Some updates from the city.
The park board has approved the Vandusen redevelopment, they have raised $9Million of the $23Million already and expect to be ready to commence after approval by the DPB in March/09
Regarding the English Bay Bistro
the proposal to redevelop elicited 73% support, with another 5% undecided on the issue. Given the strong support for the project, staff recommend that the Board proceed with the next step of the 2006 food services plan and
approve the redevelopment of the English Bay concession.
The next steps will be the filing of a development permit application and upon receiving a development permit (probably late October) issuing a Request for Proposals for a development partner/operator. Assuming an RFP award in January 2009 and subsequent working drawings, building permit and construction, the new facility should be open for summer 2010.
Via the Hertiage commison, the first one is the Bing project, the second one is by by Henriquez Partners.
1245 Harwood Street
VHR B (revised to A)
DE Application
RM-5A zoning
On July 9, 2007, the Commission reviewed a revised Building Evaluation, Statement of Significance and Heritage Landscape Evaluation for the site at 1245 Harwood which proposed changing the VHR category of the site from a “B” to an “A”. In addition, an enquiry was presented to retain and designate the heritage house, tulip tree and a portion of the garden in exchange for an increase in allowable floor area for use in a new tower proposed on the westerly portion of the site. The Commission passed the following motion:
RESOLVED
THAT, in regards to the project at 1245 Harwood, the Vancouver Heritage Commission supports the building re-evaluation to an “A”; and
FURTHER THAT the Vancouver Heritage Commission supports the rehabilitation process and would like to see a detailed Conservation Plan, including the gardens, and
FURTHER THAT the Vancouver Heritage Commission supports the project as presented at the meeting of July 9, 2007, and that the project proceed to an HRA with a detailed conservation plan which would highlight the preservation of the tulip and cedar trees, the garden and house. CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
The requested bonus density is 45,000 square feet, with over half of this amount beinggenerated by the cost to retain the Tulip tree and the impact this has on the parking layout for the tower. Real Estate Services staff have reviewed the applicant’s proforma and have verified that the requested bonus density has been justified using Council’s adopted methodologies for evaluating a project’s proforma.
Staff have held three open houses with the neighbourhood to discuss the project and explain the base RM-5A zoning which permits towers to a conditional height of the view corridor at 180 feet. The neighbourhood continues to be concerned over the amount of square footage proposed, the height of the tower and tower placement and questions whether it is worth saving the tree and the house. The tree is intended to be designated through an HRA in exchange for bonus density, however the tree’s root system can not be fully protected as over half of the root bulb is located on the adjacent property. The applicants have been unable to secure protection for the tree from the adjacent neighbour. The Commission is asked to comment on the following areas:
Issues
(i) level of protection of the Tulip tree’s root system and impact this should have on the projects;
(ii) conservation Plan and the approach to all character defining elements;
(iii) relationship between the house, garden and tower;
1215 Bidwell VHR C
Rezoning
A rezoning application proposing the following has been submitted:
• retain and restore the façade of the Balthazar restaurant (listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register in the “C” evaluation category)
• construct a new 20-storey residential tower including a three storey podium with commercial and service uses on the ground floor and 33 units of market rental housing on the 2nd and 3rd floors
• the tower would contain 50 condominium units on 17 floors
• density increased from 2.20 FSR conditional to 5.67 FSR
• maximum conditional height requested at 210 feet
• 3 levels of underground parking are proposed with 119 spaces
• proponents are proposing to meet LEED Gold requirements
Issues
(i) degree of retention, treatment and integration of heritage façade in the overall development of the site
The City's work crews are digging up Granville St - 900 block opposite the Commodore for the new water main or sewers. The old lampposts have been removed and temporary ones erected on huge concrete bases (in a straight line). I expect that the tree removal will follow soon.
^ The Hills' public realm was the sticking point; pretty spartan. The daycare is fantastic though.
Bing Thom Architects' tower on Harwood was well recieved but the project faltered due to the massing and how tight a fit it was on the site and against the heritage building.
The third project, a C-2 flats-over-shops on SW Marine Drive beside the Arthur Lang onramp, sailed through the UDP with flying colours. It is nicer and better designed than many C-2s that go up in the city.
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Hmmmm..... The TV Towers are turning out well (but we'll have to see whether the balcony railings will be as gaudy colourful as pictured in the renderings).
The Colours project looks similar.
Why do I suspect that the coloured panels are moveable screens like at the 999 Seymour project?
Anyways, the only parts I think are questionable are the bridges. They don't seem to follow the curve of the towers.
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BTW - anyone notice that the big oak tree on Robson Street in front of the MarketPlace IGA/Homesense was cut down?
Weird that it had the same fate as one of the oak trees directly across the street in front of the R&R project - carefully preserved during building construction, then cut down by the City soon after completion of the buildings.
It is by far one of the worst examples of modern architecture I have ever seen.
Geez, anything slightly different and we are up in arms? There are way too many boring and ugly residential buildings in Vancouver like the one below. (actually, the brown building on the right looks like it came straight out of the Bronx.)
I say go ahead and build it already, colors and all!
Hed Kandi is referring to something innately jejeune or tacky about the design, not its (tepid) willingness to subvert the "norm". Basically, the buildings are an adolescent, reactionary response to the lack of colour in the area. I am not against them, as I do think they are some kind of small improvement, as well I am open to what they will actually become in their realized physical form; however, sometimes the obvious is just too obvious.
............Basically, the buildings are an adolescent, reactionary response to the lack of colour in the area. ...... sometimes the obvious is just too obvious.
Agreed.
The worst (and first) example is Spectrum. ...i.e. add colour to the bits of the standard design that aren't glass.
The problem is that to make a unified design that uses colour, you'd need to reduce the amount of window area to provide solid surfaces on which to use the colour - and that could affect the marketability of the project.
TV Towers seems to work reasonably well - they have chopped up the coloured panels so they don't look like strips.
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