Downtown Vancouver Updates - Page 372

phesto · #**7421** Posted **May 9, 2011, 7:31 PM**

150 Robson Street (Catholic Charities Building) is up for sale.

Surely it will be redeveloped, but I'm not sure if the site is big enough for a tower...the view cone on the site limits height to about 290 ft.

wrenegade · #**7422** Posted **May 9, 2011, 7:35 PM**

You don't consider 290' to be a tower? It's no skyscraper, but it's definitely a decent sized building.

edit: The current building is from 1929 and is listed on the Heritage register. I'm sure redevelopment would have to maintain at least some form of the current building.

phesto · #**7423** Posted **May 9, 2011, 7:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by awvan

You don't consider 290' to be a tower? It's no skyscraper, but it's definitely a decent sized building.

Poor phrasing on my part. If the site size and existing building will allow a tower, it could go to 290 ft.

trofirhen · #**7424** Posted **May 9, 2011, 8:01 PM**

I just googled the building in question (150 Robson) and it seems an understatedly fine piece of work. I hope they keep it if they redevelop the site. ( ... and boy, has the view down around there changed ......)

officedweller · #**7425** Posted **May 9, 2011, 8:22 PM**

Chances are a developer will buy the Trap & Gill site next door, place the tower there and maybe add a few floors to the existing Catholic Charities Building for a podium?
It's a fairly narrow lot with the alley in behind though - maybe a slab tower?

entheosfog · #**7426** Posted **May 10, 2011, 2:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trofirhen

I just googled the building in question (150 Robson) and it seems an understatedly fine piece of work. I hope they keep it if they redevelop the site. ( ... and boy, has the view down around there changed ......)

Here's the building in question:

Archdiocese of Vancouver Building by entheos_fog, on Flickr

I hope they keep it as well but the trap and gill can go. But I would love to see the empty lot across the street developed first.

jlousa · #**7427** Posted **May 10, 2011, 3:24 AM**

I imagine there will be a sizable social contribution required as a condition of the sale.
Depending on the condition and construction of the existing building it might be possible to strength it up and build a couple of additional recessed floors over top. Think you would need to include the Trap and Grill site, hard to believe nothing has ever been viable there, nor across the street at the chophouse location. While the city would likely be willing to lower requirements for this site if the building is retained, the fact is the market still demands parking even if the consumer doesn't need it. On a small project it's easy to find enough consumers to buy the units, but on something that might reach 290 feet and possible ~250units it will require quite a bit of parking.
Digging on the Trap site down 5 levels would provide enough parking for a chunk of the units and be able to provide a few carshare stalls.

officedweller · #**7428** Posted **May 10, 2011, 4:32 AM**

The Raffles complex was built on the former Catholic Charities parking lot - I seem to recall that there may have been a requirement that there be parking provided to the Catholic Charities in the Raffles building(?) And if so, I wonder if it would be transferrable to a new owner of the charities building or whether it was personal to the Catholic diocese.

Found it:

Quote:

While 272 parking spaces are required for the proposed development [Raffles], 332 spaces are proposed: 282 to serve the proposed development and 50 spaces, through off-site parking agreement, to serve a site across the street at 150 Robson Street (Catholic Charities).

http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20050120/ph4.htm

I suppose the terms of that Off-Site Parking Agreement would determine whether those 50 spaces are transferrable to a new owner of the Catholic Charities Building. Conceivably, they could be transferrable (it would certainly have been wise to do so since it would help the heritage building retain value on any subsequent sale).

If a new development has parking under the Trap and Gill site plus the parking across the street at raffles, maybe the Trap and Gill parking would be for the tower and the Raffles parking could be allocated to the podium in and above the hertiage building (maybe even commercial space?).

On a related note - the Electra (former BC Hydro Building) has off-site parking in the parkade of the Electric Avenue Building.

flight_from_kamakura · #**7429** Posted **May 10, 2011, 5:59 AM**

the trap and gill site would likely be able to support two floors for commercial in the podium, with a restaurant at second level at the minimum. i'd guess given the proximity to the stadium that this would come in on the lower end of the residential spectrum, meaning that the site might work best as an hotel. but given the capacity issues (and the fact that the casino just doesn't feel dead), it doesn't seem likely that the hilton would be resuscitated there or that another hotel would jump in, even if it would be a great place for it, does it?

whatever happens, assuming street-level retail, i'd watch anything rise on this site with barely contained glee, just love the way in which this stretch of robson has filled out. it's just a couple more pieces now...

golog · #**7430** Posted **May 10, 2011, 6:03 AM**

there's a development notice board posted at the triangle shaped parking lot west of the onramp to the Cambie bridge downtown

6 stories, 80 units

jlousa · #**7431** Posted **May 10, 2011, 1:59 PM**

phesto · #**7432** Posted **May 10, 2011, 4:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by officedweller

The Raffles complex was built on the former Catholic Charities parking lot - I seem to recall that there may have been a requirement that there be parking provided to the Catholic Charities in the Raffles building(?) And if so, I wonder if it would be transferrable to a new owner of the charities building or whether it was personal to the Catholic diocese.

Found it:

http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20050120/ph4.htm

I suppose the terms of that Off-Site Parking Agreement would determine whether those 50 spaces are transferrable to a new owner of the Catholic Charities Building. Conceivably, they could be transferrable (it would certainly have been wise to do so since it would help the heritage building retain value on any subsequent sale).

If a new development has parking under the Trap and Gill site plus the parking across the street at raffles, maybe the Trap and Gill parking would be for the tower and the Raffles parking could be allocated to the podium in and above the hertiage building (maybe even commercial space?).

On a related note - the Electra (former BC Hydro Building) has off-site parking in the parkade of the Electric Avenue Building.

Good find. And yes, the 50 parking stalls are transferable, so that would help future redevelopment.

officedweller · #**7433** Posted **May 10, 2011, 6:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by flight_from_kamakura

the trap and gill site would likely be able to support two floors for commercial in the podium, with a restaurant at second level at the minimum. i'd guess given the proximity to the stadium that this would come in on the lower end of the residential spectrum, meaning that the site might work best as an hotel. but given the capacity issues (and the fact that the casino just doesn't feel dead), it doesn't seem likely that the hilton would be resuscitated there or that another hotel would jump in, even if it would be a great place for it, does it?

whatever happens, assuming street-level retail, i'd watch anything rise on this site with barely contained glee, just love the way in which this stretch of robson has filled out. it's just a couple more pieces now...

The stretch of Beatty from Georgia to Robson is probably one of the most densely packed blocks of separate hotels in the City. But another hotel at the Catholic Charities site would definitely bring more life to the area than a condo.

That end of Robson needs a retail drawing card though - like a grocery store in the heritage building (it's about the right size) - but with the stadium on one side, that limits the residential catchment area for customers. The Pharmasave in the Raffles building looks empty most of the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlousa

That's 1050 Expo which was just significantly reduced in scope. Haven't heard why, perhaps the province isn't as happy with the city as it used to be... just speculating though. Does seem like a misuse of space though,the old proposal was much more fitting.

I got a notification card in the mail yesterday for this.
Pretty disappointing that it's changing from 9-storey concrete building to a 6-storey wood frame building.

s211 · #**7434** Posted **May 10, 2011, 10:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlousa

Wow. There went the neighbourhood.

amor de cosmos · #**7435** Posted **May 11, 2011, 1:56 AM**

seems like the right thread for this...

Quote:

Vancouver rezones Cambie Street corridor for towers
CBC News
Posted: May 10, 2011 8:09 AM PT
Last Updated: May 10, 2011 12:45 PM PT

Vancouver's City Council has voted to allow developers to construct mid-rise buildings around the Canada Line Stations along sections of the Cambie Street corridor over the next few decades.

Council approved a plan to allow buildings up to 12 storeys in height on Monday night, and left room for them to go even higher around the Oakridge Mall near 41st Avenue and at the southern end of Cambie Street near Marine Drive.

Councillor Geoff Meggs says it makes sense to allow a denser mix of residential and commercial developments next to the major transit stations and bus stops located between 16th Avenue and Marine Drive.

The plan will add an additional 15,000 people to the Cambie corridor over the next few decades, but Meggs says it's not going to end up looking like the West End, which is dominated by high-rise buildings.

"This population will be spread out over the entire strip," he said.

"When you put in context, we expect 15,000 to live in the Olympic Village area when it's all done."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-co.../10/bc-vancouver-cambie-development.html

SpongeG · #**7436** Posted **May 11, 2011, 9:05 AM**

some one posted a while back about the building in the parking lot next to waterfront station being demolished - it is demolished now - but in this article they mention that parking lot as a prime spot for a public square - is that what they are going to do with it?

It would be great - i was down there last week and the area that overlooks the trains and the seabus etc had to have about a 20 or so people just hanging out along the fence checking things out - it would make a great square

delboy · #**7437** Posted **May 11, 2011, 2:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

some one posted a while back about the building in the parking lot next to waterfront station being demolished - it is demolished now - but in this article they mention that parking lot as a prime spot for a public square - is that what they are going to do with it?

It would be great - i was down there last week and the area that overlooks the trains and the seabus etc had to have about a 20 or so people just hanging out along the fence checking things out - it would make a great square

That would make a nice sqaure. There are a number of horrific parkades in this city. The one opposite waterfront station looks as though it may topple at any moment.

I imagine economy will get in the way of the city being able to convert these spaces any time soon and there will need to be more of a shift in the viability of these spaces.

Interesting article though. I was impressed to see the number of cars entering the city falling over the past 15 years. If the nevergreen gets built, I imagine we will see more of the same.

officedweller · #**7438** Posted **May 11, 2011, 7:31 PM**

As far as I know that square is privately owned (Cadillac Fairview ? (which owns The Station)) - however, Waterfront Transportation Hub plans have consistently shown that location as being a new road to access the port lands and link up with an eastward extension of Canada Place [Way].

Any viewpoints from that location will disappear in due course (like they did at Portal Park @ Thurlow & Hastings).

jlousa · #**7439** Posted **May 11, 2011, 8:41 PM**

OD is spot on. There is be no square there, there will be a modest building and a new roadway all further down the line.

LeftCoaster · #**7440** Posted **May 12, 2011, 11:48 PM**

It might not be that far down the line, Cadilllac is trying to move forward with the site, but is a bit behind the ball compared Bentall and Oxford. Still, if they find the right tenant it could move ahead quite quickly,