Downtown Vancouver Updates

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

ahh such a nice park. when the heat island effect is bad already, add lots more hardscaping. perfect!

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

ahh such a nice park. when the heat island effect is bad already, add lots more hardscaping. perfect!

Weren't we complaining five years ago that tree-bordered lawns kinda sucked?

[cov]

way better than dried out lawns in 90% of vancouver parks. There are some trees, shrubs, and some interactive architecture. I honestly don't think this is anything worth complaining about, especially in such a compact urban space.

[gaviscon]

Guys, has anyone heard any updates regarding 1045 Haro St.? We really need this...

[SpongeG]

• Video Link

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Weren't we complaining five years ago that tree-bordered lawns kinda sucked?

you don't have to have either/or. it just seems we never maintain or make actual interesting parks. we seem to do the extremes. empty grass or paved over. there are other options.

i wouldn't call this a park really. its more like a complex plaza. its misleading to call this a park for the nearby residents; its quite small, constricted, and doesn't exactly scream inviting i think. i feel parks need open space; especially downtown where everyone is crammed into condos there, and this park just doesn't deliver what it should to people with no access to space. feels like a way for the city to check off the "access to park" box vs actually doing something "real."

i hope it does well and doesn't become dilapidated, but i would be surprised if it doesn't. most things seem to go that way.

[Marshal]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

ahh such a nice park. when the heat island effect is bad already, add lots more hardscaping. perfect!

- do you have the same take on the North Van waterfront 'park'?

- we have not yet had a chance to experience this thing - it seems a bit overwrought but I will wait to judge until I walk through it and see how the public responds and uses it.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

you don't have to have either/or. it just seems we never maintain or make actual interesting parks. we seem to do the extremes. empty grass or paved over. there are other options.

i wouldn't call this a park really. its more like a complex plaza. its misleading to call this a park for the nearby residents; its quite small, constricted, and doesn't exactly scream inviting i think. i feel parks need open space; especially downtown where everyone is crammed into condos there, and this park just doesn't deliver what it should to people with no access to space. feels like a way for the city to check off the "access to park" box vs actually doing something "real."

i hope it does well and doesn't become dilapidated, but i would be surprised if it doesn't. most things seem to go that way.

Eh, there aren't very many places to do a "big" open space in a downtown park. The giant coat racks are stupid, and there could've been more of a water feature, but this is effectively the same kind of concept as Robson Square on a micro level: a mix of public space, greenery and elevated terrain. Guess we'll have to wait and see if it works in practice.

[Klazu]

So... The new park is going to be named something completely unpronounceable? I bet the YouTube video title is an omen and people will just call it "the new park" due to such BS. Also, impressed how many buzzwords they managed to cram in the video. Climate resilience etc.

We shall if course see, but I think the small park is trying to be way too many things for so many and will end up not excelling in anything. Also, vagrants will be a problem, I suspect.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Also, impressed how many buzzwords they managed to cram in the video. Climate resilience etc.

Climate resilience is only a buzzword if it is not attached to any meaningful action. 1/3 of the park being greenspace, a green roof, and water recycling all seem like meaningful actions to me.

[officedweller]

They just need to have an English translation for the aboriginal name.
For example - see this wikipedia entry for St. Mark's Square in Venice:

Piazza San Marco (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjattsa sam ˈmarko]; Venetian: Piasa San Marco), often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as la Piazza ("the Square").

[NewfBC]

30 days before we see caution tape and pylons up at this park.. with things damaged needing repair.. 90 days before toilets are out of service.

We can't have nice things here.

Maybe they should have set up a Community Police Station instead of a coffee shop.

Ron.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by gaviscon

Guys, has anyone heard any updates regarding 1045 Haro St.? We really need this...

Intracorp didn't submit their rezoning in January 2021, which was their original intent. Their 'development partners' both have strong Asian connections, and as we know, raising significant capital has proved difficult for some of those types of investment vehicle in recent years.

The condo element will be high-end, and there are several other projects in that sub-market that are trying to proceed in the West End, in a softening condo market, where there's a real possibility of falling values as interest rates rise. They are probably in no hurry to proceed - right now there's a significant rental building (that used to be a strata) that should be more than covering its running costs, although whether it's making much of a return on the $165m it sold for in 2017 is more doubtful.

[Feathered Friend]

[Feathered Friend]

Simply Unbearable – The Bentall Centre’s Littlest Sibling Leaves The Urban Design Panel All Mixed Up

1025 Dunsmuir St (DP-2021-00824)
There’s been a lot going on at the Bentall Centre since its new owners took over in 2019, including the addition of murals, lighting features, and the conversion of its large water feature into usable public space. The biggest change has been the loss of its above-ground parking garages with new office buildings. Yet, unlike Bentall 6, which is undergoing its own transformation across the lane, this tower is roughly 200 feet shorter than the rest of its family.

This wasn’t caused by the view cones, nor the Golden Triangle guidelines, but rather by the Expo Line’s Dunsmuir Tunnel which limited where its elevator core, and perimeter columns could be located. Even then, only its lighter mass timber hybrid construction let it reach this height, which suited the applicant’s desire for it to be a background building. Hannah later joked they were too successful, as the Urban Design Panel spent most of this meeting picking on its little sibling.

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2022/04/29...ves-the-urban-design-panel-all-mixed-up/

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by NewfBC

30 days before we see caution tape and pylons up at this park.. with things damaged needing repair.. 90 days before toilets are out of service.

We can't have nice things here.

Maybe they should have set up a Community Police Station instead of a coffee shop.

That sounds like a bet I am NOT willing to take.

[Klazu]

The Dunsmuir project looks like a nice little tower, but I am sad about losing the water feature. Moving here, I do remember taking note of how many there are in Downtown and how nice they can be.

[hollywoodnorth]

wow Bentall 1 and 2 are sitting on a gold mine of potential Height.

I would imagine they will both be taken down and replaced within the decade.

[mcminsen]

Well, I didn't get to the new park today at Smith and Richards but my husband wandered over for a look see.
He said it was mobbed by kids and their parents.

He took this pic.





April 29 '22, my husband's pic

[Zepfancouver]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

He said it was mobbed by kids and their parents.

Good to hear and see.

Sorry I have know idea what is going on at Hastings and Broughton, but its going. If it has its own thread, you can forward it there.

All images by Alain H.