Sinclair Centre Redevelopment

[jollyburger]

Assume there's enough information that this project is going to proceed. Found some new images from the architects doing some pre-planning on this project.

That tower schematic has ~31 floors and you assume 5-6 floors from the podium below that? From the solar schematic the tower is based over the Public Building on the corner of Granville/Cordova. Doesn't look like it extends past the footprint of that building except into that atrium space between the buildings next door.









https://www.localpractice.ca/sinclai...-redevelopment

[Vin]

Need to see more what they will do with the heritage portions of the centre.

[theKB]

The old escada space that is fairly large and would be well suited to a high end restaurant. Too bad Vancouver has trouble attracting and/or keeping big name restauranteurs/chefs.

[Metro-One]

The idea of a 31 story tower on top of the 5/6 story podium that only takes up about 1/4 of the area's footprint with wind turbines on top makes me happy to see... but I don't want to get my hopes up, as this is could be a rejected / dismissed idea since this is just "pre-planning' renders.

It will make the final reveal of a huge squat square 18 floors tall taking up the entire footprint so not to penetrate the view cones only more disappointing.

[madog222]

That tower floor plate seems small for the numbers we currently have unless they plan to go tall, really tall. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the numbers.

These are the latest numbers AFAIK:

Site: approx. 6,200sm
Site Master Planning: approx.. 125-150,000sm gfa
Schematic Design: approx. 75,000sm

Occupancy:

• Office Space for Government of Canada (Private / Special Purpose, Semi-Private / Public Facing) – approx. 65,000sm
  • Generic Office Space: approx. 40,000sm (approx 10% public facing component)
  • Special Purpose Office Space: approx. 25,000sm
  • Approx 3,000 work points for 6,000 ftes
  • Approx 15 departments (ranging from 2,000-15,000sm each)
• Ground Floor: Retail – approx. 3,000sm

Parking: approx. 1-2 levels of underground bike parking, car parking and loading (approx.200 cars, 15 van/truck loading spaces, 1000 bikes / end of trip facilities)

Page 64 https://buyandsell.gc.ca/cds/public/...81.EBSU000.PDF

Those renders show a tower around 1400m square; if the existing buildings/podium are 25-30k sqm gross (an approximation) and using 125-150sqm total project gfa gets a tower 70-80 storeys. I must be misunderstanding something.

[madog222]

Even trying to use the office + retail space (68k sqm) and a 1200 sqm floor plate tower makes a 50-60 storeys .

I think I've been reading into this concept render too much .

[Klazu]

So. Much. Greenwashing.

[Metro-One]

If the greenwashing bends the city’s hand to accepting a taller tower, I will be all for it.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by madog222

That tower floor plate seems small for the numbers we currently have unless they plan to go tall, really tall. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the numbers.

The current buildings currently have around 36K sq metres in floorspace. When I checked on Google Maps the proposed tower seemed to be around 1800-2000sqm.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

The current buildings currently have around 36K sq metres in floorspace. When I checked on Google Maps the proposed tower seemed to be around 1800-2000sqm.

Looking again, my best match to what is shown is 1550sqm. The tower covers/replaces at least half of the Federal Building which gave my 25-30k sqm estimate.

[jollyburger]

I had the tower going further into the building in the left. I used that notch in the facade facing Hastings as the reference point.

[madog222]

I think that notch includes the west entryway on the Post Office building but you're probably right that it goes a bit further left. Then the numbers start to match 30 stories.

[Migrant_Coconut]

I think madog's got the right of it - the east building's the most expendable, so gutting it while leaving the other three mostly intact gets most of the NIMBYs off their case.

[gaviscon]

So..we're expecting the first proposal to be at least 180m, right?

[trofirhen]

I would love to see some comprehensive, detailed renders of the new building to go up at Sinclair Centre.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

I would love to see some comprehensive, detailed renders of the new building to go up at Sinclair Centre.

There isn't a developer or architect selected yet. The government have hired Colliers to manage a P3 project process to invite bids to design, build and manage the new building for 30 years. That won't be a public process, so it'll probably be some time before we see anything that emerges from that selection. They're not planning on emptying the Sinclair Centre until 2024.

[officedweller]

I expect a 30/31 storey tower would hit a view cone, too.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I expect a 30/31 storey tower would hit a view cone, too.

If that doesn’t count the existing base it would for sure pierce through it. Even if it did include the base I feel that would still go through a view cone (unless the floors are very squashed.)

[Changing City]

I think the design exercise by LocalPractice was examining how a net zero office complex might be achieved. It is undated, as far as I can see, and it's not currently displayed on the company website, so I assume it was once on there, but they removed it but didn't completely delete it from existance.

The 2015 rezoning inquiry for the redevelopment of Sinclain Centre said "The development will adhere to the City’s urban design considerations, including the View Corridors which limit maximum height to no more than 106.7 m (350 ft.) or approximately 29 commercial storeys."

The federal government can ignore local policies, and they can build whatever they want without a Development Permit, but they've indicated up to now that isn't their intention.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Changing City

I think the design exercise by LocalPractice was examining how a net zero office complex might be achieved. It is undated, as far as I can see, and it's not currently displayed on the company website, so I assume it was once on there, but they removed it but didn't completely delete it from existance.

The 2015 rezoning inquiry for the redevelopment of Sinclain Centre said "The development will adhere to the City’s urban design considerations, including the View Corridors which limit maximum height to no more than 106.7 m (350 ft.) or approximately 29 commercial storeys."

The federal government can ignore local policies, and they can build whatever they want without a Development Permit, but they've indicated up to now that isn't their intention.

It's old found some archived pages on their website around 2017-2018 with those images. But the 2015 inquiry also mentioned 100,000 sq m while the most recent ones are talking about 125-150,000 at max buildout..