625 W Hastings | 100M | 28fl | Proposed

[griswold]

I'm guessing they're finishing the restoration project before starting construction on the new building?

[trofirhen]

source: http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applica...Renderings.pdf

Does anyone have any updates on this? For some reason it inspires me more than many others.

[gaviscon]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

source: http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applica...Renderings.pdf

Does anyone have any updates on this? For some reason it inspires me more than many others.

Walked by a few days ago. No activity on the site of the new building. I think the renovations on the heritage building are finishing up.

[madog222]

The building permit application, that was submitted in November 2021, has been withdrawn at some point.

[jollyburger]

Uptown seems kind of small so I guess it wouldn't be that surprising if they were more cautious.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by madog222

The building permit application, that was submitted in November 2021, has been withdrawn at some point.

The engineering company were only appointed in 2022, so maybe there's been some structural redesign work. (The images they show don't suggest any design change).

[trofirhen]

With the Royal Bank Building being scrubbed up, I wonder if that is a harbinger of work to come on this project. It will really lend a 'finishing touch to West Hastings - a project to look forward to.

[jollyburger]

Looking at the office market it seems more likely the project will be shelved?

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Looking at the office market it seems more likely the project will be shelved?

do we have enough office space even with the WFH trend? i know we were short pre-pandemic, not sure what the market looks like now though.

[griswold]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

do we have enough office space even with the WFH trend? i know we were short pre-pandemic, not sure what the market looks like now though.

I saw a few weeks ago that downtown office vacancy is around 12% so that might put a hold on starting new construction

[jollyburger]

And throw in it's a smallish (?) developer...

https://www.uptownpropertygroup.com/our-properties/

[LeftCoaster]

It's also the wrong building this day in age.

No one wants small floor plates anymore, just look at the trouble PCI is having leasing up 601 West Georgia, it's a great building but the plates simply don't work well for today's user.

Best example is MNP ditching out of MNP tower on their initial term lease expiry. They couldn't get out of there fast enough, and that building is beautiful and is named after their firm!

[osirisboy]

Right, but Vancouver is scared of large floor plates

[LeftCoaster]

Yup. They're getting better though (albeit slowly).

[jollyburger]

I wonder if they can buy out Princess Building next door. Only owner attached to I've seen is Kwan Development which also owns that building on the 1200 Robson block SW corner with the luggage store. They also owned 1000 Robson (next to the Arcteryx) at one time.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

It's also the wrong building this day in age.

No one wants small floor plates anymore, just look at the trouble PCI is having leasing up 601 West Georgia, it's a great building but the plates simply don't work well for today's user.

Best example is MNP ditching out of MNP tower on their initial term lease expiry. They couldn't get out of there fast enough, and that building is beautiful and is named after their firm!

What's the reason for the dislike of smaller floorplates, especially if this has to do with changing times? I know traditionally larger floorplates have generally been more sought after, but I thought there was a market for smaller ones too where you can theoretically scale up and down more easily?

[phesto]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

What's the reason for the dislike of smaller floorplates, especially if this has to do with changing times? I know traditionally larger floorplates have generally been more sought after, but I thought there was a market for smaller ones too where you can theoretically scale up and down more easily?

Small floorplates are fine for smaller companies that don't need a large amount of space (ie. one floor or less).

I think what Leftcoaster is referring to are the larger companies that typically pre-lease bigger chunks of space in new office projects, which is usually required to get the project off the ground. They typically prefer to have as many bodies on one floor as possible.

MNP pre-leased several floors at MNP Tower because it was really the only option to lease in a new building at that time. Now, they would have several options to lease in fewer floors in a building with much larger floorplates.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by phesto

MNP pre-leased several floors at MNP Tower because it was really the only option to lease in a new building at that time. Now, they would have several options to lease in fewer floors in a building with much larger floorplates.

MNP currently has seven floors in MNP Tower. And on most of those floors, I'd estimate a little less than 20% is taken up by the elevator lobby, washrooms, and kitchen. And MNP has merged a number of Vancouver-area accounting firms in the past few years, so it requires several more floors if it wants to house all of its employees in one building. I think MNP currently has staff in four or five buildings across the downtown area.

A larger floor plate will mean a larger proportion of each floor dedicated to work stations, and less square footage "lost" to common areas. Although it will take a long time for MNP to consolidate its staff; my understanding is most of the core services are staying in MNP Tower until 2025.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

MNP currently has seven floors in MNP Tower. And on most of those floors, I'd estimate a little less than 20% is taken up by the elevator lobby, washrooms, and kitchen. And MNP has merged a number of Vancouver-area accounting firms in the past few years, so it requires several more floors if it wants to house all of its employees in one building. I think MNP currently has staff in four or five buildings across the downtown area.

A larger floor plate will mean a larger proportion of each floor dedicated to work stations, and less square footage "lost" to common areas. Although it will take a long time for MNP to consolidate its staff; my understanding is most of the core services are staying in MNP Tower until 2025.

They are going to about double their square footage and there's only one empty floor at MNP.

This is the layout of floor 24



If you aren't doing open layout I wonder how bad the irregular floorplates are on their usage.

https://www.oxfordproperties.com/lease/office/mnp-tower

All those private meeting rooms seem to close in area to the size of the lobby/storage/washroom/elevator core.

[GlassCity]

Thanks for the responses everyone, that makes sense and good to know!