Downtown Vancouver Updates - Page 587

Vin · #**11721** Posted **Jan 30, 2015, 7:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonba

Just a comment on view cones. I used to live in Vancouver, but now live in Seattle. As you know the tallest building here is 960+ feet. But Vancouver downtown still looks more impressive and from outside of downtown the view of the city together with the mountains is even more impressive. If the buildings were taller and were to obstruct the mountains Vancouver would not magically become more impressive. I love towers, but I fully support the view cones idea. I am very much a quality > quantity person and asking for more height is most definitely more quantity. I know you'll disagree, just come live here for a couple years.

Ok, do the 'right' thing. Let's chop down all downtown Seattle's skyscrapers to 500', create a table-top and remove space needle since it's too tall. Let's see if Seattle is still impressive. Well, one can always stare hard at Mount Rainier right?

Vin · #**11722** Posted **Jan 30, 2015, 7:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatnext

A bigger impression? What is that, the equivalent of whipping it out and seeing whose is bigger?

At street level it doesn't matter at all as one doesn't really register what's above four stories. Unless you walk around staring upwards at all times.

The skyline view from Fairview slopes/OV towards downtown is way more impressive than the other way round. That alone says it all.

Still not convinced? What is more impressive on a postcard? A skyline shot of Kitsilano or downtown?

There are a hundred other towns and cities that are short in this province. Wanting downtown vancouver to go tall certainly isn't asking too much. Let the tall building lovers have their corner of fun.

Infrequent Poster · #**11723** Posted **Jan 30, 2015, 7:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatnext

A bigger impression? What is that, the equivalent of whipping it out and seeing whose is bigger?

At street level it doesn't matter at all as one doesn't really register what's above four stories. Unless you walk around staring upwards at all times.

An impression is the overall effect of something. I'm confused have you never heard that word before? Its got nothing to do with dick measuring, not sure where you got that from....

red-paladin · #**11724** Posted **Jan 30, 2015, 8:17 AM**

I'm going to delete posts that are outside the thread's scope from here on.

trofirhen · #**11725** Posted **Jan 30, 2015, 2:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hankthetank

Thanks goodness we have had view cones in place for a while. Imagine if back in the 70's and 80's some developers were allowed to build big ugly concrete buildings to whatever height they wanted. Yuck. The thing that makes Vancouver so amazing is it's natural beauty. Why are people so obsessed with height? We have such a small downtown that a giant tower would feel like it's looming over the city. I just don't understand the obsession with height.

I think a lot of this obsession with height is an unconcious form of "Keeping Up With the Joneses."
Having said that, I agree that a 900+foot behemoth would look out-of-whack in compact, central Vancouver, and could easily create a jarring effect of the worst kind.
However, I'd like to see a 750+ at Burrard and Georgia (one day) and in the meantime, ease waaaaay up on the viewcones, so we don't get any more beauties with their heads partly chopped off (à la MNP Tower), or any potentially impressive buildings (The Credit Suisse Exchange) "dumbed down" to lose their effect.
And of course, just looking at the 555 Cordova thread will show you what too much "over-viewconing" will do. ....... take something potentially very good, then squash, spindle and mutilate it.

WarrenC12 · #**11726** Posted **Jan 30, 2015, 6:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonba

What makes it great is the attention to the experience of the person on the street - retail, pedestrian space & furniture, light and, for Vancouver, absolutely the views which are like that of no other big city I've ever been to. All of this is because of unmatched urban planning. I wouldn't change a thing with it.

Obviously being on this forum you can tell I like tall buildings. I had very high expectations of New York and it fell tremendously short. They actually have a lot of problems like a hodge podge of sidewalks in various states of disrepair, super loud streets and the 3rd world piles of trash on sidewalk (they have no alleys so they pile mountains of trash bags right next to bus stops and other amenities waiting multiple days for a garbage truck to pick them up). But let's ignore this and say they'll fix it. Lower Manhattan and the area around Central Park where you have tall buildings did not in any way impress any more than CBD/Coal Harbour or Yaletown, save for a small handful of iconic buildings, which impressed not because of their height, but because of their design.

Thanks for your post. You put into words what I feel, including the nuance that makes Vancouver great. I totally agree with NYC.

Check out Chicago if you have the chance, it's the best city for tall buildings that I've been to IMO. More impressive than NYC, although some of the same big-American-city problems exist.

mcminsen · #**11727** Posted **Feb 7, 2015, 7:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanville

Just about forgot about this development till I was at that end of Granville Street & saw the crane. Here's a few shots.

Granville side:

[IMG]

IMG_8156 by vancouverbyte, on Flickr[/IMG]

A Pineapple Express shot from the back of the bus. The rental building (Neon) with the curvy backside appears to be topped out at 10 floors.

Feb.6 '15, my pic

officedweller · #**11728** Posted **Feb 10, 2015, 8:17 PM**

Articles by John Mackie from the Weekend Sun on Gastown:

Development wave hits Gastown
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Development+wave+hits+Gastown/10794401/story.html

Quote:

Development wave hits Gastown
Several new, higher projects have been proposed for Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood

By John Mackie, Vancouver Sun
February 7, 2015

One of the proposals for a redevelopment in The Landing [SIC - The Courtyard] at 117-131 Water St. in Vancouver. The plan was rejected by the Gastown Historic Area Planning Commission. The drawing shows the loss of the sawtooth look if everything was built to the allowable 75 feet.

...

One recent proposal would have demolished a seven-storey warehouse at 157 Water St., and replaced it with a building. A two-storey structure next door at 151 Water would have had a five-storey glass addition added on top.

Another proposal was to completely redo The Courtyard, a 1970s development at 117-131 Water. The three old buildings on the site would have been retained, but the 1970s portion would have been replaced with new, taller structures.

A third development would have added five storeys to the two-storey Le Magasin building at 332 Water.

The 151/157 Water and the Courtyard proposals got the thumbs down from the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee, a civic body that “works to preserve and protect the heritage and character of the historic Gastown area.”

The 332 Water proposal was supported, but isn’t going forward at this time.

...

Without the bonus density, it’s harder to do a project on a smaller building. Hence the new proposals all look to go to the area’s maximum allowable height of 75 feet (22.8 metres), which Fung said gives developments the “critical mass” they need to be financially viable.

The problem is, Gastown developed with a “sawtooth” profile, where there is a mix of small and big buildings.

Architectural historian Harold Kalman said the sawtooth profile is one of the things that makes Gastown distinctive.

“The buildings were different heights, and you had an uneven line of teeth across the top,” he explained.

If you build everything up to 75 feet, Kalman argues, “all of a sudden you’re changing the distinctiveness into sameness. And it’s really a shame, because once you’ve done it, it’s not reversible.”

The initial wave of Gastown redevelopment was residential, but many of the new proposals are for office space, including 151/157 Water.

...

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Development+wave+hits+Gastown/10794401/story.html

The ‘facading’ of Gastown
http://www.vancouversun.com/facading+Gastown/10794404/story.html

The facade of the Ormidale Building at 155 West Hastings is propped up for use in a redevelopment that will see a new building built in the back. The brick building was built in 1900.
http://www.vancouversun.com/facading+Gastown/10794404/story.html

officedweller · #**11729** Posted **Feb 12, 2015, 11:21 PM**

New West End tower:

Quote:

Proposed West End Tower a First Under New Plan

Posted on February 12, 2015

A development application has been submitted under a new zone created by the West End Community Plan (“WECP”) ...

The proposed development by Intracorp is for a 17,303 SF site at the Northwest corner of Davie Street at Jervis St.

This is the first sizable development application to be submitted under the WECP, and does not require rezoning since this area of Davie Village was rezoned by policy amendment as part of the WECP.

The tower component as proposed is intended to be market housing, while the podium is mostly comprised of affordable, city owned non-market housing, with a small commercial retail shop on the corner.The plan for this site calls for:
◾A 19-storey tower
◾62 market residential units and 28 social housing units
◾1 retail unit at grade
◾114 underground parking stalls
◾A height of 190 ft.
◾Density of 6.61 FSR (114,372 SF)

http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2015/02/12/proposed-west-end-tower-first-under-new-plan/

Vin · #**11730** Posted **Feb 12, 2015, 11:55 PM**

Nice and long overdue! Let's get Westend something new and tall.

Would prefer not just a corner CRU but all along the ground frontage. Davie Village retail ought to continue along the entire stretch all the way to English Bay. Currently there is a dark gap on retail in the middle section.

Locked In · #**11731** Posted **Feb 15, 2015, 8:21 PM**

2-storey commercial building at Denman and Nelson - my photo from today:

IMG_5013 by 604 City, on Flickr

SFUVancouver · #**11732** Posted **Feb 16, 2015, 12:12 AM**

My photo, taken February 14, 2015.

mcminsen · #**11733** Posted **Feb 16, 2015, 4:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prometheus

A proposal for the southwest corner of West Hastings Street and Hamilton Street:

Quote:
This ‘mystery’ application appeared on the Development Permit Board schedule a few weeks ago. 308 West Hastings today is a single storey former bank, alongside Victory Square. Here’s the render of the projects, intended to be “a new 6-storey mixed-use building containing commercial uses (ground floor), institutional uses (second floor), and residential rental units (third to sixth floors) under the Rental 100 Program”. The image shows it’s for Simon Fraser University, and there will be 52 rental units (aimed at post-graduate students) designed by Raymond Letkeman Architects.

Source: http://changingcitybook.com/2014/08/08/308-west-hastings-street/

Demolition has begun.

Feb.15 '15, my pic

Feb.15 '15, my pic

red-paladin · #**11734** Posted **Feb 16, 2015, 4:52 AM**

Can't wait to see that one completed. The more people living and walking around in the Victory Square area, the better.

mcminsen · #**11735** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 4:37 AM**

The shelter and former Bosman's Motor Hotel at 1060 Howe Street is now closed and boarded up. Not sure how long it's been like that.

Feb.16 '15, my pic

Feb.16 '15, my pic

connect2source · #**11736** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 8:46 AM**

It's been like that since early fall when that former Quality Inn, three blocks south began transitioning to supportive housing. That god this blight is being dealt with!

Vin · #**11737** Posted **Feb 17, 2015, 4:58 PM**

I thought the City took over from the Motor Inn and planned to turn it into a halfway house for mental patients? I guess the renovation is for that intended purpose. Again I could be wrong.