Downtown Vancouver Updates

[Vin]

Originally Posted by BCPhil

I would wager that he has been contacted by plenty of developers about the land, willing to buy it off him at more than market rates over the years. So much so that he has a lawyer on retainer to politely tell people to screw off.

It doesn't make any sense.

Even if he was just sitting on it for the value to increase, the property taxes are eating into any kind of increase in value. As such, you could just build a simple single floor commercial building and make some money off rent until the land is worth building something bigger on.

The only conclusion I can come to is that the owner buried the body of a murder victim on the land when they were tearing down the previous building, and isn't developing until it is fully decomposed. It's only a theory, but it's the only one that makes sense. That, or he hates Vancouver so much that this is his $134K/year middle finger to city hall?

Haha, wouldn't that be something! And I'm guessing you watch too much CSI.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by EdinVan

Cities are hard to see through skyscrapers
by John Gapper
Financial Times

Architectural expressions of individuality make global metropolises look more like each other

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/de91a5c8-23df-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c.html

Can you post the article summery? I cannot access this website without paying a fee.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Is that the old Tony Roma's site in the foreground on the right of the pic below?

And of course the old Umberto's further back.

June 8 '15, my pics

Pic by me today - new fence installed - looks long term (?):

July 21, 2015

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Klazu's pic was from April 20th. Jimbo604's pic was from May 3rd. And here are my pics from today.

June 8 '15, my pics

Pic by me today - brick has been installed:

July 21, 2015

[Klazu]

Yeah, noticed the brick yesterday as well. It improves the building quite a lot. With dark spandrel it would have looked great but considering what kind of building this is, I think it is perfectly adequate.

[osirisboy]

I would assume the fence around the tony Roma site is long term. There aren't even any proposals for it right now. Are there?

[officedweller]

Just this by Grosvenor (not submitted though):

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=7016342&postcount=12006

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Grosvenor International ihas bought the Umberto's Il Giardino site.

And I have my answer regarding the former Tony Roma's site - it will become a park (maybe only a temporary park)


https://www.biv.com/article/2015/5/grosvenor-properties-eyes-downtown-south-developme/

Those were great restaurants in a charming cluster of buildings. I know development has to progress, but for me this sort of sad.

[Klazu]

Neon from other side.

[officedweller]

It may turn out quite well, as the brick will probably wrap around to the Granville afacade, as opposed to the gray painted concrete suggested by the model

Originally Posted by Built Form

This building appears so squat and unfitting for the location. I sincerely hope it actually doesn't say NEON on the top.






all pix by Built Form

[Prometheus]

In case anyone is interested, I just noticed that Google Street View has updated many of Vancouver's streets to May 2015. So you can see all the current major projects as they were only two months ago.

[BodomReaper]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

In case anyone is interested, I just noticed that Google Street View has updated many of Vancouver's streets to May 2015. So you can all the current major projects as they were only two months ago.

So I'm not the only one that uses Street View to check out projects - really a fantastic resource. Thanks for the tip.

[EdinVan]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Can you post the article summery? I cannot access this website without paying a fee.

Just open an Incognito window in Chrome and hit escape as soon as it finishes loading. I also sent you a copy.

It's basically saying that cities are all starting to look alike because they're full of starchitect-designed buildings that try too hard to be unique. But they're not really unique because they all share something in common: they are often jarring, bizarrely-shaped, and not in keeping with the local surroundings (e.g., the new towers in London). Because they are not in keeping with their surroundings, they're essentially interchangeable -- as are, by extension, the cities that try to define themselves with these buildings. With the new wave of strange-looking, starchitect buildings coming to Vancouver, I fear we could fall victim to this, too.


www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/de91a5c8-23df-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c.html

[mcminsen]

They really did take the roof off of Christchurch. Quite a major redo. It'll be nice to see when it's finished.



July 22 '15, my pics

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by retro_orange

-pic from BuiltForm

Just looking at this large tree in the rendering got me thinking; will they use a native species or a goofy ornamental variety... I was at english bay the other day and I noticed that the tree atop Eugenia Place Tower (vancouvers most famous condo tree) is DEAD! It got me doing some research and I found an interesting tidbit on condopedia:

"There's no argument that the Pin Oak tree on top of Eugenia Place is unique. Henriquez thought long and deeply about the building with a tree on it, but when asked about caring for the tree itself, he replied, "I never thought about it."

Access to the tree is only through the top floor penthouse so arborists - and their equipment - must tromp through the elevator and apartment without scratching surfaces to attend the tree. Oaks can be afflicted with various tree illnesses such as caterpillar feeding and Leucanium scale, an insect that damages the tree by sucking juice from its leaves. Pruning usually removes the problem but debris must then be hauled manually down, back through the apartment and the elevators.
The non-native oak (to BC) is naturally programmed to grow to 100 feet. The current 37 foot tree is about as large as it can get for the size of pot it is in and the amount of soil available - 100,000 pounds."
http://www.condopedia.com/wiki/Eugenia_Place - Laurence Putnam


I wonder what the maintenance costs for these large roof trees will be in 30-50 years, how often does the membrance beneath all the weight of the tree and soil need replacing? The tree likely died from no water recently which makes me wonder if the condo attached to the tree is possibly vacant? Maybe another foreign owned abandoned property.

^^^ Quote from Telus thread.

Thanks for the heads up about the tree atop Eugenia Place at English Bay. I took these pics today. There are still a few spots of green but I'm thinking this tree will be completely dead soon if it isn't already.



July 23 '15, my pics

[WarrenC12]

I think you could maintain a tree on a building like this if you have a dwarf variety of the tree and/or maintain the size of it with constant pruning.

[Prometheus]

As recently discussed in the rumours thread, here is an artist's rendering of 1133 Melville Street:

Oxford Properties have hired Kohn Pederson Fox to design a 650,000 sq ft office tower, 33 storeys tall...

The same architects designed the MNP Tower for the same developers – but while that was a slim tower squeezed into a very tight site, this proposed rezoning would see one of the largest office spaces in the city (we think only Park Place has more office space)...

Kasian Architecture are the local firm working with KPF. There will be retail space at the bottom of the tower, including an outdoor restaurant patio above a water wall feature.

Source: http://changingcitybook.com/

[csbvan]

So the tower will be 524 feet. What was all the complaining about? An extra 25 feet?

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by csbvan

So the tower will be 524 feet. What was all the complaining about? An extra 25 feet?

Because that figure is clearly incorrect. A crude estimate based on the knowledge we have so far reveals that the height will be approximately 433 feet to the top roof slab (and possibly 465 feet to the top of the windscreen).

[trofirhen]

Kohn Pedersen Fox, the MNP tower architects .... and at 500-ish feet, with a water wall feature!!
As csbvan says, who's complaining? What is there to sqwawk about?? This is an unexpected pleasant surprise !!