The Vancouver Business Thread

[Sheba]

One of Vancouver's biggest players in film animation shutters weeks before Christmas

The Vancouver film animation and visual effects studio that won an Academy Award for its work on Life of Pi has closed its doors.

CBC News has obtained an email sent to staff at the Moving Picture Company (MPC) Wednesday announcing the immediate closure of its Vancouver studio.

The company has not responded to CBC's request for interviews, but in the email it cited "increasing external market pressures" in Vancouver, as well as more attractive opportunities in other locations.

"This decision has not been taken lightly," the email said.

It's not known how many staff members will be losing their jobs just weeks before Christmas. At its peak in 2013, more than 800 artists worked out of the Vancouver studio.

...

[Migrant_Coconut]

Massive layoffs (almost 80%) in Montreal too. Given the race-to-the-bottom crap MPC's been pushing all this time - hordes of junior-level code monkeys, tax credit abuse, horrible work culture - the "other locations" are probably somewhere in India.

[supercanuck]

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-post-amazon-hq2

Up to 12,000 jobs.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by supercanuck

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-post-amazon-hq2

Up to 12,000 jobs.

From the article:

It has become quite apparent that Vancouver has become one of the biggest winners of Amazon HQ2, following the company’s decision to pull out of its plan to place half of the second headquarters in New York City early this year.

...

Shortly after Amazon cancelled its plans for New York City, a spokesperson for Amazon told CNBC the company will now divide most of its planned new jobs for New York City amongst its existing hubs in North America, specifically naming Vancouver, San Francisco, and Boston.

Altogether, there are 17 urban centres that are absorbing the space that was destined for New York City, but the amount of space and jobs going into each of these markets will not be evenly distributed.

And now, a very sizeable portion of HQ2 is definitely being played out in Vancouver.

...

[whatnext]

Not sure if you need a Bloomberg subsription to read the full article:

Loved and Loathed, He Lures World’s Wealth With Luxury Towers
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
December 13, 2019, 6:00 AM PST

If it bothers Ian Gillespie that he’s the most vilified developer in Vancouver -- a city with a particular disdain for real estate moguls -- it’s not apparent. In fact, he has critiques of his own for his hometown.

“We’ve risen to a high level of mediocrity,” Gillespie declares as he gestures toward the window of his office at Westbank Corp., the company he founded 27 years ago. Outside, a slew of glass towers are crammed along a cobalt harbor, set across picturesque mountains...

...By luck or not, Vancouver’s pristine backdrop has made it a magnet for global wealth, particularly from Asia, transforming a once-sleepy town into an increasingly unaffordable cosmopolis. And no developer has capitalized on the phenomenon more so than Gillespie, whose opulent buildings designed by star architects have become a symbol of the city’s extreme wealth and deep divides. Now, he’s embarking on his most ambitious project yet -- a decided statement against mediocrity....

...Still, with condos starting at C$600,000 for a 450-square-foot studio, Oakridge is doing little to quell criticisms that Gillespie has fueled the city’s evolution into a haven for wealthy investors. While Westbank also builds hotels and office buildings, its C$30 billion portfolio is most associated with luxury residential towers that have been heavily marketed at shows in Singapore, China and Hong Kong and in dreamy ads flashing across the screens of first-class cabins on Asian flights.

Gillespie himself has embraced a role as an elite tastemaker, writing a 629-page manifesto titled “Fight For Beauty” that was meant to mark Westbank’s transformation into a “culture company.”...

...“‘Fight for Beauty’ is basically the equivalent of ‘let them eat cake’ -- it’s in the face of the inequality, homelessness and deep poverty that have occurred in a very short amount of time in Vancouver,” says Andy Yan, director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University, whose research has shown Vancouverites face San Francisco-like home prices on Omaha-level incomes. “A lot of the housing produced by Westbank is Ferraris when the local economy can really only support Hondas.”...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...h-with-luxury-towers?srnd=premium-canada

[Migrant_Coconut]

General Fusion closes US$65m funding round, sets sights on prototype construction
By Tyler Orton | December 16, 2019, 10:15am

What happened: General Fusion raises another US$65m from investors

Why it matters: The clean energy company says investment allows it to officially launch plans for new prototype

A B.C. company specializing in harnessing fusion power has its grasp on even more investment dollars.

Burnaby’s General Fusion Inc. announced Monday (December 16) the close of US$65 million ($85 million) Series E funding round led by Singapore-based investment firm Temasek Holdings Private Limited.

Coupled with the release of a $50 million investment — secured last year from Ottawa’s Strategic Innovation Fund — the clean energy company said it’s now formally launching plans to design, construct and operate its Fusion Demonstration Plant.General Fusion wants the prototype plant to confirm that its technology can work in a power plant environment as it ramps up efforts to commercialize....

(link)

Only twenty years away... again...

[misher]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Not sure if you need a Bloomberg subsription to read the full article:

Loved and Loathed, He Lures World’s Wealth With Luxury Towers
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
December 13, 2019, 6:00 AM PST

If it bothers Ian Gillespie that he’s the most vilified developer in Vancouver -- a city with a particular disdain for real estate moguls -- it’s not apparent. In fact, he has critiques of his own for his hometown.

“We’ve risen to a high level of mediocrity,” Gillespie declares as he gestures toward the window of his office at Westbank Corp., the company he founded 27 years ago. Outside, a slew of glass towers are crammed along a cobalt harbor, set across picturesque mountains...

...By luck or not, Vancouver’s pristine backdrop has made it a magnet for global wealth, particularly from Asia, transforming a once-sleepy town into an increasingly unaffordable cosmopolis. And no developer has capitalized on the phenomenon more so than Gillespie, whose opulent buildings designed by star architects have become a symbol of the city’s extreme wealth and deep divides. Now, he’s embarking on his most ambitious project yet -- a decided statement against mediocrity....

...Still, with condos starting at C$600,000 for a 450-square-foot studio, Oakridge is doing little to quell criticisms that Gillespie has fueled the city’s evolution into a haven for wealthy investors. While Westbank also builds hotels and office buildings, its C$30 billion portfolio is most associated with luxury residential towers that have been heavily marketed at shows in Singapore, China and Hong Kong and in dreamy ads flashing across the screens of first-class cabins on Asian flights.

Gillespie himself has embraced a role as an elite tastemaker, writing a 629-page manifesto titled “Fight For Beauty” that was meant to mark Westbank’s transformation into a “culture company.”...

...“‘Fight for Beauty’ is basically the equivalent of ‘let them eat cake’ -- it’s in the face of the inequality, homelessness and deep poverty that have occurred in a very short amount of time in Vancouver,” says Andy Yan, director of The City Program at Simon Fraser University, whose research has shown Vancouverites face San Francisco-like home prices on Omaha-level incomes. “A lot of the housing produced by Westbank is Ferraris when the local economy can really only support Hondas.”...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...h-with-luxury-towers?srnd=premium-canada

I notice we are criticizing the developer whose basically the employee of the owners? Is it because developers are easy targets?

Why don’t you criticize the teachers and First Nations that choose to market to the Chinese? Do you criticize the waitress for the price the boss set?

Why not ask the teachers to sell to locals for less or the First Nations? I’m sure they’d be very open to being charitable and giving up their pensions and savings.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Only twenty years away... again...

I think we are finally there. 2020-2030 will be the most transformative decade for humanity since the industrial revolution, and I think even that will pale in comparison to the changes we are about to see.

There is so much synergy in tech right now, its all just different branches that are hard to plot on the same diagram, unless you really plot the synergies visually.

One breakthrough in a seemingly unrelated areas can have massive positive repercussions across entire fields of research.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Hoping to hell that's the case - fusion energy could solve a whole lot of problems right now.

[SFUVancouver]

Good news for General Fusion. It's longshot that they will be the ones to make the breakthroughs needed to yield grid-scale, commercially-viable fusion electricity generation, but that's not a reason to not go all-out to try. Should they, or others, achieve success and create effectively consequence-free (if extraordinarily capital-intensive) fusion power plant, that's going to be humanity's baseload power solution. Renewables and battery storage plus fusion baseload = humanity has a very good shot at solving climate change in our lifetime (with it still taking decades or even centuries to restabilize to pre-industrial revolution CO2 levels).

[SpongeG]

Microsoft to offer up tech resources to B.C. startups in 2020
By Tyler Orton | December 18, 2019


Microsoft Canada office in Vancouver | BIV file photo

What happened: Microsoft, B.C. Tech Association launch joint partnership to support startups

Why it matters: Local startups will soon gain access to the tech giant’s resources to help them grow

B.C. startups wishing to tap into the resources of a global tech giant are getting an early present from Santa.

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) announced Wednesday (December 18) it will kick off 2020 by offering up its technical resources, business experts and cloud services to the province’s startups through a partnership with the B.C. Tech Association.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/12/microsof...0DRQUpg02LG1W4SjwmxuJDwLfY0CQ0dhu4wUvOU0

[misher]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Microsoft to offer up tech resources to B.C. startups in 2020
By Tyler Orton | December 18, 2019


Microsoft Canada office in Vancouver | BIV file photo

What happened: Microsoft, B.C. Tech Association launch joint partnership to support startups

Why it matters: Local startups will soon gain access to the tech giant’s resources to help them grow

B.C. startups wishing to tap into the resources of a global tech giant are getting an early present from Santa.

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) announced Wednesday (December 18) it will kick off 2020 by offering up its technical resources, business experts and cloud services to the province’s startups through a partnership with the B.C. Tech Association.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/12/microsof...0DRQUpg02LG1W4SjwmxuJDwLfY0CQ0dhu4wUvOU0

I guess they probably sent the guys who developed Vista into exile in the cold north.

[SpongeG]

was vista after 7?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by misher

I guess they probably sent the guys who developed Vista into exile in the cold north.

Not that cold for Microsoft - they got started just east of Seattle. Thought I wasn't aware that Vancouver was so important to them...

Originally Posted by SpongeG

was vista after 7?

2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10.

[officedweller]

From VancouverMarket.ca:

Top 10 Land Deals of 2019
http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2019/12/23/top-10-land-deals-of-2019/

#1: Lougheed & Alpha purchased by Grosvenor
Rezoning plan filed by Perkins & Will


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2019/12/23/top-10-land-deals-of-2019/

[jlousa]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Good news for General Fusion. It's longshot that they will be the ones to make the breakthroughs needed to yield grid-scale, commercially-viable fusion electricity generation, but that's not a reason to not go all-out to try. Should they, or others, achieve success and create effectively consequence-free (if extraordinarily capital-intensive) fusion power plant, that's going to be humanity's baseload power solution. Renewables and battery storage plus fusion baseload = humanity has a very good shot at solving climate change in our lifetime (with it still taking decades or even centuries to restabilize to pre-industrial revolution CO2 levels).

I'm less optimistic about fusion changing things much for the average person, once we see the breakthru of a energy positive plant it will be decades before we start to see them built given the billions it will take and no utility will be moving over until demand requires or their old plants reach end of life. There is also the downside that all current designs still require a fission plant somewhere to provide the fuel source. Given all the upfront costs involved I'm fairly certain we will never see cheaper electricity materialize, but at least it will be cleaner then most sources now.

[jollyburger]

I wonder when CF is going to announce what's going to happen with the Four Seasons space.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by officedweller

From VancouverMarket.ca:

Top 10 Land Deals of 2019
http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2019/12/23/top-10-land-deals-of-2019/

#1: Lougheed & Alpha purchased by Grosvenor
Rezoning plan filed by Perkins & Will


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2019/12/23/top-10-land-deals-of-2019/

As expected Burnaby and Surrey lead the way.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I wonder when CF is going to announce what's going to happen with the Four Seasons space.

That is something I would like to know also.
As I understand, Four Seasons is leaving, unless I'm wrong. And keeping it a hotel seems most logical to me. But will it be a building makeover, or a total rebuild? The former, I'd think.

[jollyburger]

Seems like the hotel is closing on the 20th and then they'll have until the end of the month to move everything out.