745 Thurlow St | 91m | 23fl | Completed

[PaperTiger]

Does this mean BCIMC is going ahead? Last time I heard they were on hold until the office market picks up. Downtown vacancies have been growing in recent months, despite the overall improvement to the economy.

I hope they do go ahead, it would position themselves well for the next upswing. Plus, they can afford it.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by PaperTiger

Does this mean BCIMC is going ahead? Last time I heard they were on hold until the office market picks up. Downtown vacancies have been growing in recent months, despite the overall improvement to the economy.

I hope they do go ahead, it would position themselves well for the next upswing. Plus, they can afford it.

Today's Sun reporting that downtown vacancy rate edged down to 5.8% in Q4.

Nice to see an office tower, with it attendant jobs, being planned downtown.

[Mininari]

Hey, fat is not bad for an office tower as it provides larger floorplates.
Would Bentall be looking to move forward next spring/summer?

[Yume-sama]

Hmm. Interesting... it has a strong resemblance to something

[s211]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

Hmm. Interesting... it has a strong resemblance to something

I had the same thought, also. You beat me to the punch!

[VanHowe]

That is uncanny. LOL

[Hed Kandi]

..

[trofirhen]

The planned Bentall 6 is original and unusual in its asymmetricality, but IMHO it looks top-heavy, and somehow not pleasing to the eye. It triggers thoughts of that office building constructed years ago in downtown Seattle on a pedestal. While that is also very original, there is, again IMHO a singular ugliness to it. But who cares? My tastes usually run against the grain anyway.

[dleung]

I wouldn't mind if it tilted in one direction (for some very good reason), but this just looks cartoony. The podium also looks about as urban as an outlet mall or lifestyle centre.

[jlousa]

You can't see the podium in those pics, at least not the podium that matters, that would be the side fronting the alley, note the parkade entrance.

[flight_from_kamakura]

^ and it seems sort of a weird fit for the site. still, nice to have some variation in there. nice find, od.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by flight_from_kamakura

^ and it seems sort of a weird fit for the site. still, nice to have some variation in there. nice find, od.

That was SFUVancouver who posted those.

I agree that it looks topheavy - at least from that angle. I think the elevations showed a vertical facade facing Carmanah Plaza.
The odd thing is that it won't be allowed to hang over the sidewalk (due to setbacks) so from a distance (from the north), its angularity may be be hidden by Shangri-La - either that or its angularity will be highlighted by the verticality of Shangri-La so close by.

[dleung]

Originally Posted by jlousa

You can't see the podium in those pics, at least not the podium that matters, that would be the side fronting the alley, note the parkade entrance.

I know that, but it just lacks a certain rigor (like in an outlet mall) with the way the diagonal slash of the awning kills any semblance of a street wall (not that there was much of one considering the podium's only 2 stories). And just how much energy are they going to save on cooling by tilting the south facad... if it is an architectural feature, it should have been saved for the north side where it can actually be appreciated from the street, not to mention its benefit in redcing the wind canyon effect for pedestrians, awning or not.

Unles there's a wall centre style switcheroo at the last minute, expect glass similar to RBC centre in Toronto:

[Ronnie Yau]

I hope they'll start demolishing the
parking garage later.

[raggedy13]

This 4Q 2009 report by Avison Young says construction won't start until 2012, though that doesn't necessarily mean demolition of the parkade won't start before that...

Meanwhile, Bentall Capital is awaiting development permit approval for its 745 Thurlow site. Renderings call for a 400,000-sf office building including two to three floors of retail. The developer says the earliest construction start date for the project is January 2012.

http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/p...E_2009_WEB.pdf

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

This 4Q 2009 report by Avison Young says construction won't start until 2012, though that doesn't necessarily mean demolition of the parkade won't start before that...


http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/p...E_2009_WEB.pdf

Bummer. (Not that I have any special feelings for this stubby mediocrity.)

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

This 4Q 2009 report by Avison Young says construction won't start until 2012, though that doesn't necessarily mean demolition of the parkade won't start before that...


http://www.avisonyoung.com/library/p...E_2009_WEB.pdf

Why no mention of the GM tower, for are they not hoping to start construction late this year? That tower must be at least 300 000 sq feet of office space.

[raggedy13]

^Probably not mentioned because the report is a few months old now and the GM Tower plans weren't officially revived until more recently.

[squeezied]

I just realized towerguy created this thread

[dleung]

Too short. Which means a lot, coming from me! I wouldn't want to have 500 feet of fat office plates, but they should scrap part of the view cone and slot in an extra 20 stories of hotel on top. As for GM, I wouldn't mind 450 feet of office floors due to the scale of the neighbourhood, again f*** the view cones...