General Vancouver Updates

[Conrad]

Does anybody know what's going on with the HQ Living development on Marine Drive? There has been no activity in months and no new news on their website. It looks as though the project has stalled. Demolition of the existing buildings hasn't even begun.

[red-paladin]

Originally Posted by jlousa

I agree with a current stalling within the dtes, as much as it's improved, the closing of Boneta's original location, the announced closing of NOOD and the still empty Storyuem location and the old crappy Subway. The area needs another wave of life breathed into it. There does appear to be some work taking place on the Cordova side of Storyeum although I've heard no rumours of why or what, and 60 W Cordova will start being occupied in about a month.
I think the lack of Greenwich being built on the 0 blk of W. Hastings could have siginicate negative consequences for quite a while.
I still hopefully though that the Budget site and even the MacDonalds site might see activity within the next several years.

I sure wish the big empty lots on Hastings there would be filled:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=49.28186,-123.105594&spn=0.002488,0.004823&t=h&z=18&vpsrc=6
Dows anyone know what the whole stories are with those two? It's probably been mentioned but I can't remember.

[jlousa]

The large 7 lot assembled on the south side are/were owned by Concord Pacific are it was supposed to be a 7 storey market housing project called Greenwich. Concord meet a lot of opposition and as far as I know they wanted/did pawn of the property to the COV as part of CACs for their Colours/Panaroma project at the Cambie bridgehead.

The NE lot at Hastings and Abbott is owned by Holborn, not sure what their plans are with it, and don't know if they own the two single storey lots immediately to the east. With the success that Salient and Westbank have had in the area they can't be waiting for demand. I can only guess that they are hoping for height limits to be further reduced at some future date, but the allowable height and density are already extremely favourable for development. Perhaps just another holding investment.

[leftside]

The demand is definitely there in the area. This place (opposite Pigeon Park!) has almost completely sold out:
http://www.thesalientgroup.com/news/

That development has certainly helped clean up Carrall Street. A lot of the units overlook the alley where a lot of the dealings and drug taking used to happen. There were people in the neighborhood complaining that the drug users privacy was being invaded....

Lot's of small projects/bars/restaurants/stores still happening, but certainly a shame to see Nood closing. I've done a lot of shopping there. I see the large space on the NW corner of Water and Carrall where a large furniture store (forgotten its name) used to be has been leased though.

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

Isn't Vancouver Film School taking part of the Storyeum space?

http://vancouver.openfile.ca/vancouver/file/2011/03/saying-goodbye-gastowns-storyeum

seems you are correct.

For the past year, artists and partygoers have flocked to the Gastown Parkades, the large warehouse-style space currently known as the W2 Storyeum.

The multi-storey, city-owned structure on Cordova Street has housed W2 Community Media Arts since April 2010, and as of May 1 it will be handed over to the Vancouver Film School.

VFS has occupied part of the space for six months now, using the basement as a studio for film projects and sets. But according to the city’s real estate department, the school’s tenancy is not permanent.

“We’ve entered into an agreement with the Vancouver Film School on a month-to-month basis,” says John Breckner, associate director of negotiations for Real Estate Services.

[jlousa]

I'm not so sure, they were using it, but as of last month the place was stripped clear and they are now putting up walls. No idea if it's still for VFS or if it's something else.

[incognism]

Good to see VFS aggressively expanding lately. With the film industry the way it is has been in Vancouver, I suppose this is a given.

Haven't seen this mentioned but I'm sure most people know that they've taken over the old Omni studio space on the corner of Columbia/Pender. Omni has moved in with CityTV on West 2nd.

[VancouverPM]

Originally Posted by Conrad

Does anybody know what's going on with the HQ Living development on Marine Drive? There has been no activity in months and no new news on their website. It looks as though the project has stalled. Demolition of the existing buildings hasn't even begun.

There is a smattering of guys on site. ITC in the General. When I last spoke with them, Demo is to start within the next month and a half, construction is expected to start late March early April, best case scenario

[yogiderek]

another Rezoning sign has gone up on the old st john's Church site. Let's see how long before the WENN people start acting like idiots again. Funny how they suddenly went so silent once Maxines was gone and the project underway.

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by yogiderek

another Rezoning sign has gone up on the old st john's Church site. Let's see how long before the WENN people start acting like idiots again. Funny how they suddenly went so silent once Maxines was gone and the project underway.

lets hope that works here as well. with no "historic church" to preserve ... what now? a sacred mud flat? or a historic grassy knoll like at UBC?

[NewWester]

You mean the dirt pile from the UBC aquatic centre which replaced the former historic grove of trees?

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by NewWester

You mean the dirt pile from the UBC aquatic centre which replaced the former historic grove of trees?

ah yes that was it .....

[Darren Tate]

Granville & 70th project unveiled:

http://www.westbankcorp.com/granville-70th/

[Echowinds]

To be fair, I believe that the majority of people opposing the development of the UBC knoll were more against the concept of an underground bus loop than the fact that the loss of the knoll. It's quite a large chunk of money for something that has dubious amount of value to the students, since it may probably save them 5 minutes of walking each day. There were also concerns about it being inadequate in capacity in the long run, as well as the fear of ventilation.

[squeezied]

This property (Scotiabank) at the southwest corner of Oak and West Broadway is listed for $4.8M. (http://www.simonlim.ca/current-listings/1004-west-broadway-vancouver/) Anyone know about the adjacent properties if they're on the market or owned by a developer? I think any developer who purchases this property would want the adjacent properties as well. The Scotiabank property is only 50'x125'; something like 100'x125' would seem more suited to a tower development.

I'm not familiar with commercial real estates but at $4.8M for a 50'x125' property, it seems like it's priced in anticipation for the UBC line with a station at Oak st. I say this because property along Cambie st are similarly priced, approx $4M for 60'x125' lots. But then again, the Scotiabank property is in an established commercial corridor.


http://www.simonlim.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/1004.jpg

Does anybody know what's with the delay with the proposed office tower immediately to the left outside of the picture? ie 984 West Broadway (http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/rezoning/applications/984wbway/index.htm)

[SpongeG]

i thought it was condos going up there and not office space... thats the 7-11 site?

[squeezied]

That's the 7-11 site. And nope, it's always been office with a provisional space for a rapid transit station.

I'm not sure what's with the delay but I'm speculating it could be related to the provisional space for rapid transit. Maybe they're waiting for the preferred alternative for the UBC line to be finalized before they progress further?

[Log1988]

I think Bluesky is waiting for a prelease commitment.

[incognism]

NIMBY's in Vancouver? You don't say...

Brenda Racanelli thought she’d found the perfect home when she bought a townhouse last year in Onni’s Social development on East Seventh Avenue between Main and Scotia streets.
[...]
Now Racanelli’s considering moving. “I didn’t have that information when I purchased and I would have chosen another location,” she said. “This is not where I would have chosen to live, across the street from a brewery/restaurant… The noise, the traffic, whatever’s going to happen, is just not what I wanted and I don’t feel like developers can just do anything they want.”

Racanelli learned about the proposed brewery and restaurant when concerned neighbours pointed out a development application sign that was erected in December. The application includes 5,000 square feet of artist space, 3,190 square feet for a brewery, 3,950 square feet for a restaurant with a patio of approximately 566 square feet.
[...]
Kent Munro, the city’s assistant director of planning, said homebuyers should visit the inquiry centre at city hall to learn about zoning and long-term plans for the area they’re considering buying in before they invest.

Munro noted a brewery and restaurant are allowed as conditional uses under the site’s light industrial zoning, so the director of planning, not city council, will make the final call.

http://www.vancourier.com/life/Restauran...r+neighbourhood+dream/6074522/story.html

[quobobo]

^ Neat! I'm equally close to that yellow building, it'll be nice to have more options for food and drinks nearby.

The funny thing is that a lot of Mount Pleasant residents (not me) opposed Social just a few years ago because they thought it would bring too much traffic and noise to the community.