Downtown Vancouver Updates

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by BodomReaper

I actually think residential would be the better pick for the site. Our downtown is interesting and lively because of the relatively high % of residential mixed-in with the office towers - I worry we've swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction by cracking down on CBD-adjacent (even on quite peripheral sites like this) residential development. Most North American downtowns are dominated by office towers, and frankly, they suck.

In theory there could be residential as part of the development - like Jameson or the Hotel Georgia, but it can only be after the base zoning of commercial is provided. As it's such a tight site, and the tower footprint will be small, that's probably ruled out. If they could combine their site with that 1974 office (which I think is owned by Austerville) they might get something workable, but my guess is that's not of interest to the office owners.

[Galaxy]

Not to mention the building that is owned by Austerville also recently went through a quite extensive refresh of the exterior and I believe a significant reno on the interior which means the owners are not very likely to want to sell any time soon. Of course, we all could be wrong because money does talk and I am pretty sure if someone offered a good price anything is possible.

[Jimbo604]

Workers are removing marble slabs plaza in of 401 W Georgia office



Demolition in progress in the former bank branch, fencing around immediate area.

Photo source: me

[dreambrother808]

They should get this guy to help.


https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...53822728573922

[SpongeG]

Article with all the changes and such coming to Granville Street. Caprice will be a pub Called the Colony which will operate during the day, thats a good idea, it was always so dead during the day down there.

Roadwork ahead: will new projects improve Granville Street?

Office space and other developments set to transform key downtown business and entertainment corridor

By Glen Korstrom | March 26, 2019

Can redevelopment provide an image makeover and bring high-end bustle to one of downtown Vancouver’s main streets?

That’s the question set to be answered by at least five projects in various stages of completion along the Granville strip.

They promise to provide a broader mix of businesses and more pedestrians during the day – elements that could change the image of an area that some city residents see as threatening.

Office space is key to the transformation.

More professionals have been walking on the street during the day since 2015, when the Nordstrom building’s renovation completed and tenants, such as Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT), Miller Thomson LLP, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Mobify, combined to fill 725 Granville Street with more than 290,000 square feet of office space on the building’s upper floors.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/03/road...anville-street

[Vin]

Yay we made it: Vancouver has one in the list:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/tall...struction-2018

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

Workers are removing marble slabs plaza in of 401 W Georgia office

Thanks.

So I guess they will be removing the large concrete structure facing Georgia Street.

Looks like they are saving the granite slabs though

[LeftCoaster]

May just be maintenance of the marble/support. Has there been any mention of the structure coming down?

[officedweller]

Yeah, someone mentioned it a while back.

Originally Posted by x32ace

The south plaza is getting a refresh as part of the new building on the north plaza (which they've designated 402 Dunsmuir in communications to tenants).

Based on the renderings, the larger outer wall will be demolished. The pyramid skylights in the remaining podium will be replaced with clear glass and given a new dark paint job around the top to match the new building. There will be new paving, seating and plants installed. They're also hoping to attract a restaurant into the old BMO space.

[officedweller]

YWCA Residence Expansion

From City of Rain at SRC:

Originally Posted by City Of Rain, post: 1434218, member: 70034

65 units in the new tower.







https://ywcavan.org/hotel/about-the-...atty-Expansion
https://ywcavan.org/hotel/about-the-...atty-Expansion

Originally Posted by City Of Rain, post: 1434219, member: 70034

IMG_6289 by Hung Lam, on Flickr
IMG_6291 by Hung Lam, on Flickr
IMG_6295 by Hung Lam, on Flickr

[Feathered Friend]

Crystal Clear Beauty Hidden in an Overly Complicated Design

1290 Hornby Street
One thing Darren and I have learned is sometimes renderings do a very poor job of indicating how a project will look. This is not intentional, but there is a benefit to seeing a proposal’s scale model in person. So, even though we were not thrilled about the look of this building, we happily made our way to the 9th floor of the Executive Hotel Vintage Park.

This is one of our favourite event rooms as the food is usually decent, and it provides amazing views of of the area around False Creek, including the beautiful Vancouver House. Arriving about 30 minutes after the event started, I was surprised to see how empty it was. Out of the thousands of residences that would have been notified, only a couple dozen had shown up.

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/0...icated-design/

[dreambrother808]

So much of the architecture in that neighbourhood is atrocious.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

So much of the architecture in that neighbourhood is atrocious.

It certainly is. The city flips out over viewcones and shadows, yet, stylistically, lets almost any and all architectural abominations get the green light.

[city guy]

this one is a sickening mixture of forms and patterns...absolutely awful

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

So much of the architecture in that neighbourhood is atrocious.

Mostly due to Merrick and his team, terrible architects.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

It certainly is. The city flips out over viewcones and shadows, yet, stylistically, lets almost any and all architectural abominations get the green light.

The City loves this type of architecture and colour. It is very Vancouver, where "non-human" scale structures are frowned upon. Hence everything needs to be "broken up" as such.

As for this building, I actually like the top part: the sloping roof is a nice departure from the typical flat-top Vancouver buildings. They just need to fine-tune the lower portion: simply too busy.

[city guy]

if they wish to improve the humanly-scaled attributes of these towers the city should insist that the architects invest the bottom 4 floors with rich detail and spaces that engage with pedestrians, because this is the area that matters...the dumb appliqué of 23 different patterns up in the sky is a misguided idea that somehow it matters way up there

[Vin]

Originally Posted by city guy

if they wish to improve the humanly-scaled attributes of these towers the city should insist that the architects invest the bottom 4 floors with rich detail and spaces that engage with pedestrians, because this is the area that matters...the dumb appliqué of 23 different patterns up in the sky is a misguided idea that somehow it matters way up there

Agree. But I suppose UDP folks feel like they can fly and soar like birds to view the tops of the buildings at all times.

[officedweller]

Pic by me last Friday.

Walked by today and saw they had cut down some of the plaza trees.

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Feb.26 '19, my pics

Originally Posted by connect2source

Re : 1188 Bidwell, a bit hard to tell by the photos but there are large textured panels being installed on the east facade, visible in mcminsen's last pic. They look amazing in person, add interest, dimension and look very high-spec.

I love those faceted panels. The light was just right in these last pics. They will look a little different with every light situation.




April 1 '19, my pics