Vancouver House (1400 Howe St) | 151.5m | 52Fl | Completed

[mcminsen]

Some more pics from ground level.



July 23 '17, my pics

[mcminsen]

A few more months and this tower is really going to start to be noticeable from a lot more vantage points.



Granville Street, July 22 '17, my pic

[globeman]

One more from a popular viewpoint

Vancouver House Under Construction by globetrekimages, on Flickr

[excel]

Wow that picture is amazing quality.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

when Vancouver House is done, they should pay to get the roof of the service station power washed; get all the moss off. haha.

[excel]

I actually love how that is still there. Nice piece of juxtaposition.

[Dimswitch]

If it's still there, the House strata council will move to have it demolished

[rofina]

Originally Posted by Dimswitch

If it's still there, the House strata council will move to have it demolished

I think that was part of the issue discussed earlier - the city allowed Westbank to orphan that lot and not have to purchase and remediate it as part of Vancouver House.

A bizarre decision - but Westbank always does get preferential treatment.

Hopefully what does go up there doesn't completely block that view of Vancouver House.

[LeftCoaster]

Allowed Westbank to Orphan the lot? I don't think that would have been WB's preferred option. The City can't force a private owner to sell to another private owner.

Also, no high rise can be built on that site due to tower spacing limits.

[excel]

A small plaza would be nice to compliment the park across the street.

[Vin]

Turn it into a landscaped electric car-charging plaza: from a dinosaur (petrol station) to a flying saucer (EV Charging Station)

[rofina]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Allowed Westbank to Orphan the lot? I don't think that would have been WB's preferred option. The City can't force a private owner to sell to another private owner.

Also, no high rise can be built on that site due to tower spacing limits.

I cant remember to beginning of the thread, but wasn't the conclusion the lot was available but not purchased by WB?

Maybe I recall wrong.

Why wouldn't someone sell out knowing there is a limit on tower spacing? Not like you will get a premium now, and no chance to assemble with anything adjacent.

[LeftCoaster]

Not sure, I do not know the ownership of the site either but assumed it wasn't Westbank. Can't imagine why they would not use the space if they owned it.

[Prometheus]

I believe someone in the know said that Westbank wanted to acquire the property and made an offer to the owner, but the owner wanted more than Westbank was willing to pay, so Westbank proceeded without it.

[phesto]

^From what I recall, Westbank tried to buy the corner lot from the owner at the time- Black Top Cabs, five or six years ago. They couldn't reach agreement and Black Top eventually sold to an investor from Hong Kong who has owned it since.

I haven't heard of any development plans and I'm not sure what you can even build on such a small lot.

The City should not have permitted that lot to become orphaned, but they were partnering with Ian Gillespie on the land deal next door and wanted to move forward with his plan.

[LeftCoaster]

I personally hope it becomes a restaurant, could be a really cool space.

[Marshal]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Some more pics from ground level.

July 23 '17, my pics

Good capture of the tension column (at an angle) for holding up the cantilever. There was a photo a week or so back that showed the dense re-bar designed into that thing.

[officedweller]

Thanks for pointing it out.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by phesto

^From what I recall, Westbank tried to buy the corner lot from the owner at the time- Black Top Cabs, five or six years ago. They couldn't reach agreement and Black Top eventually sold to an investor from Hong Kong who has owned it since.

I haven't heard of any development plans and I'm not sure what you can even build on such a small lot.

The City should not have permitted that lot to become orphaned, but they were partnering with Ian Gillespie on the land deal next door and wanted to move forward with his plan.

Look at Chinatown. They build 8-10 storey buildings on lots half of that site. Not sure why ppl can't see how this lot can't be developed because it's small. Another good example is the 6 storey building going up on Howe and pacific

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Look at Chinatown. They build 8-10 storey buildings on lots half of that site. Not sure why ppl can't see how this lot can't be developed because it's small. Another good example is the 6 storey building going up on Howe and pacific

I think you have to look at what the existing built form was before these neighborhoods were revitalized.

Yaletown pre expo86 was predominantly low rise commercial/industrial buildings with large floorplates making condo development easy. The odd SFH was thrown in the mix, but some being converted to commercial use by the 80's. A blank slate they could easily control what new developments could be built with the occasional renovated warehouse included in the new developments.

Chinatown on the other-hand had many narrow low and midrise residential buildings and other assorted historical buildings on randomly sized plots of land. Many buildings in Chinatown were fortunately held on to by the original Chinese Canadian families (with strong community ties I might add) that lived in the area before Vancouver became Fuerdai frenzyland whom just want new condos. Making it one of the last bastions of congruent historical buildings and neighborhoods in the city

Bring in... Coal Harbor, False Creek and Yaletown to fill that niche.