Olympic Village & Southeast False Creek Updates Discussion

[wrenegade]

Here's a rendering of 1st & Quebec that shows a completed Meccanica, Block 100 and Concert's development of their lands. Not sure how accurate the Concert buildings are, but anyways, it's a pretty slick rendering.

[easy as pie]

fantastic rendering! imagine if the streetcar were running down that block, the concert buildings were 4 stories taller, the strips of turf on the sidewalk were planters or simply concrete, and the retail wall stretched all the way to science world.

[Klazu]

Wow, what a change! Still hard to imagine in real life, but there seems to be hope for a proper cityscape in that part of the city.

I don't actually even miss having tall towers in that part of the city, strangely enough.

[wrenegade]

Really? MORE retail? The residences at West will have 40,000 sq. ft. of retail space to fill, plus Pinnacle False Creek 2. And Main street is a block away. I hope there is absolutely zero retail (apart from right at the corner) on the West side of Quebec from 1st to Terminal, the neighbourhood will be more than adequately served.

Speaking of retail in SEFC, Edmonds appliances will be opening in part of the Maynards Block. The corner remains unoccupied.

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by wrenegade

Really? MORE retail? The residences at West will have 40,000 sq. ft. of retail space to fill, plus Pinnacle False Creek 2. And Main street is a block away. I hope there is absolutely zero retail (apart from right at the corner) on the West side of Quebec from 1st to Terminal, the neighbourhood will be more than adequately served.

Speaking of retail in SEFC, Edmonds appliances will be opening in part of the Maynards Block. The corner remains unoccupied.

That's the showroom/assembly room for Intermeccanica. They were the previous occupant of that building. They make vintage Porsche kit cars, which in my opinion is pretty awesome.

So, not exactly retail space.

[trofirhen]

I love the S curve in the street. More curved streets would go well in Vancouver, I think.

[connect2source]

Mario's Gelati will finally be at the centre of the universe!

Concert is known for great quality but not for innovative architecture, I hope they take full advantage of their prime parcel to showcase some groundbreaking designs.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

That's the showroom/assembly room for Intermeccanica. They were the previous occupant of that building. They make vintage Porsche kit cars, which in my opinion is pretty awesome.

So, not exactly retail space.

Don't they sell those cars? So technically it is retail...

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Mario's Gelati will finally be at the centre of the universe!

Did they go through with a lawsuit? Anybody know what happened?

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Did they go through with a lawsuit? Anybody know what happened?

Settled last November:

A Vancouver ice cream shop owner has settled out of court with organizers of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Mario's Gelati filed a lawsuit against the Vancouver organizing committee, the city and the federal and provincial governments seeking more than $2.5 million for lost business due to construction of the Athletes Village near his business.

VANOC staff initially promised roadwork outside the shop would only take a few weeks but it dragged on for more than seven months.

The case was slated to go to court this month, but a settlement was reached in September.Vancouver ice cream shop settles lawsuit over Olympics-related losses

Read more: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-gelato-shop-settles-lawsuit-with-vanoc-1.1033971#ixzz2UkVP8lz2

Read more: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-gelato-shop-settles-lawsuit-with-vanoc-1.1033971#ixzz2UkUJNqtz

[easy as pie]

Originally Posted by wrenegade

Really? MORE retail? The residences at West will have 40,000 sq. ft. of retail space to fill, plus Pinnacle False Creek 2. And Main street is a block away. I hope there is absolutely zero retail (apart from right at the corner) on the West side of Quebec from 1st to Terminal, the neighbourhood will be more than adequately served.

no way, street animation along that stretch will be super important to making sure it doesn't have that same sterile feeling so many hoods have.

[mr.x]

There should definitely be retail along street level, and ideally with more flexible and larger spaces to accommodate a variety of stores. The last thing we need is another Coal Harbour.

[jlousa]

The last thing that area will be is another Coal Harbour, it wasn't designed to be like Coal Harbour. Coal Harbour has turned out exactly as it was designed. I second the call for no additional retail and I'm glad they are limiting it. Residential are better served with slightly less but more successful retail then with more but marginal options.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by jlousa

The last thing that area will be is another Coal Harbour, it wasn't designed to be like Coal Harbour. Coal Harbour has turned out exactly as it was designed. I second the call for no additional retail and I'm glad they are limiting it. Residential are better served with slightly less but more successful retail then with more but marginal options.

+100. It seems like the people who comment on these developments have no idea what it's like to live in or near one.

[SpongeG]

what kind of retail would we get, we would get some cheque cashing places, maybe two starbucks, a dollar — store, a plethora of nail salons and an ink cartridge refill store

no thanks

[easy as pie]

yeah, or increasing the amount of retail along highly visible stretches would reduce the overall lease rates and enable smaller, non-formula retail to develop in interesting ways. limiting street level commercial space makes street level commercial space more expensive and, thus, more suited to high-dollar businesses. it's not rocket science, you'll get a few businesses that serve a certain demographic then you'll have these residential canyons. why would anyone want that? it's mystifying, especially when added retail density here would be a great transition into main street, tying the areas together.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

what kind of retail would we get, we would get some cheque cashing places, maybe two starbucks, a dollar — store, a plethora of nail salons and an ink cartridge refill store

no thanks

To pile on, those businesses all sound like employment opportunities for young people, students, lower skilled people, recent immigrants, and seniors. Moreover, Starbucks and national-brand dollar stores excluded, those are independent businesses that can be started by entrepreneurs with limited capital and housed in commercial retail units with minimal physical alteration or tenant improvement. The significant cost of leasing retail space in a new neighbourhood would likely result in many of the commercial remaining empty for some time and more than a few businesses failing, but for the long term healthy and vitality of the neighbourhood my preference would have been for retail on Quebec St.

[theKB]

That rendering looks amazing however the street car should be there and really IMO needs to be a part of the plan. Instead of the viaducts that money should be put towards the street car (IMO).

I am on the fence about retail. If it were restaurants, deli's, butchers, cafe's and maybe a pub or lounge I think it would bring a lot of life to the area. Maybe a few clothing stores but as mentioned no more cheque cashing places, blenz, subways or any other cheap franchise that they like to stack on top of each other. If it were an interesting mix of little things I could see the potential but that would put onus on the developers to actually be selective about who they lease space to.

I would be very suprised if Marios got anywhere near 2.5 million. My opinion of the place aside (overpriced — with shifty business practices), i can't see that they could make the case that they lost out on that much revenue.

[djh]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

what kind of retail would we get, we would get some cheque cashing places, maybe two starbucks, a dollar — store, a plethora of nail salons and an ink cartridge refill store

no thanks

I LOL'd at your comment, and totally see what you mean.

But, it doesn't have to be so.

If you just look a few blocks further west, at Cambie/2nd. The newish mid-rise right in front of the police station has an interesting mix of CRU - Starbucks (obv) on the corner is the draw, but they have a De Dutch, a shoe cobblers, a florists, and a wedding dress shop.

I think independents can do well in these kind of units - if the rent is not too high or low, and the space is not too small or large. It will attract the right type of tenant. Plus I'm sure the strata council can "encourage" a certain type of tenant (although I'm sure they may be more driven by dollars than a more macro community view).

[rsxstock]

anyone attending the concert open house?