Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project | Completed

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

I agree. This place will likely be like a license to print money, it's got it all: AAA location, views, familiar brand name, convention and hotel guests nearby, not a lot of competition in the area, etc. etc.

I bet one entity is not super jazzed about this opening though, The Mill Marine Bistro & Bar, 160 metres to the west of this.

Well they're owned by Tap & Barrel which is also opening up a new location at the convention centre.. Then there's Rogue opening in Tourism Vancouver's visitor centre.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Jebby

A huge missed opportunity was 3 HG not having any commercial in it's base. A restaurant/bar would have been great on the corner with the plaza.

Agreed. Apparently, Tap & Barrel will also have patio space on the plaza.

Originally Posted by Prometheus

According to their website, this area will be a “sea-to-sky terrace with retractable glass wall for open-air dining..." : http://www.cactusclubcafe.com/2013/03/now-open-at-coal-harbour/

So I wonder if that means just the west-facing vertical wall retracts or the entire glass structure, creating a true open-air patio.

Looks like it's a set of nesting sliding glass doors. 2 panels nest into each side.
Ceiling would stay in place. I see structural glass fins.



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[ckkelley]

Thanks for the photos Prometheus. Looks great.

[Chadillaccc]

Gorgeous! But holy —, took them long enough.

[red-paladin]

There should have been some kind of commercial, even a corner store.

[huenthar]

Originally Posted by Jebby

A huge missed opportunity was 3 HG not having any commercial in it's base. A restaurant/bar would have been great on the corner with the plaza.

yep, would have been a terrific location. Anyone know if that ground-level condo unit with the big patio has been sold yet? How much would a rezoning/renovation cost?

[TwoFace]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

There should have been some kind of commercial, even a corner store.

I was hoping for one of those, pizza and pepsi by the slice places.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Graham_Yvr

You must not have visited a Cactus Club in a while. This chain has become the leading casual/upscale restaurant in the city. They command the very best iconic locations downtown, including a new purpose-build at English Bay right on the water. It'll survive, and thrive, I'm sure.

Meh. Chain restaurant food is chain restaurant food. Welcome to CatcusJoeyEarlsMilestonesBrowns, may I take your order?

[djh]

Originally Posted by Jebby

A huge missed opportunity was 3 HG not having any commercial in it's base. A restaurant/bar would have been great on the corner with the plaza.

True, but bearing in mind 3 Harbour Green is one of the most expensive residential properties in the area (in terms of build per square feet), I imagine that the developers looked at the idea, thought "now which tenant is going to pay the rent we would expect....nah, let's sell it as condos", and that was the end of that idea.

Even if a commercial tenant was willing to pay some exorbitant rent to be in such a prestigious location, they'd pass it on to their customers. $10 lattes, anybody?

[Prometheus]

Granted it was opening night, but it sounds as if it is off to a good start:

Cactus Club Cafe's new Vancouver restaurant an overnight sensation

By Martha Perkins - WE Vancouver - March 21, 2013 1:00 PM

How long did it take for the newest Cactus Club Café to become a destination restaurant in Vancouver?

Its steep ascendancy in the city's food scene might have been measured in seconds on March 20, but the wait for a table was measured in hours.

Every one of the 300 seats — plus many of the 200 additional patio seats — at the coveted Canada Place location was taken shortly after the doors opened for the first time at five o'clock. And, judging by the stylish trilogy of amazing location, lush interior and flavour-packed yet nuanced cuisine, those seats will never be empty long.

“I've been at six Cactus Club openings and each one keeps getting better. I don't know how to top this,” said executive chef Rob Feenie, his eyes taking in the lively opening night scene.

"When Richard dreams, he dreams big,” he adds, his voice full of admiration for founder and owner Richard Jaffray. “Every opening we have done just becomes that much more spectacular and it’s been a magical ride.”

The launch of the biggest Cactus Club to date comes on the heels of the Vancouver-based chain's 25th anniversary. In 1986, fueled on youthful enthusiasm and desert images from a five-day frenetically paced road trip through America's west, the 21-year-old Jaffray and some friends opened Cafe Cucamongas, selling sandwiches and capuccinos. Two years later, Jaffray branched out on his own and opened his first Cactus Club, with peanut shells on the floor and Elvis Ice-Cream Pie on the menu.

Fast forward to 2009. The economy was in tough shape. PCI Group, the development company that was creating the commercial space around the Vancouver Convention Centre, had hoped to have something in place on Jack Poole Plaze before the world's spotlight shone on Vancouver, especially since tens of thousands of people would be snapping photos of the Olympic cauldron (which burned again for the restaurant's opening.)

Full story here: http://www.wevancouver.com/news/199425901.html

[Hed Kandi]

..

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by Hed Kandi

Nearly every single condo tower in Coal Harbour is a missed opportunity for retail, including Harbour Green 1,2, and 3.

the issue is WHO WILL USE THESE EXTRA RETAIL STORES?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/03/21/bc-condos-empty.html

watch the story above. with the high amount of empty condos in Coal Harbour I think the retail there is more than enough

[osirisboy]

Id rather retail units sitting empty than a blank wall and a friggin fire door to a stairwell right on the corner

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

the issue is WHO WILL USE THESE EXTRA RETAIL STORES?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/03/21/bc-condos-empty.html

watch the story above. with the high amount of empty condos in Coal Harbour I think the retail there is more than enough

Congratulations to the CBC for trying to tell us how a gelato store owner is more busy during the summer somehow is connected to "absentee" owners of condos. I want the CBC to do a follow-up story in the summer. When they are busy is it because of tourists and locals coming to the area because of the warmer weather or is it Ms. Chang from Hong Kong getting her fix of chocolate gelato.

And then five seconds later the idiot is telling us how all the condos are getting rented out. Then how the **** are they empty?

I'm surprised they didn't call them latchkey condos. Idiots.

[Delirium]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

the issue is WHO WILL USE THESE EXTRA RETAIL STORES?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/03/21/bc-condos-empty.html

watch the story above. with the high amount of empty condos in Coal Harbour I think the retail there is more than enough

It's funny - when I first read that my first thought was, so what? These people are still paying taxes but not using any municipal services. Case in point my parents have a condo at Bayshore. They use it from July to September and that's it. It sits empty otherwise. BUT they pay full property taxes, school taxes etc. It's not like Coal Harbour was ever a retail destination other than basic services like corner store, dry cleaning etc. so I really don't know what the big deal is.

[Pinion]

My wife went to Cactus Club with a bunch of friends yesterday and was very impressed. Not with the food, she thinks Cactus Club is very overrated, but the restaurant itself.

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by Delirium

It's funny - when I first read that my first thought was, so what? These people are still paying taxes but not using any municipal services. Case in point my parents have a condo at Bayshore. They use it from July to September and that's it. It sits empty otherwise. BUT they pay full property taxes, school taxes etc. It's not like Coal Harbour was ever a retail destination other than basic services like corner store, dry cleaning etc. so I really don't know what the big deal is.

The point is that people who will pay taxes as well as contribute to the local community and economy are being priced out and forced to live in the suburbs. While it may be a good thing financially (for the city), it's not good for the community and surrounding businesses.

[easy as pie]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Id rather retail units sitting empty than a blank wall and a friggin fire door to a stairwell right on the corner

post of the week. personally, i'd like to see a two story retail ring along the seawall from canada place/convention center all the way around and down to science world. restos and bars and cafes, obviously, but also regular retail and grocery and everything. as it is, it's just too boring, when i'm in vancouver, i usually walk the seawall maybe once a week, and then it's usually just to reacquaint myself with the views. from no fun city file #4514.

[dleung]

Originally Posted by officedweller

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I really wish they had left some of that recessed cut-out in the landscape for a waterfront patio, instead of building this greenhouse structure all the way to the edge.

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by dleung

I really wish they had left some of that recessed cut-out in the landscape for a waterfront patio, instead of building this greenhouse structure all the way to the edge.

Better than some cheapo plastic tent covering the patio in the winter.