A development application has been submitted for the Southwest corner of Robson and Seymour Streets in Downtown Vancouver. The site was sold in 2018 for $40 Million to Bonnis Properties. The existing building is an older single storey retail building.

The application for the site is for a new 13-storey, commercial building. The proposal consists of the following:

• • 61,700 SF of office space;
  • 4,300 SF of retail space;
  • amenity space including outdoor terrace, gyms and yoga area on the 6th floor;
  • a building height of approximately 215 ft.;
  • a total density of 5.5 FSR;
  • all over 3 levels of underground parking accessed from Seymour Street through a shared access agreement with Capitol Residences.

The application describes the design rationale: “A number of strategies are employed to create a respectful and considerate massing.

The building reduces in width along the Robson Street frontage to limit the width of the building facing neighbors. The overall composition of the building is arranged as three elements, each responding to the conditions around them.

At the lower levels, retail uses line the street and will extend down Seymour Street at the corner. With the addition of a public plaza along Seymour that creates an entry to the office lobby, a high degree of transparency and a number of access points creating a welcoming frontage, an improved public realm, and renewed set of commercial uses will reinvigorate the site. Importantly, the building configuration creates a three-sided storefront that addresses the significance of the corner.

An outdoor amenity terrace is arranged on the second level of the building, overlooking Robson and Seymour Streets, which is accessible by all building users. Clearly visible and legible from the street, the activation of a second floor use is intended to improve the experience in the public realm. The existing large oak trees on Robson Street
encroach beyond the property line, and the building massing responds to accommodate their continued life on the street.

At the middle section of the building, larger floor office spaces are provided, is set off from the adjacent building to the south, providing a welcome interruption in a city block that is highly regular and large (Orpheum Theatre and Capitol Residences). Setting the massing off the party wall allows the floor space to benefit from greater access to daylight and air, with the space between the new space and party wall acting as a light well. A vegetated wall is introduced in the interstitial space, which covers the existing blank party wall of the neighboring building to the south. Introducing meaningful landscape downtown is intended as a public amenity and as an unexpected addition of nature downtown.”

Under the site’s existing DD zoning, the application is “conditional” so it may be permitted; however, it requires the decision of the Development Permit Board.

The architect for the project is Perkins + Will.

The full development application can be viewed here: https://development.vancouver.ca/600robson/index.htm

Executive Group Development has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop the old Edward Chapman site at 833 West Pender Street with a 13-storey hotel. This is the first hotel to be built in the downtown core since the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel completed in 2010.

The unusually small 52′ x 120′ site was acquired by Executive Group late last year for $19,000,000 ($298 per buildable SF) and had since been rumoured for the hotel development in conjunction with a portion of the adjacent Exchange Building being converted to hotel use as well.

The proposal includes the following:

• 106 hotel rooms (9 rooms per floor)
  
• Restaurant on the ground floor;
• Building height of approximately 153.7 ft;
• A total density of 10.2 FSR;
• Total floor area of 63,865 SF; and
• 9 underground valet parking spaces accessed from the lane.

The proposed building requires a variance for the number of parking stalls being provided underground.

Under the site’s existing DD zoning, the application is “conditional” so it may be permitted; however, it requires the decision of the Development Permit Board.

The architect for the project is Studio One Architecture.

Oxford Properties has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to build a brand new infill office building on an underutilized portion of a 59,000 SF lot and existing 22-storey office building property they own at 401 West Georgia (built in 1987) , which runs along Homer Street all the way to Dunsmuir Street on the North, where the new building will be located.

The plan is to build a new 9-storey office building on the North part of the property facing Dunsmuir Street. Details include:

• retail and office use on the ground floor and office use on the 2nd-9th floors;
• 4,654 SF of new retail space
• 147,000 SF of new office space
• Office floorplates of 14,000 – 19,000 SF
• 6,600 SF of amenity space, 2,300 SF conference centre & 4,300 SF fitness facility
• a building height of 139.4 feet
• two levels of underground parking accessed from the lane; and
• retention of the existing commercial building on the south portion of the site.

The project is being proposed under the existing DD zoning and so only requires a development permit as opposed to rezoning.

The architect for the project is B + H Architects Inc.

Port Living has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop a Coal Harbour site at 1255 West Pender Street that they acquired in 2014.

The 8,250 SF site has had various development plans for close to 10 years. The most recent iteration included a 14-storey building consisting of 25 condo units and 3,500 SF of office space with a total density of 5.7 FSR. That project, called “The Views” was launched in 2013 for pre-sales but never proceeded and the site was subsequently sold.

The site is unique not only due to its small size, but its adjacency to the nearby Coal Harbour Park, Evergreen Building and neighbouring Palladio condo building. Preserving existing views and privacy from adjacent buildings results in a unique building massing.

The revised plan, by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, calls for a 19-storey mixed use building that pays homage to the Evergreen Building on the lower portion and incorporates a unique mass timber structure above. Plans include the following:

• 20 residential units (incl. 8 two-bedrooms, ten 3-bedrooms and 8 four-bedrooms)
• Unit sizes of 1,258 SF to 3,657 SF
• One unit per floor on tower floors
• Wood composite construction above concrete podium
• Retail on the ground floor;
• Building height of approximately 224 feet
• Total floor area of 54,503 SF;
• Total Density of 6.6 FSR
• 3 levels of underground parking accessed from West Hastings St.

North Elevation

East Elevation

Under the site’s existing DD zoning, the application is “conditional” so it may be permitted; however, it requires the decision of the Development Permit Board. The local architect for the project is Francl Architecture.

Details on the development application can be found here: http://development.vancouver.ca/1255wpender/index.htm

An older 2-storey downtown building has sold in a $9,880,000 deal to Reliance Properties. Beatty Place, located at 837 Beatty Street between Robson and Smithe Streets, is a somewhat non-descript 15,000 SF building that most locals would know from the ticket broker on the bottom floor, or more recently the Bar Method, which is located on the second floor. The building is located on a 6,990 SF site. The building was sold by TPMG Capital.

There is no word yet on any renovation or redevelopment plans for the building. The zoning for the property is DD-C3, which permits a density of 5.0 FSR. Non-residential uses must not be less than 2.0 FSR.

The acquisition is just three blocks South of Reliance’s award-winning redevelopment of 564 Beatty Street, which saw redevelopment for office space above an older brick and beam heritage building.