-off!

[rather_draconian]

Found this today...a similar article was published by the Vancouver Sun

Vancouver caps downtown condos to save office space
New policy reverses trend to move residents into business district
Last Updated: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | 9:12 AM PT

Vancouver city council voted Tuesday to limit residential development in the downtown core. (Mike Laanela/CBC)The City of Vancouver has voted to limit residential property development in the downtown core in order to allow more office space, reversing a policy that transformed the number of people living downtown over the past decade.

Council voted on Tuesday night to limit residential development within 17 square blocks of what is considered the central business district, centred around the intersection of Burrard Street and West Georgia Street. City staff said there will still be some mixed-use development allowed in about one-third of the space.

The move counters what has been called the livable city model developed by city planners over the past decade to encourage residential condominium construction inside the business district, a model of development that was copied by other cities around the world.

Coun. Raymond Louie said the regulations affect only about 15 per cent of the downtown peninsula and shouldn't change the feeling of life on streets downtown.

"What we've done is stabilize the speculation or reduce the speculation in the central business district, so that office space can be more affordable, because we do need to have a good mix of jobs and people living in the downtown core rather than just having people living or working in the area," said Louie.

Coun. Geoff Meggs said there is no longer a balance between residential and office development.

"We need to ensure that there is space and opportunity for economic activity, whether it is industrial, commercial or retail, [or] any of the other thing that have been set out … and I think it's very important in a period when we see such fundamental changes in the economy," said Meggs.

Over the past year, several high-profile developments that combined residential and commercial space in the downtown core, such as the Ritz-Carlton project, have been cancelled as a result of the global economic downturn.

But architect and developer Michael Geller, who ran against Meggs in the last municipal election, said the city should continue to allow mixed use in the downtown core by promoting options such as building residential units on top of businesses.

"We do have enough capacity in the downtown to anticipate all of the office growth and desired office growth in the next 15 to 20 years, and I still feel there's room for some housing as well to go along with it, to continue the tradition of Vancouver as a vibrant livable city," said Geller.

[djh]

Can you imagine the future draw on the electric grid at 5:30-6:30pm, when everybody comes home from work, plugs-in their electric car, goes up in their condo lift, plugs in their kettle and turns-on their 40" TV?
I remember a few years ago the city was upgrading the substations in Vancouver because they were near capacity. So if we start having electric cars becoming common, we're going to hit that limit really soon.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by vanman

^ Even if he does bike to work, my point is that living in a single family house is vastly more inefficient than living in a highrise, let alone a LEED certified one. He uses the same logic as the CATO Institute. Of course a large building is going to use more resources than a small dwelling, that is obvious but irrelevant. What is important is the amount of resource consumption per capita of the residents, which I can guarantee is going to be much lower in a condo tower than in a detached home.

i would love to see the math for this equation.

i have some doubts that a large tower is significantly more efficient than a detached home (per capita) and serious doubts that a tower is more efficient than regular wooden townhouses or lowrises.

the amount of concrete in a tower is incredible. then there is all the hallways, pools, work out rooms, and common areas need to be heated, lighted and maintained. as well as the large windows, elevators, storage areas, underground parking.....