General Vancouver Updates

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

The Renfrew Business Centre appears to be sitting empty.

March 26 '16, my pic

Still appears empty. I go by several times a week on the Skytrain and I never see anyone coming or going or any other sign of activity or occupancy. All the blinds were down all summer.



Sept.7 '16, my pic

[VanK]

What the city needs to allow is for someone to build a market rental building near this Renfrew business park / station.

[WarrenC12]

Was there a tenant that backed out? I'm a little shocked this entire project was built without anything lined up.

Is the expanded office park across the street full?

[SFUVancouver]

^ I recall that this building (Renfrew Center) was a spec office building and the second phase and anchor for a larger multi-phased office development. The first phase was the renovation and redesign of a light industrial warehouse-office building into the Art Institute. However the office building was slow to get rolling and for the time being it seems to have missed the market.

Broadway Tech Center is consistently almost-fully leased (again, to the best of my recollection) with minimal churn, and the time it will take to bring the next major expansion site online for the similarly multi-phased Broadway Tech Center "2" created a window of opportunity for the Renfrew development to gain traction. What I don't think the developers of the project anticipated is just how much new product would come online downtown and that the major Tech tenants would be going into new buildings there as opposed to a quasi-suburban office park location.

A big part of the success of Broadway Tech Center has been to poach Tech companies from the suburban office parks, particularly in Richmond, as employee retention was notching up as an issue along with an expectation of more amenity-rich facilities and rapid transit accessibility. What I think we are seeing now is that Tech companies are trying to get into urban locations by hook or by crook and the new downtown office product and the ongoing creation of new product in Yaletown and Gastown (and Mount Pleasant and Railtown) are where they want to be located. Renfrew is also a bit too far from downtown for the typical major alternative office users like career and language colleges.

This all puts Renfrew Center in an awkward position. I am confident that it will find tenants, but for the time being it's in the same boat as the Anvil Center office building in New West, the Gateway Station office project in Surrey, and, at least initially, the office building at Production Way-SFU station: TOD office buildings that aren't getting traction in the market.

[WarrenC12]

Good summary. The Evergreen Line coming online might help boost this location as a reasonable spot.

Agree with the Richmond to East Van migration too. My old business park saw BCLC move there, and to date those old BCLC offices and others in that park remain empty.

[officedweller]

Excavation for the next phase at Shannon Mews from Perkins Will VAN Twitter Sept 6, 2016:


https://twitter.com/perkinswill_VAN

[PopYourColla]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

^ I recall that this building (Renfrew Center) was a spec office building and the second phase and anchor for a larger multi-phased office development. The first phase was the renovation and redesign of a light industrial warehouse-office building into the Art Institute. However the office building was slow to get rolling and for the time being it seems to have missed the market.

Broadway Tech Center is consistently almost-fully leased (again, to the best of my recollection) with minimal churn, and the time it will take to bring the next major expansion site online for the similarly multi-phased Broadway Tech Center "2" created a window of opportunity for the Renfrew development to gain traction. What I don't think the developers of the project anticipated is just how much new product would come online downtown and that the major Tech tenants would be going into new buildings there as opposed to a quasi-suburban office park location.

A big part of the success of Broadway Tech Center has been to poach Tech companies from the suburban office parks, particularly in Richmond, as employee retention was notching up as an issue along with an expectation of more amenity-rich facilities and rapid transit accessibility. What I think we are seeing now is that Tech companies are trying to get into urban locations by hook or by crook and the new downtown office product and the ongoing creation of new product in Yaletown and Gastown (and Mount Pleasant and Railtown) are where they want to be located. Renfrew is also a bit too far from downtown for the typical major alternative office users like career and language colleges.

This all puts Renfrew Center in an awkward position. I am confident that it will find tenants, but for the time being it's in the same boat as the Anvil Center office building in New West, the Gateway Station office project in Surrey, and, at least initially, the office building at Production Way-SFU station: TOD office buildings that aren't getting traction in the market.

The Marine Gateway office tower looked pretty empty as well the last time I drove by.

[excel]

Massive excavation.

[excel]

6th and Granville.



mine.

[Vanville]

A few details of Aperture, 795 WEST 41ST AVE (my pics)





"Villas" in the alley...or maybe Mini Apertures or Mini Aps?

[officedweller]

Thanks.

The wood "panels" look to be spandrel glass with a photo image (?)

I think it looks okay here, because the concrete ledges still dominate the look.
If you had those "wood" panels on a building with more glass, it would look too cheap.

[retro_orange]

Aperture is a gorgeous project, i drove past it the other day. I'd love to see an accompanying tower with the same design.

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Thanks.

The wood "panels" look to be spandrel glass with a photo image (?)

I think it looks okay here, because the concrete ledges still dominate the look.
If you had those "wood" panels on a building with more glass, it would look too cheap.

I didn't notice that, lets hope they don't fade in the sun!

[officedweller]

I don't know if it's a photo image, but it looks that way in the pics.
(the colour seems exceedingly rich - like cherry kitchen cabinets from the 1990s)

[Vanville]

The rear of LivingStone House, 5115 Cambie St. (my pic)



The rear of 35 Park West; well I'm pretty sure...Cambie St. has so many condos going up it's hard to keep up.

[Vanville]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I don't know if it's a photo image, but it looks that way in the pics.
(the colour seems exceedingly rich - like cherry kitchen cabinets from the 1990s)

I believe they use a digital image which is then printed onto the glass via ceramic ink.

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by Vanville

...Cambie St. has so many condos going up it's hard to keep up.

Yes, there's a lot going on in that area around King Edward Station. A couple of weeks ago I decided to wander the area and I think I counted about 15 different sites under construction, with fencing or with notice boards on them, and one site that was for sale as a land assembly. I took pictures of them all but then I didn't have the energy to sort through them all. Suffice to say that if anyone was curious, just get off at King Edward Station and wander west, south or east from there and you'll be amazed.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Vanville

I believe they use a digital image which is then printed onto the glass via ceramic ink.

Cool.
Hopefully that means the colour won't fade.

[BodomReaper]

Apreture looks straight out of the renderings. Awesome project - thanks for the update!

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Cool.
Hopefully that means the colour won't fade.

Or start peeling from the glass surface as some older back painted spandrel from the 80's and 90's has started to do.