Downtown Vancouver Updates

[dleung]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The more I look at this massing, the more I realized that it's pretty much the only way to do it. It's a flat slab pushed up against the north end of the site to minimize shadowing of the park. The east-west orientation minimizes the blocking of water views from inland. Any taller, and neighbours lose their views to the park (lower levels lose their views of the parking lot). There's not enough density that can be fit on the site for a developer to pay a worthwhile amount for it. It's already too dense for my liking. It's hard to convince a developer that a boutique market condo project can look exclusive while housing a community centre in the podium. Still, if the school and daycare cost is covered by the city/CACs, it's a shame for a site so highly visible in the skyline to have an architectural dud rather than a show-stopper.

[officedweller]

I'm not sure if it's an architectural dud.
The stagger of the windows almost reminds me of Canada House at Olypmpic Village, but I doubt the glass will be of as high a quality.

[SeymourDrake]

The Nerve of the COV for thinking outside of the Box and combining two projects into one.

How dare they give away prime real estate to those less fortunate than those of us making 6 or 7 figures a year.

Pile them all on an island and forever be forgotten about. The problems will be out of sight out of mind.

Sarcastic Rant Over

[Jimbo604]

Originally Posted by SeymourDrake

The Nerve of the COV for thinking outside of the Box and combining two projects into one.

How dare they give away prime real estate to those less fortunate than those of us making 6 or 7 figures a year.

Pile them all on an island and forever be forgotten about. The problems will be out of sight out of mind.

Sarcastic Rant Over

That's one plan. Another plan would be build x-floors of market properties on top of the school. I'm not sure how many floors would be allowed here, though the city itself makes those rules.. So it could, in theory, approve 20+ floors like surrounding buildings.

Then use the profits from the sale of these choice-location, choice view properties to pay for the school below and who knows how much more... Perhaps the long overdue new elementary school in the Olympic village? Along with the same amount of social housing elsewhere? (all depending on the number of floors that get built). Seems like the city would be getting a lot more amenities in this scenario.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

That's one plan. Another plan would be build x-floors of market properties on top of the school. I'm not sure how many floors would be allowed here, though the city itself makes those rules.. So it could, in theory, approve 20+ floors like surrounding buildings.

Then use the profits from the sale of these choice-location, choice view properties to pay for the school below and who knows how much more... Perhaps the long overdue new elementary school in the Olympic village? Along with the same amount of social housing elsewhere? (all depending on the number of floors that get built). Seems like the city would be getting a lot more amenities in this scenario.

In the report:

Given the tight project timeline associated with delivering the school component of the Project, triggered by the BC Hydro substation development needs for downtown Vancouver, staff was not able to explore opportunities to seek additional density for more affordable housing units through rezoning.

[RDW989]

An invitation in the mail this morning from the City for Intracorp's two-buiilding proposal for 1045 Haro Street (a condo complex that was sold by owners a few years back):
55 storey + mechanical penthouse -- 580 feet
15 storey -- 206 feet
for a total of 450 strata and 66 rental plus retail and daycare.
Online presentation is December 14 -- two times:

http://www.1045harostreet.com

[city guy]

Originally Posted by RDW989

An invitation in the mail this morning from the City for Intracorp's two-buiilding proposal for 1045 Haro Street (a condo complex that was sold by owners a few years back):
55 storey + mechanical penthouse -- 580 feet
15 storey -- 206 feet
for a total of 450 strata and 66 rental plus retail and daycare.
Online presentation is December 14 -- two times:

http://www.1045harostreet.com

how are they getting around the no-shading on robson issue?

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by city guy

how are they getting around the no-shading on robson issue?

That's what this pre-app open house is all about.

Since this project as proposed will be contravening the current shadowing rules they will need to test the concept with the general public before planning will accept their submission.

If the principle is not met with much residence then staff will likely press forward with the rezoning.

This has big implications for Bosa and a few of the other adjacent projects as well, since it could set a precedent for the new shadowing restrictions on Robson not limiting tower height.

If you want to see this building at this height and possibly the Ole Shereen, 1075 Nelson and 1075 Barclay projects a bit taller I strongly suggest taking part in the open house process starting December 14th.

[phesto]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

That's what this pre-app open house is all about.

Since this project as proposed will be contravening the current shadowing rules they will need to test the concept with the general public before planning will accept their submission.

If the principle is not met with much residence then staff will likely press forward with the rezoning.

This has big implications for Bosa and a few of the other adjacent projects as well, since it could set a precedent for the new shadowing restrictions on Robson not limiting tower height.

If you want to see this building at this height and possibly the Ole Shereen, 1075 Nelson and 1075 Barclay projects a bit taller I strongly suggest taking part in the open house process starting December 14th.

Would have big implications for the handful of tower projects South of Davie as well.

It's a longshot at best; I'm sure staff is telling them they won't support it but it's a Chinese developer (I think Intracorp is just the dev mgr partner) that paid $165 Million for the site so they almost have to try to get the height or the project will make little economic sense at whatever lower height is acceptable. Perhaps they could offer something sizeable in return (ie. a big chunk of social housing units? But that doesn't appear in the summary)

[LeftCoaster]

Seems to be just replacement rental and a daycare.

If support is strong I bet planning goes for it.

Just need the keyboard warriors here to buck up and write some letters of support, I know I'll be giving my opinion.

[officedweller]

Sign is up for acquafarina at 401 West Georgia:

[city guy]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Seems to be just replacement rental and a daycare.

If support is strong I bet planning goes for it.

Just need the keyboard warriors here to buck up and write some letters of support, I know I'll be giving my opinion.

who are the architects?

[Feathered Friend]

Questions Linger Over Vancouver’s Hopes To Lift The Curse Of Robson Street

1045 Haro Street
It’s been hard to be excited about anything this year, but one of the few things that brought Hannah and I some joy was city council’s decision to simplify the rezoning process. Removing the requirement for applicants to submit an enquiry prior to an official application has not only saved them and city staff time and resources, but us as well. After all, we spent numerous hours recapping these meetings, and highlighting the notification cards that announced them.

Still, we were honoured our readers would send us these tips, and felt privileged to make others aware of them, plus we enjoyed the treats at these open houses too. As this is a virtual event, we’ll have to bring our own food, but the opportunity to make a difference hasn’t been diminished. Arguably, it’s been greatly enhanced, as the applicant has undertaken this voluntary step in hope of garnering support for a new initiative in our city.

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2020/12/04...opes-to-lift-the-curse-of-robson-street/

[Feathered Friend]

Downtown Official Development Plan Amendment - Area K3

1. DODP amendments to allow for additional 100% secured rental housing development up to 5.0 floor space ratio (FSR), an increase from existing 3.50 FSR

• No change to maximum height
• For properties on Granville Street between Drake and Helmcken
• On sites with buildings constructed in or after 1930, consistent with consideration for heritage character in this part of downtown
• With maximum frontage of 23 m (75’)

2. Granville Street Urban Design Guidelines updates to encourage sustainability in design or construction

• Encourage use of mass timber or other materials that result in low embodied emissions, or the use of building standards that result in low operational emissions.

Your input will be summarized for Council's consideration in the Referral Report, which will be posted in early 2021.

https://shapeyourcity.ca/dodp-k3-amendment

[jollyburger]

They are digging test holes along Georgia and Bidwell tomorrow, maybe to check for contaminents from the Chevron site?

http://vanmapp1.vancouver.ca/roadahead/events/details/669ac201-3ca3-4edd-8640-14ca57efffca

[jollyburger]

(removed missed a previous post about Haro)

[officedweller]

Regarding 1045 Haro, here's the applicable Higher Buildings Policy map.
Site marked in orange allowing discretionary increases to 550ft.


https://guidelines.vancouver.ca/H005.pdf

[phesto]

Here's the policy that has prevented the other tower proposals from reaching the 550 ft. height limit, WEST END – TOWER FORM, SITING AND SETBACKS https://bylaws.vancouver.ca/Bulletin/W001.pdf

The shadowing issue on Robson is fairly explicit:

The 1000 Block of Robson

The intent of the West End Community Plan for Area ‘E’ in the Burrard Corridor is to accommodate substantial growth through rezoning (Map 1). However, the increased densities and heights envisaged for Area ‘E’ challenge realization of another Plan objective, namely the limitation of shadowing on key shopping streets, in this case, Robson Village. In order to balance achievement of both Plan objectives, a more detailed analysis of the shadow impacts of development in Area ‘E’ on the 1000 block of Robson Street and the public realm was undertaken. As a result, it was concluded that for rezoning proposals which fall within Area ‘E’, shadow impacts on the 1000 block of Robson Street will be evaluated between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. P.D.T. at the spring and fall equinoxes, rather than between 10:00a.m. and 4:00 p.m. New shadows should not extend beyond the curb of the sidewalk on the north side of Robson Street during these hours.

It would be amazing if they decide to relax this for 1045 Haro...would potentially mean an extra 100 ft. of height for both of the 1063 Barclay and 1068 Barclay proposals.

[officedweller]

All of the conflicting overlapping policies scream that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing
- or they are purposefully paying lip service with no intention of implementation.
... and then you get developers weaselling around the restrictions with strategies like "view shadows".

They just need to keep it simple.

[Jougho]

I don't know how I missed the updates to the Concord Pacific Molson Brewery site proposal.

https://bccondos.net/uploads/2020/11/03/..._vancouvers_molson_brewery_watermark.pdf