Orphaned Properties

[bardak]

Would these sites be able to sell there allowed density to another site?

[djmk]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

I could see it as a very exclusive club, or restarant, but that's about it.

it's a steak house.

I love this building. Seems so out of place... So weird and funky. Like a tiny Masonic Hall.

These "orphaned properties" are great for querky tiny spaces.

[PopYourColla]

Isn't that old fenced off service station on the corner of Beach and Howe going to be an orphaned lot once the Bjarke Ingels tower goes up?

[Metro-One]

The funny thing is many of these examples being posted create far more interesting urban fabric than if they had been re-developed / torn down. Having tiny buildings / lots wedged between massive developments adds a lot of character and attracts fun and interesting businesses that otherwise could not operate / exits in the mega commercial developments.

Sorry to use Japan as an example again, but all of the most interesting urban streets / entertainment districts here are composed of hundreds of tiny varying height buildings. All of them home to cool little bars, clubs, restaurants, thrift stores, hobby stores, etc... that would never be found in the sterile corporate mega development projects.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

The funny thing is many of these examples being posted create far more interesting urban fabric than if they had been re-developed / torn down. Having tiny buildings / lots wedged between massive developments adds a lot of character and attracts fun and interesting businesses that otherwise could not operate / exits in the mega commercial developments.

Sorry to use Japan as an example again, but all of the most interesting urban streets / entertainment districts here are composed of hundreds of tiny varying height buildings. All of them home to cool little bars, clubs, restaurants, thrift stores, hobby stores, etc... that would never be found in the sterile corporate mega development projects.

Absolutely true.

As to the old Beach & Howe gas station I noticed it as a For Lease sign on it. Suggested uses were event space. It would make a cool restaurant space, done right.

[quobobo]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Sorry to use Japan as an example again, but all of the most interesting urban streets / entertainment districts here are composed of hundreds of tiny varying height buildings. All of them home to cool little bars, clubs, restaurants, thrift stores, hobby stores, etc... that would never be found in the sterile corporate mega development projects.

I agree, and I think that's mostly due to Japanese zoning laws - this has a really good summary.

The key point is that mixed use is built into the federal zoning code - if you zone an area for offices, that automatically means you can also use the land for "lower-impact" things like neighbourhood stores and housing.

Contrast that with Vancouver, where land uses are strictly separated...

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

The funny thing is many of these examples being posted create far more interesting urban fabric than if they had been re-developed / torn down. Having tiny buildings / lots wedged between massive developments adds a lot of character and attracts fun and interesting businesses that otherwise could not operate / exits in the mega commercial developments.

Sorry to use Japan as an example again, but all of the most interesting urban streets / entertainment districts here are composed of hundreds of tiny varying height buildings. All of them home to cool little bars, clubs, restaurants, thrift stores, hobby stores, etc... that would never be found in the sterile corporate mega development projects.

Exactly. It's not necessarily a case of wanting to redevelop those properties that didn't join a larger development but just pointing out their existence.

[Jimbo604]

Photo credit: me

Here's another one, that car wash between Opsal and whatever that dev on the west side of the car wash is called. This is one of the more disappointing types with this property isolated between not just one but two large new developments.

Anyone have a pic of it from the 2nd ave side?

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

I could see it as a very exclusive club, or restarant, but that's about it.

I don't see it being left behind as a bad thing. Does every last square foot of Vancouver need to be "redeveloped?" Unique spaces like this allow for the existence of some interesting and unique businesses (not just the usual coffee shop, bank, mini grocery store monuments to redundancy) are vanishing from from the city at an alarming rate. Every one of these is a valuable asset.

Replacing Edward Chapman building with a boring, functionally inferior 8 floor office building epitomizes the problem.

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by EastVanMark

I don't see it being left behind as a bad thing. Does every last square foot of Vancouver need to be "redeveloped?" Unique spaces like this allow for the existence of some interesting and unique businesses (not just the usual coffee shop, bank, mini grocery store monuments to redundancy) are vanishing from from the city at an alarming rate. Every one of these is a valuable asset.

Replacing Edward Chapman building with a boring, functionally inferior 8 floor office building epitomizes the problem.

Its the "Simcity mentality" of some of the people here. When you play Simcity, specifically Simcity 4 Rush Hour and download buildings from Simtropolis, there is a tendency to plop buildings here and there instead of letting things evolve. This includes ensuring no gaps on the lots for little buildings (and when they have some, its usually plopped with some gap filler like a plaza square).

But this doesn't really apply to the real world, so when a piece of land is not fully part of a large development, it makes such people...antsy. Its like those that want Kingston torn down. I suspect they want it too because without it, the Telus Gardens complex would look like one whole development, especially the podium of the residential portion. With the presence of Kingston, it will never look like that, but that ain't bad. I'd rather have that cool, charming hotel and tapa bar present than extend the boxy amenity area of the residential component to add more exercise bikes and such which people that would live there hardly uses...

[NewWester]

Originally Posted by whatnext

So basically lose the cool interior, the awesome patio and have a shudder-worthy piece of facadism like Trapp & Holbrook.

To be fair to T&H, both of the heritage buildings were structurally invalid and pretty much had to be gutted completely to ever be used again. (You could see the sagging structure of the Trapp and how gutted the interiors were through the back windows and the building behind Holbrook (another pretty old hotel) had to be torn down by the city as it was collapsing.) If the choice is facade or nothing, I'll take the facade.

Sorry for the off topic!

[Jimbo604]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

Here's another one, that car wash between Opsal and whatever that dev on the west side of the car wash is called. This is one of the more disappointing types with this property isolated between not just one but two large new developments.

Anyone have a pic of it from the 2nd ave side?

Photo credit: me

[spm2013]

Make a new Lonely Building Cone bylaw requiring all new developments to have a lonely little building next to it to keep company.

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

Photo credit: me

Its so hard to find a hand car wash, or even a normal non-touchless car wash (cuz touchless can never get it completely cleaned) nowadays. Except for a few (like the one in Terminal), what little car wash we have left end up having so much long long lines you pretty much have to make it a whole day affair. So I dunno why anybody would want such a business gone just to increase a footprint of a residential development. The occupants of the adjacent developments, in addition to the existing customers, will benefit greatly if that increasingly rare service remains.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

Its the "Simcity mentality" of some of the people here. When you play Simcity, specifically Simcity 4 Rush Hour and download buildings from Simtropolis, there is a tendency to plop buildings here and there instead of letting things evolve. This includes ensuring no gaps on the lots for little buildings (and when they have some, its usually plopped with some gap filler like a plaza square).

Haha, you just described my exact gameplay.

[Jimbo604]

Source: me

NE corner of Howe and Beach not incorporated into current development of rest of block.